The MLB Competitive Balance Lottery was held today, awarding draft picks to small market and small revenue teams. The Pirates didn’t get a draft pick this year, after receiving picks the previous two years. The lottery has 13 teams, but only awards 12 picks, which means the Pirates were the odd team out. Here are the results.
Competitive Balance lottery results for 2015 @MLBDraft:
Round A:
1. @marlins
2. @Rockies
3. @Cardinals
4. @Brewers
5. @Padres
6. @Indians— MLB Pipeline (@MLBPipeline) July 23, 2014
Competitive Balance lottery results for 2015 @MLBDraft:
Round B:
1. @Reds
2. @Athletics
3. @Mariners
4. @Twins
5. @Orioles
6. @Dbacks— MLB Pipeline (@MLBPipeline) July 23, 2014
I wrote this article in 2012 after the first lottery was held (and the Pirates got a first round pick that year), and it still applies. The article talked about how the lottery made no sense. MLB is recognizing that certain teams need help. This year they had 13 teams who either were one of the 10 lowest revenue teams, one of the 10 smallest market teams, or both. And yet they only awarded 12 picks. Why not 13? The whole purpose of the draft acknowledges that these teams need help, so it makes no sense to help all but one of the teams.
It’s also questionable that some of these teams need help. The Cardinals have some of the highest attendance in the league, and they’ve spent over $100 M in payroll in each of the last four years. There’s also the fact that they made two of the last three World Series, and won one of those. The Mariners just signed a local TV deal that is worth about $2 billion dollars. The Cardinals received a first round pick, the Mariners received a second round pick, and the Pirates — a team with more need for competitive balance than either team — received nothing. Because we can’t just give out 13 picks. Could you imagine a system where a pick was awarded for each team that needs one? That would make zero sense.
The current system is like if you had 13 homeless people, and you recognized that those people needed help, so you decided to give them each a pack of crackers, but you only bought 12 packs, so you hold a lottery to decide which person doesn’t get any of the needed help. It acknowledges the problem in baseball, it offers a very small amount of help to fix that problem, and for some reason it doesn’t help everyone that needs it.
UPDATE: The Rays and Royals also didn’t receive picks. 13 teams were eligible for the first round, then the Mariners and Twins were added to second round. Both teams received picks, leaving three teams out. And I’d say those three teams need help much more than the Mariners, Cardinals, and a few of the other teams who received picks.
