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CBA Updates: 10-Day DL, All-Star Game Doesn’t Count, League Minimum Raises

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More updates are coming in about the new Collective Bargaining Agreement that was agreed to last night, and two of the better ones were announced by the AP early this morning.

The first news is that the All-Star Game will no longer determine home field advantage in the World Series. This was a rule that was brought on after the All-Star Game ended in a tie in 2002. Fans booed the decision to end the game in a tie when the teams ran out of pitchers. So in an effort to solve the problem of “how do we prevent future ties”, MLB decided to make this exhibition game determine home field for the World Series, which really had nothing to do with the problem in 2002.

This will no longer be the case, and the new rules have players competing for a greater share of money that goes to the winners. The World Series home field will now be determined by the World Series team with the best record, which is also a departure from the way it was before 2003, when it rotated between leagues each year.

The other change is that the 15-day disabled list is now a 10-day disabled list. This is something that has a bigger impact to every team, as it makes decisions on short-term injuries a bit easier to decide upon.

We’ve seen the Pirates make some questionable decisions, keeping an injured player on the roster for about a week, hoping that he gets better so they don’t have to lose him for an extra week by placing him on the disabled list. Now, you can expect to see quicker decisions, since the old way of waiting a week for a decision would just save three days. I’d imagine that the Pirates will still wait in some cases, but the wait time would probably be limited to 2-3 days, rather than a week.

There were also some updates on the qualifying offer system in another article by the AP. There are three tiers involved in compensation, and losing picks.

A club that receives revenue sharing (that would include the Pirates) would lose its third-highest pick in the draft. Note that this is different from a third-round pick. For example, the Pirates are currently projected for the 13th overall pick this year, plus they will receive the 42nd pick in the draft as compensation for not signing Nick Lodolo. They could also receive a competitive balance pick, as it sounds like this system will return. So if they signed a free agent who received a qualifying offer, they could possibly lose the 42nd overall pick in this draft (this is only an example, as the rules won’t go into effect this off-season or for the next draft). By comparison, their third overall pick last year was 68th overall, and it was in the 60s in previous years. So it sounds like this will likely be a second round pick that will be lost in most years.

Teams that pay luxury tax would lose their second and fifth highest picks, plus $1,000,000 from their international pool. And teams that fall in the middle category would lose their second highest pick and $500,000 from the international pool.

As for getting compensation, last night it sounded like there would be no compensation if a qualifying offer player signed for less than $50 M. The AP reports that the compensation would still be there, but it would be a lower pick, taking place after competitive balance round B. The draft pick for a qualifying offer player who signed for over $50 M would come after the first round. This sounds similar to the old Type A/Type B compensation system. Meanwhile, teams that pay luxury tax would have their extra draft pick after the fourth round, which is good, since those are the teams more likely to see qualifying offered players departing as free agents.

Other Notes

**If a team is in excess of the luxury tax threshold by $40 M or more, their highest selection in the next draft drops ten spots.

**The bonuses for the international market will be capped at $4.75 M per team. That will start in the next signing period, beginning July 2nd, 2017. UPDATE: Jon Heyman says the pools will be capped by market size. Small markets will get $5.75 M, while medium markets get $5.25 M, and large markets get $4.75 M. That’s great news, as it gives more funds to the smaller markets, and makes it less likely that they’ll be competing against the big markets.

**There was no change to the limits on active rosters, either during the season, or in September.

**Smokeless tobacco is now banned for all new MLB players. The players with one day of service time are grandfathered in with the old rules.

**The league minimum salary will go up from $507,500 to $535,000 next year. It will then increase to $545,000 in 2018, $555,000 in 2019, and cost of living increases the following two years. The league minimum for minor league players will go from $82,700 for second year players to $86,500 next year. It will then go to $88,000 in 2018, $89,500 in 2019, and cost of living increases after that.

Tim Williams
Tim Williams
Tim is the owner, producer, editor, and lead writer of PiratesProspects.com. He has been running Pirates Prospects since 2009, becoming the first new media reporter and outlet covering the Pirates at the MLB level in 2011 and 2012. His work can also be found in Baseball America, where he has been a contributor since 2014 and the Pirates' correspondent since 2019.

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