Tuesday, April 2, 2013

Royals 2013 Draft Bonus Pool

Thanks to Jim Callis's hard work at Baseball America, we learned today that the Royals bonus pool for the 2013 first year player draft will be $8,290,700. They will have to spread this money across their first 11 selections in the draft. The Royals will also be deducted for any money they spend over $100,000 on picks from round 11 on and will lose all of the allotted money assigned to picks that they fail to sign.

The Royals sixth in terms of budget pool and have 11 selections in the first round thanks to the addition of their competitive balance lottery pick. Three of those selections will come within the first 46 picks of the entire draft (8, 34, and 46). Only three teams will have more draft picks than the Kansas City Royals: the Miami Marlins, New York Yankees, and the Oakland Athletics.

Here is a quick breakdown of the American League Central's draft budget pools:

  • 6) Kansas City - $8,290,700
  • 7) Minnesota - $8,264,400
  • 16) Detroit - $6,467,400
  • 19) Cleveland - $6,188,800
  • 24) Chicago - $5,301,600
I wasn't a huge fan of the Collective Bargaining Agreement thanks in large part to the limits on amateur spending. I will agree though that long term something needed to be done, before large market teams realized how easily it could be for them to dominate the amateur market in the same ways they do the free agent market.

It is great that the Royals will still have one of the largest budget pools, but I would prefer the pools to be decided based on market size or payroll rather than the team's finish from the year before. The simple fact is that smaller market teams have to rely more on the draft and player development. In my mind, if the draft is about parity, these teams should be dealt a favorable hand.

A team like the Athletics or Rays shouldn't be penalized for their own success, when the draft will be their lifeline at future success. There are many counter arguments to these points, but don't forget that I'm a Royals fan. Of course I would prefer to see a realm when small market teams are at an advantage.

I do realize that in a sense small market teams are being given extra budget dollars thanks to the new competitive balance lottery. I definitely won't complain about these picks. Sure it feels dirty that the Royals get an extra pick simply for playing in Kansas City, but once again it is nice to have an advantage in at least one area. Let's hope the Royals can make the most of this year's opportunity.

For a look at the entire list of draft budgets, you can find it here

2 comments:

  1. I agree totally with the budget being based on market size rather than finish. Valid points. It would be a good way to try to balance the playing field in baseball since it will almost be impossible to ever get revenue sharing as in football. There is no way the Dodgers and Yankees, for example, give up their lucrative TV deals.

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  2. Yes. At this point baseball is in way to deep in contracts to ever go to a salary cap and true revenue sharing system. If Major League Baseball truly wants parity, they will need to come up with creative ways in which to level the playing field.

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