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June 10, 2012

Thoma: The draft is about money, not competition

By Edward Thoma Free Press Staff Writer

— There’s a popular fallacy about pro sports drafts: That they’re intended to enhance competition by funneling the best fresh talent to the worst teams.

We heard that from Twins general manager Terry Ryan last winter when he applauded the new draft rules. We heard that last week from player agent Scott Boras (emphasis added):

“There was all forms of artificial behavior in the draft. The purpose of the draft is that it’s supposed to create parity in the game. You want teams with the greatest needs to get the best available talent. That has not been achieved in this draft. It’s created a mockery.”  

That’s not the purpose at all. The purpose of the draft — no matter the sport — is to hold down the amount of money going from the teams to the players. What, if anything, it does for competitive balance is secondary.

That’s not merely my opinion. That’s Baseball America’s Jim Callis’ also. From a post-draft online chat last week: “I don’t think MLB cares about anything regarding the draft other than keeping costs as low as possible. Will be interesting to see how many low-revenue and high-revenue clubs clamor for change in the new CBA. I bet it will be several.”

The purpose of Scott Boras, of course, is to subvert that financial intent.

He was good at it under the previous rules. The new setup, for good or ill, appears to have blunted his skills. 

In the past, Boras didn’t care one iota how high his clients were taken; he set a price and manipulated the system to get that money. Last week, when Mark Appel fell from (projected) first overall pick to eighth, it ravaged Appel’s (and Boras’) financial expectations.

I do think Boras is right in saying there was plenty of “artificial behavior” in this draft. Callis says the talent taken in rounds 11-16 was often better than the talent selected in rounds 6-10 — a contention I made in my blog during the draft that drew vocal disagreement from at least one reader. 

Teams were focused — in that part of the draft in particular, but even earlier as well — on making sure they stayed within the limitations of their draft pool.

I don’t know that this artificial behavior was more artificial than, let us say, Boras client Rick Porcello sliding from top-five selection to No. 27 in 2007. 

The artificial behavior Boras induced in the draft the past several years is why Bud Selig and Co. insisted on the new system.

I believe —subject, of course, to the limitations of my knowledge — that the Astros and Twins, the teams with the first two picks, took the two best talents in this draft, or at least the two best talents without serious injury issues.

From this view, the draft’s minor goal of competitive balance was probably enhanced, but we won’t know that for years. The draft’s primary goal was definitely enhanced.

Scott Boras’ cries of pain are all the evidence we need to establish that.



Edward Thoma (344-6377, ethoma@mankatofreepress.com) maintains his Baseball Outsider blog at fpbaseballoutsider.blogspot.com. Follow him on Twitter @bboutsider.

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