BA (Badler): Seven Reasons Why MLB’s New International Rules Are Backward

Major League Baseball’s new rules… restrict [international] players from going to a team’s academy until either they turn 16 or until six months before they’re eligible (whichever comes first), and counts any visit to a team facility as one of the 30 days the player is allowed to be at the academy, regardless of whether the player stays there overnight.

The motivation behind the changes, it seems, is MLB’s desire to cut back on the extreme early agreements for players who can sign on July 2 that the industry has trended toward in the last year or so… Some teams last year agreed to deals with players at least 10 months in advance of July 2. The competition for younger players has only increased this year, with multiple teams already having agreements in place to sign players for July 2, 2015.

MLB’s goal to try to curb teams from being pushed to scout 14-year-olds and reach agreements with 15-year-olds a year before they’re eligible to sign is admirable and a worthwhile pursuit. Yet the way the commissioner’s office has gone about trying to fix that problem has only created more issues and a more imbalanced system that leaves teams and players worse off than they were before. Here’s why:

1. Less Opportunity To Evaluate…
2. Shots Fired At The DPL [Dominican Prospect League] And IPL [International Prospect League]...
3. Penalizes Younger Players…
4. Double Standard For Americans Vs. Latinos…
5. Condenses Schedule For Players…
6. Less Opportunity To Develop…
7. Who Benefits From These Rules?... This perhaps is the best question to ask about the new regulations. They certainly don’t seem to give the players any advantage. And the teams now have fewer opportunities to see players, so it doesn’t help them either. The only party these rules seem to help is the commissioner’s office, which could potentially gain greater influence and control over the showcasing of amateur talent in Latin America.