With a new CBA comes new wrinkles and new rules that change the landscape of Major League Baseball. A major emphasis was placed on service time manipulation during negotiations last winter between MLB and the MLBPA, both sides agreeing they wanted to see top prospects sooner. The new CBA saw significant changes for teams and players. So what exactly does it mean for the Mariners and Braves, as well as the Orioles, Guardians, and Cardinals?
Let’s start by quickly explaining the changes per the new CBA language:
Prospect Promotion Incentives:
If a player who accrues a full year of service time in his rookie season (172 calendar days on the MLB roster. In 2022, a player had to be on the MLB roster by April 14 to reach this threshold) garners award consideration in any season prior to qualifying for arbitration, that player’s club receives “prospect promotion incentive (PPI)” compensation in the form of a draft pick.
According to the new CBA language, “all PPI compensation will occur immediately following the end of the first round of the respective draft.”
It should be noted, there was previously a plan to attach draft pick compensation for players that finished in the Top-3 in Rookie of the Year voting, but that was set to be awarded if an international draft was every agreed upon. That did not happen, so no PPI compensation will be awarded to teams who have a player finish 2nd or 3rd in Rookie of the Year voting.
Finally, there are a few qualifications for a player to be eligible for his team to acquire PPI compensation.
· The player must enter the season with rookie eligibility and no more than 60 days of service.
· The player must be considered a preseason Top 100 prospect by at least two of Baseball America, ESPN and MLB.com.
· The player cannot enter their rookie season as a foreign professional and the player cannot be signed to a Major League contract covering more than one playing season prior to making their Major League debut. Essentially, this means a player must debut before signing an extension. In the past, this would disqualify players like Luis Robert, Evan White, and Eloy Jimenez.
Award Compensation for Players
Per the new CBA, any eligible player, as defined by the PPI qualifications above, that finishes in the Top-2 in voting for Rookie of the Year will be credited with a full year of service.
What It Means:
Mariners: Because Julio Rodriguez met the qualifications of being a PPI-eligible rookie, his winning of Rookie of the Year will net the Mariners a draft pick immediately following the first round. Since the Dodgers and Mets are both expected to see their first round pick drop ten spots after exceeding the luxury tax by $40 million, the Mariners should be awarded the No. 29 overall pick in the 2023 MLB Draft.
Rodriguez already accrued a full year of service time this past season after making the opening day roster. He also signed a mammoth extension during the summer. His arbitration years have been bought out. Thus, he has nothing to gain in terms of service time.
Braves: Centerfield stud Michael Harris II won the National League Rookie of the Year award, but was not featured on enough Top 100 preseason prospect lists to qualify the Braves for an extra draft pick. Also, he was not on the big league roster long enough to qualify either. Harris would have accrued a full year of service time with winning of the award, but he signed an 8-year contract extension this summer that will buy out his arbitration.
It is important to note, PPI compensation is NOT an achievement award. It was not designed to award teams for a rookie having a big year. Its entire purpose is to incentivize teams to start their top prospects at the big league level and not manipulate their service time. That said, a conversation can certainly be made that “top prospects” is arbitrary and subjective and can vary from team-to-team and may not be reflective of public top prospect boards.
As for Spencer Strider, he was on the Braves opening day roster and did accrue 172 days of service time in 2022, but he was not featured on at least two of the Baseball America, ESPN and MLB.com preseason Top 100 lists, so he wouldn’t have net the Braves any draft pick compensation either. Like Harris, Strider signed a contract extension this season that will buy out his arbitration years.
Long story short, while the Braves are well-represented in Rookie of the Year voting, the team will not be the beneficiary of any draft pick compensation.
Orioles: Adley Rutschman’s 2nd-place finish in the Rookie of the Year voting will not net Baltimore any compensation, but Rutschman does accrue a full year of service time, moving his free agency up one year. Instead of becoming a free agent after the 2028 season, Rutschman is now slated to become a free agent after the 2027 campaign.
Guardians: Steven Kwan’s 3rd-place finish will not net the Guardians any compensation.
Cardinals: Brendan Donovan’s 3rd-place finish will not net the Cardinals any compensation.
Final Thoughts
The new CBA rules and incentives had a positive impact on Major League Baseball in 2022. Rodriguez was on the cusp of making the MLB roster in spring training. It’s possible Seattle saw the incentives and decided to push their chips in and get him to the big leagues immediately. Had it not been for a preseason triceps injury, Rutschman may have made the Orioles opening day roster as well. Elsewhere, the Royals decided to start the season with Bobby Witt Jr. on their opening day roster. The Tigers began the season with Spencer Torkelson on their opening day roster. CJ Abrams was up with the Padres in time to qualify San Diego for draft pick compensation too. All of those teams would have been eligible for draft pick compensation had their rookie won Rookie of the Year.
2023 is primed to see several Top 100 prospects break camp with their big league clubs. Gunnar Henderson, Gabriel Moreno and Corbin Carroll are all shoe-ins to make their respective team’s opening day roster. It would surprise nobody if Grayson Rodriguez, Francisco Alvarez, Jordan Walker and Eury Perez joined them. Guys like Triston Casas, Brett Baty, Hunter Brown, DL Hall, Josh Jung, Bo Naylor, Cade Cavalli and others are sure to make things interesting as well.