What Will The New Collective Bargaining Agreement Look Like?

[Ace-Of-Diamonds]

http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/an-early-preview-of-mlbs-2016-cba-negotiations-part-ii/

I would like to be able to trade draft picks, not sure if that's realistic or not though.

What else do want or think will be part of the new agreement after the next agreement?

[Second Base]

That is realistic. I'd like to see some of the restrictions on international signings made more lenient. This is dreaming, but an international draft would be nice. I'd also like to return to the days of draft pick compensation tied to more free agents.

This last one is a total pipe dream, but I'd like to see realignment.

[Docwaukee]

They have to fix the comp pick thing.  I wouldn't mind seeing it tied to the actual contract the player gets. 

You should only have to give up your first round pick if the value of the contract to said player is X or above.  

If the player gets below x, but above y, the team they came from gets a sandwich pick as long as they made a qual offer.  And if it's below y, then you don't get a pick 

Something like that.  

 

[ukyah]

i don't have enough info to have preferences, but i imagine major changes to the QO rules and some tinkering with draft picks/FA.

[Second Base]

I think they were discussing shortening the season to 154 games too.  But if they do that, I'd want them to expand the playoffs.  The Wild Card game is fine, but I'd like to see the rest of the series 7 games.

And as a far as realignment, it'd be pretty drastic.  5 divisions, 6 teams per. 

Pacific: Padres, Angels, Dodgers, A's, Giants and Mariners. 

South: Braves, Astros, Marlins, Rays, Nationals, Rangers,

East: Red Sox, Yankees, Mets, Blue Jays, Phillies and Pirates

Midwest: White Sox, Cubs, Twins, Brewers, Tigers, Orioles

Central: Indians, Reds, Royals, Cardinals, Rockies, D-Backs

Each division winner goes to the playoffs, plus three wild cards.

 

[mulwin444]

In that scenario, they'd have to make the entire league a DH league

[Second Base]

1 hour ago, mulwin444 said:

In that scenario, they'd have to make the entire league a DH league

Yeah, I sort of feel like baseball is headed that direction anyway. I personally enjoy the NL style of play, but readily admit that a DH makes for a better AB than most pitchers (except Bumgarner).

[AngelsLakersFan]

I imagine we will see the luxury tax threshold increase.

We'll probably see the compensations system weakened some. Personally I'd like to see it go away completely with perhaps some sandwich picks handed out to teams who lost the top few contracts.

If we see any significant changes it might be to the number of years before arbitration and free agency being reduced. Players are losing out on tons of money because they are all getting paid past their primes.

I'd personally like to see changes to the arbitration system, towards something more akin to restricted free agency.

 

[AngelsLakersFan]

1 minute ago, ScottyA_MWAH said:

Yeah, I sort of feel like baseball is headed that direction anyway. I personally enjoy the NL style of play, but readily admit that a DH makes for a better AB than most pitchers (except Bumgarner).

I'm still a fan of tradition so you won't ever get me on board with that.

If they do make a uniform rule for both leagues, I'd like to see them replace the DH with a hybrid substitution based rule. This way all positions would be treated the same, pitchers would still bat, just less often, and the strategic element would be even more significant than it is now.

I feel we lose a little too much of the heart of the game with the DH. It's always been polarizing and rather than coming down on one side or the other I believe a compromise is the best solution.

[Oz27]

Funny, I was planning to start a thread exactly along these lines today. There are a few things I want to see, for different reasons.

1. Dramatic reform to the international amateur signing system. I think the best solution is the creation of an international amateur draft, or simply the addition of international players to the existing draft. This does pose a significant problem with countries like Japan and Korea - my suggestion would be those players are made exempt from that system and a continuation of the existing bidding system. Part of this is selfish, we have been terrible in the international market and a draft would make it a bit harder to continue to be terrible. But I also think the current system is shady and hard to police and that needs to change.

2. Teams should be able to trade draft picks. There is no reason to protect teams from their own stupidity or to prevent rebuilding teams from choosing the players they want by acquiring draft picks. This scenario would be terrible for the Angels, because if we haven't protected our minor leaguers we sure as hell wouldn't protect hypothetical minor leaguers. But it's what's best for baseball.

3. The draft slot system should be eliminated. Players should be paid what they are deemed to be worth.

4. The luxury tax threshold needs to be increased. Obviously that would be good for the Angels too.

5. Free agent compensation needs major changes. I hate that teams are punished for trying to make themselves better. I understand the requirement for compensation for teams losing players but punishing teams is silly. It's also a ridiculous restriction on the value of guys like Howie Kendrick. My suggestion is the qualifying offer remains, at a somewhat similar value, but there is no punishment for teams who sign players who turn down a QO. Teams who lose a player, who turned down a QO, continue to receive a sandwich pick as compensation. If this is too drastic, the punishment should at least be reduced (you could protect all first round picks and have the punishment only begin in the second round.

6. The wildcard playoff should be best-of-three.

7. Some form of roster expansion would be good. My suggestion is a 26-man or 27-man roster with either one or two inactive players selected for each game. I don't think it's good that teams practically don't have a bench anymore. This would need to be factored into the aforementioned increase in the luxury tax.

8. Holding the draft after the College World Series (I like the All Star Game week suggestion).

Some of these will happen, some might and some won't. But I'd love to see all these things. A change to the DL system (I've always thought 15 days is too long) also seems like a good idea to me.

[kevinb]

I hope there's a salary cap. I hope there's trading draft picks I hope you can't just spend whatever you want internationally. I hope the players in the minors are taken care of. I hope there are no longer umpires and things are computerized. I hope there are more replays done with out fat old managers running up to argue shit. I hope the designated hitter is either done away with or its in both leagues because playing by two different set of rules is moronic. None of that will happen. Baseball is old and decaying and stuck in the 1800s

[Docwaukee]

8 minutes ago, Oz27 said:

Funny, I was planning to start a thread exactly along these lines today. There are a few things I want to see, for different reasons.

1. Dramatic reform to the international amateur signing system. I think the best solution is the creation of an international amateur draft, or simply the addition of international players to the existing draft. This does pose a significant problem with countries like Japan and Korea - my suggestion would be those players are made exempt from that system and a continuation of the existing bidding system. Part of this is selfish, we have been terrible in the international market and a draft would make it a bit harder to continue to be terrible. But I also think the current system is shady and hard to police and that needs to change

2. Teams should be able to trade draft picks. There is no reason to protect teams from their own stupidity or to prevent rebuilding teams from choosing the players they want by acquiring draft picks. This scenario would be terrible for the Angels, because if we haven't protected our minor leaguers we sure as hell wouldn't protect hypothetical minor leaguers. But it's what's best for baseball.

3. The draft slot system should be eliminated. Players should be paid what they are deemed to be worth.

4. The luxury tax threshold needs to be increased. Obviously that would be good for the Angels too.

5. Free agent compensation needs major changes. I hate that teams are punished for trying to make themselves better. I understand the requirement for compensation for teams losing players but punishing teams is silly. It's also a ridiculous restriction on the value of guys like Howie Kendrick. My suggestion is the qualifying offer remains, at a somewhat similar value, but there is no punishment for teams who sign players who turn down a QO. Teams who lose a player, who turned down a QO, continue to receive a sandwich pick as compensation. If this is too drastic, the punishment should at least be reduced (you could protect all first round picks and have the punishment only begin in the second round.

6. The wildcard playoff should be best-of-three.

7. Some form of roster expansion would be good. My suggestion is a 26-man or 27-man roster with either one or two inactive players selected for each game. I don't think it's good that teams practically don't have a bench anymore. This would need to be factored into the aforementioned increase in the luxury tax.

8. Holding the draft after the College World Series (I like the All Star Game week suggestion).

Some of these will happen, some might and some won't. But I'd love to see all these things. A change to the DL system (I've always thought 15 days is too long) also seems like a good idea to me.

1.  Totally agree.  But I don't think there should be slot limits here either.  But I think how much you pay a player in the draft above a certain level should be somehow tied to the CBT.  

2.  Also agree.  This becomes especially important if you blend the international and foreign drafts.  

3.  Yep.  Or at least modified.  Like I mentioned, your entire draft pool allotment should count toward the Lux tax.  

4.  yes

5. as I mentioned above, this is a big bugaboo for me as well.  

6. On the fence about this one.  don't really care one way or the other

7. I think adding two additional roster spots would really change the game.  You could end up with 9 or 10 bull pen arms at any given time which would further subspecialize things.  My fear is that it could slow the game down with tons of pitching changes.  Starters would be like 5 innings max.  If they limited the number of pitchers, then maybe.  Otherwise, I am cool with it how it is.  

8.  Agree.  

9.  I'd like to see the DH in both leagues.  If a pitcher is being a tool then someone else on their team will get hit and it will work itself out internally.  You could allow the DH to become a position player and sub a new DH in without penalty.  

10.  I will never want to see a computerized strike zone.  

[Oz27]

Doc, you raise a valid point about the roster idea. Maybe it could be salvaged by restricting how many pitchers a team can carry. Or maybe it's just not worth it. I do hate that teams practically don't have benches anymore.

I don't have particularly strong feelings about the DH, in part because this is the system I've always known. But I can see the merit for change. Agree on the computerized strike zone, although it would be a fun experiment.

I really should have mentioned that we need to pay minor league players properly. It is disgraceful that in a multi-billion dollar industry there are players earning so damn little. Furthermore, it's counter-productive to be making it hard for our best young players to be struggling to feed themselves properly. Do you want someone you're trying to be turning into an elite athlete to be eating Carl's Jr burgers every night or to be able to afford a decent meal? Leave the burgers to fat pricks like me.

[AngelsLakersFan]

10 minutes ago, Oz27 said:

 I do hate that teams practically don't have benches anymore.

I don't have particularly strong feelings about the DH, in part because this is the system I've always known. But I can see the merit for change.

The lack of benches is an AL thing because of the DH. NL teams still have pretty deep benches.

[Oz27]

4 minutes ago, AngelsLakersFan said:

The lack of benches is an AL thing because of the DH. NL teams still have pretty deep benches.

That's true. That and the fact teams carry 47 relievers at a time now.

[Docwaukee]

5 minutes ago, Oz27 said:

Doc, you raise a valid point about the roster idea. Maybe it could be salvaged by restricting how many pitchers a team can carry. Or maybe it's just not worth it. I do hate that teams practically don't have benches anymore.

I don't have particularly strong feelings about the DH, in part because this is the system I've always known. But I can see the merit for change. Agree on the computerized strike zone, although it would be a fun experiment.

I really should have mentioned that we need to pay minor league players properly. It is disgraceful that in a multi-billion dollar industry there are players earning so damn little. Furthermore, it's counter-productive to be making it hard for our best young players to be struggling to feed themselves properly. Do you want someone you're trying to be turning into an elite athlete to be eating Carl's Jr burgers every night or to be able to afford a decent meal? Leave the burgers to fat pricks like me.

Agree on your last point to an extent.  I like the idea of being able to offer proper diet options but 18-23yo dudes are gonna eat like shit for the most part.  There should be a free option at the facility that's healthy.  Otherwise, you want them hungry from a motivation standpoint.  Paying their dues.  Like a rite of passage.  

[AngelsLakersFan]

3 minutes ago, Dochalo said:

Agree on your last point to an extent.  I like the idea of being able to offer proper diet options but 18-23yo dudes are gonna eat like shit for the most part.  There should be a free option at the facility that's healthy.  Otherwise, you want them hungry from a motivation standpoint.  Paying their dues.  Like a rite of passage.  

Because paying them minimum wage will sap them of their desire to reach the big leagues?

[Jobu]

4 hours ago, mulwin444 said:

In that scenario, they'd have to make the entire league a DH league

Home team's choice. 

[AngelsLakersFan]

Not sure why you guys are so anti-automated strike calling. If it was seamless and accurate what do we lose? I suppose we won't have Escobar drawing home plate for the umpire anymore, but he'll find something else I'm sure.

[Oz27]

9 minutes ago, Dochalo said:

Agree on your last point to an extent.  I like the idea of being able to offer proper diet options but 18-23yo dudes are gonna eat like shit for the most part.  There should be a free option at the facility that's healthy.  Otherwise, you want them hungry from a motivation standpoint.  Paying their dues.  Like a rite of passage.  

I think they'll still be motivated enough to reach the big leagues even if we give them an extra few bucks a weeks to buy a decent meal or two if they choose to and have a decent living standard.

[AngelsLakersFan]

Just now, Oz27 said:

I think they'll still be motivated enough to reach the big leagues even if we give them an extra few bucks a weeks to buy a decent meal or two if they choose to and have a decent living standard.

I kind of want to see how far we can take it the other way, to see what kind of super human players we get. Something like The Hunger Games comes to mind.

[Oz27]

Just now, AngelsLakersFan said:

I kind of want to see how far we can take it the other way, to see what kind of super human players we get. Something like The Hunger Games comes to mind.

We could be slightly less extreme and just make it so the only ones who get paid are players with an OPS over 1.000 or an ERA under 2. That would be humane, right?

 

[kevinb]

Oh also get rid of drug testing

[Stradling]

I would expand the rosters to 28 players but I would have a daily "active" list of 24-25.  I would give teams more days off, possibly every Monday, and I would have one Double Header a month.  

[Docwaukee]

21 minutes ago, AngelsLakersFan said:

Because paying them minimum wage will sap them of their desire to reach the big leagues?

I think they are horribly underpaid right now, but I wouldn't take it too far.