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Friday, June 05, 2009
Should you be allowed to trade draft picks?
Everyone is talking about it. You’ve got Craig, Poz, and Stark.
Suppose you and your 29 buddies are in a league, where you draft rookies. Who would be in the best position to decide whether you are allowed to trade draft picks? Well, you 30 owners, right? So, if 29 of you are for trading, while one of you is not, and the independent smartest man in the world commissioner is not, what is the right answer? The market has spoken: allow trades. Then, you just have to come up with whatever controls you want to ensure that one guy can’t game the system beyond what the majority wants. As long as the majority of the owners want it, and as long as the players don’t have a problem with it, why is this even being discussed?
Well, probably because the rest of us have no idea whatsoever how the 30 teams feel about the idea, and no investigative reporter is making the necessary 30 phone calls to put this issue to rest.
Allowing trades would have two effects
1) Draftees make more money
2) Teams become wealthier across the board
The owners might be too stupid to look past 1)
If Strasburg is worth $25 million to the Nationals, and $70 million to the Yankees, then everyone is better off if the Yankees trade prospects/picks worth more than $25 million to Washington and sign Strasburg for $40 million