Friday, May 31, 2013

MLB Will Not Institute An International Draft For 2014

The Yankees have done well with international free agents in the past.

According to Jeff Passan of Yahoo! Sports, Major League Baseball will not be implementing an international draft for the 2014 season.

Although Passan says an international draft is "considered something of a certainty", it's no sure thing to happen at all. Some detractors fear that such a draft would dry up the pipeline of international talent, as has been the case since Puerto Rican players were made part of the Rule 4 Draft (aka The First-Year Player draft). However, proponents for such an international draft argue that the current system has rampant identity fraud and PED usage among teenagers. A draft would have better background checking and PED testing.

This news bodes well for the Yankees, who have been able to use their financial power in order to sign such players as Jesus Montero, Hideki Matsui, and Orlando Hernandez. Other international free agents, that have signed to other MLB clubs recently, are Yoenis Cespedes, Aroldis Chapman, and Yu Darvish.

It seems to me that the Yankees should start being more active on the international front, as they clearly have been at a disadvantage when it comes to the First-Year Player draft.

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Sorry for the Capatcha... Blame the Russians :)