Why is there a Baseball draft?

What is the reason for having a draft? I know it helps weak teams but giving the best players to the worst teams is against the market. in european soccer there is no draft and even the newcomers are subject to the free market.

We all want baseball to be a free market (no salary cap for example-after all teams like the yanks earned their money it's not their fault that they are rich) so why changing the free market for rookies and allow teams to sign the best players below market value for years? Isn't that a discrimination of the good teams and punishment for beeing good?

 

Because it is part of the Collective Bargaining Agreement. It's a tradeoff players make in exchange for free agency. And there's no way that the Players Association is going on a lengthy strike to protect the rights of 17-year-olds.

 

You're a very smart poster, Ilmago. Baseball owners instituted the draft because their natural competitiveness was causing them to drive up the market for "bonus babies." The draft took care of that by limiting the market for each player to one team. Of course, the owners told everyone the reason for the draft was to promote competitive balance. Sound familiar?

 

It would be nice if the players coming in from foreign countries had to actually be drafted rather than just have the Yankees and Red Sox bid on the latest Japanese player.

Fair is fair.

 

The draft existed prior to the Players Association and was never negotiated as a tradeoff for free agency.

 

But if they wanted to get rid of it now, it would have to be collectively bargained, right? And that ain't happening.

 

It's more difficult to implement than most people in the industry originally thought but it will likely happen someday.

In the US, we have well structured "feeder" systems in high school and collegiate ball but other countries have different structures and regulations, and then there are some countries with very little structure at all. I think it's more a matter of logistics at this point.

 

I've never heard anyone seriously consider trying to get rid of the draft. The PA focuses on keeping the draft system fair and providing as much leverage as possible for players coming into professional baseball to secure strong signing bonuses.

 

Why not ask why the NFL or NBA or NHL has a draft? Why not just let any team in any league sign anybody they want?

 

Because the Yankees would buy all of the players in all of the leagues. The other teams and leagues would hate it but the Staten Island Yankees would become a powerhouse in the NY-Penn league.

 

Of course, ignore the fact that the best Japanese player thus far has never played for New York or Boston, the Cubs signed the last high-profile Japanese player, and the Reds outbid everyone for the last Cuban defector.

 

Come on, Crash, don't let facts get in the way of another stupid Yankees-Red Sox rant.