The existing qualification-offer system will stay in place despite the Major League Baseball Players Association rejecting MLB's final proposal for an international draft.
Talks on an international draft nearly scuttled negotiations over a new collective bargaining agreement, which came amid a lengthy, owner-imposed lockout. MLB tied the adoption of an international draft to the removal of the qualifying-offer system in an effort to encourage the union.
Latin American players were against an international draft because they were worried about how the livelihoods of those tasked with developing young players in their home countries would be affected. The MLB and MLB agreed to table discussions during the negotiation of the new collective bargaining agreement. Status quo is maintained if an agreement is not reached.
The union made its decision about eight hours before the deadline. According to two union sources, the MLBPA did not vote on the idea of an international draft, but they submitted it to the union leaders on Sunday and they decided not to accept it.
The MLBPA said in a statement that players made clear from the beginning that any international draft must improve the status quo for those players and not unfairly discriminate between those players and domestic entrants.
MLB's offer from March called for a 20-round, hard- slot draft that would guarantee $181 million to the top 600 international players, with up to $20,000 to spend on an unlimited number of free agents. The first time the union agreed to any version of an international draft was when the MLBPA made its first counterproposal. At least $260 million for the 600 picks, with slots acting as minimums, and up to $40,000 to spend on untried players.
"At their core each of our proposals was focused on protecting against the scenario that all Players fear the most -- the erosion of our game on the world stage, with international players becoming the latest victim in baseball's prioritization of efficiency over fundamental fairness." The League's response fell short of what players could consider fair.
During a face-to-face meeting Saturday in New York, the MLBPA kept its number at $260 million despite the league's counterproposal not moving a single dollar. MLB moved the total guarantees to $191 million with the hope that it would be voted on by the player leadership.
Major League Baseball said in a statement Monday that it worked to reach an agreement with the MLBPA to reform the international amateur system in ways that would benefit future players. The MLBPA chose the status quo over transitioning to an international draft that would have ensured future international players larger signing bonuses and better educational opportunities, while enhancing transparency to best address the root causes of corruption in the current system.
Every summer, amateur players from the United States, Canada and Puerto Rico are subject to the domestic draft. The amateur players from other countries who are currently eligible to be signed through the international signing period are included in an international draft. Asian players are eligible if they're younger than 25 years old and have played less than six years in their country's professional league; the same requirement is in place for Cubans.
The amount of money that would be guaranteed to players for education and the start date for the first part of the international draft were disagreements between MLB and the MLBPA. The MLBPA was upset that MLB didn't agree on a proposal that would increase the bonus pools if the number of international signings dropped.
Both sides had been fighting over the issues for a long time. The baseball players' association is trying to get rid of the date of the qualification-offer system. The MLB has been trying to convince the MLBPA to agree on an international draft for 20 years.
Major League Baseball's desire for an international draft only increased in recent years due to widespread, escalating corruption in the international market, most prominently in baseball strongholds like the Dominican Republic and Venezuela.
The teams are able to project their allotted player pools years in advance and have been agreeing to early deals with players as young as 13 years old.
Trainers, paid up to half of the players' signing bonuses, often provide players with performance- enhancing drugs as early as age 12 according to players, coaches and scouts. It's not uncommon for teams to reduce or eliminate bonuses just weeks before signing day. The players are barred from working out with other teams after verbal agreements are made.
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