MLB Offseason Changes

[chpettit19]

A few of the discussions we've been having around here on different offseason things have gotten me thinking about changes MLB could make to their offseason to give it more "juice" or national attention. The Twins have signed 1 guy (Staumont) to a major league deal as we hit the new year. It's been incredibly slow for us Twins fans. I'm not here to debate the merits of the "let the market come to us" type strategy the Twins deploy, but instead I want to talk about what MLB could do to avoid this sort of offseason for all their teams (I don't think the Cubs have added anyone via trade or signing to their MLB roster yet). 

The "hot stove" hasn't been very hot for many years. I believe a large part of that is the lack of any deadlines in the offseason. The NBA and NFL have free agent dead times and signing periods. MLB has none of that once free agency opens. The NBA and NFL have large, nationally broadcast drafts during their offseason that brings in additional revenue for the league and teams. MLB does their draft at during their all star break and most fans don't even know it's happening. I think Major League Baseball needs to do a much better job of drawing national attention to their game even during the offseason. There's no time throughout the year that NFL fans aren't paying attention because they've done a much better job of building their calendar to always have something coming up. MLB just says "see ya in the spring, hope you guys pay attention during the next 4 months even though most of the time nothing is happening!" 

Putting in arbitrary deadlines for free agency and moving the draft up to the beginning of the year would be my first 2 moves if I were MLB offseason czar. There have been many articles written quoting FO execs who say a large reason not much happens before the trade deadline is because the deadline itself is what drives decisions to be made. I think that's pretty standard for most people. Adding a cutoff for when free agents have to be signed would force both players and teams to make decisions quicker, and provide MLB fans with things to look forward to instead of just checking MLBTradeRumors and Twitter for anyone saying a player may sign soon. If you have a "free agency period" on the calendar with more strict dates you give fans a time where they have to check out where the 40- and 26-man rosters are at (if they're that deep into things), what free agents are available, and then have guys they hope their team signs. Then you have a chunk of time where you know the "hot stove" is actually going to be hot because it has to be.

You can move the draft combine and rule 4 draft up to the offseason as well. This gives you 2 other things to give your fans specific times to look forward to, and pay attention during. The combine wouldn't be as popular as the NFL one, but the draft rankings, and general draft prospect talk, would be programming you can provide. We know us MLB fans love ranking lists! It'd likely still have to be on MLB Network to start, but if you build it right there's a chance you can market it to the bigger networks and increase revenue. Having the draft in the offseason would add extra variability to the draft (Jackson Holliday likely not the #1 pick in 2022, for example), but it'd also give kids the chance to get into their organizations system earlier if they choose to. Bryce Harper wouldn't have had to go to JUCO for a year, for example. Just let him graduate a semester early and go pro (like HS football kids do to get to their college in the spring). Skenes, Crews, and Langford could've been drafted in February (or whenever) and decided to sign then or wait until after their college season if they wanted to play for a national title or stay with their team for that season still.

What do people think? Would it help MLB to add more strict dates to their offseason? Would it help drive eyes to the league during the offseason if they moved the draft up?

[4twinsJA]

Part of the draw for NFL and NBA drafts are those draftees will be playing at top level the next year. MLB draftees are not seen for 3-4 years with an occasional 2nd year appearance. Fans attentions span are not that long.

But overall agree with your post. 

[chpettit19]

18 minutes ago, 4twinsJA said:

Part of the draw for NFL and NBA drafts are those draftees will be playing at top level the next year. MLB draftees are not seen for 3-4 years with an occasional 2nd year appearance. Fans attentions span are not that long.

But overall agree with your post. 

Yeah, I believe the MLB draft gets about 1 million viewers compared to 6+ for the NFL draft. I don't expect it to ever be the NFL draft, but could it grow it's viewership by having it during the winter instead of during your all star break when you're only eating into your own viewership? There's more sports on TV during the winter so maybe it wouldn't really help.

But, outside of Ohtani type players, MLB is nearly completely out of the national conversation from November to March. I'm just spit balling ideas that could bring it back into the national view during the winter. Lots of complicating factors when it comes to moving the draft, but any extra eyeballs and clicks you can draw in their offseason would be helpful, I think.

[nicksaviking]

I have a hard time seeing the MLBPA agreeing to a window for free agency. It would be fun to have a crazy period like the NFL has though.

I think the draft a half of year early would be tough, and I have to think the teams that spend the most money on scouts and evaluations will have a much bigger advantage. Maybe if they do it four months later and soon after the World Series? That might work.

Of course then none of those players would be going right from college/HS games to pro games that same summer, but many don't anyway. But maybe that opens up another opportunity for some kind of winter league. What if there was a separate month long league for just the prior years' draft picks? January perhaps? That would be more fun to follow than the AFL which is loaded with tons of players who no longer have much hype or hope of long MLB careers. Maybe even broadcast the games on MLB Network? It's not like they have anything better to show this time of year. You could then hype the draft a bit more and for those interested, actually see the guys play in some kind of month long tournament prior to spring training instead of waiting four, five years to see these guys play.

[Oldgoat_MN]

I can't even imagine a scenario where MLB teams would draft players either PRIOR to their final year or months after their season is over.

On the other hand, I think brainstorming ideas for generating interest in the off season is a good practice. 

Notice I have offered nothing. I'll try to think of something now.

Thinking... it's hard when you don't practice. 

[chpettit19]

40 minutes ago, nicksaviking said:

I have a hard time seeing the MLBPA agreeing to a window for free agency. It would be fun to have a crazy period like the NFL has though.

I think the draft a half of year early would be tough, and I have to think the teams that spend the most money on scouts and evaluations will have a much bigger advantage. Maybe if they do it four months later and soon after the World Series? That might work.

Of course then none of those players would be going right from college/HS games to pro games that same summer, but many don't anyway. But maybe that opens up another opportunity for some kind of winter league. What if there was a separate month long league for just the prior years' draft picks? January perhaps? That would be more fun to follow than the AFL which is loaded with tons of players who no longer have much hype or hope of long MLB careers. Maybe even broadcast the games on MLB Network? It's not like they have anything better to show this time of year. You could then hype the draft a bit more and for those interested, actually see the guys play in some kind of month long tournament prior to spring training instead of waiting four, five years to see these guys play.

Yeah, I don't see any of this happening, but your statement of "it's not like they have anything better to show this time of year" is really a problem for me. It's so slow they stop many of their main programs because there's just nothing to talk about. I tuned in a couple times last week and they had baseball card shows running most days. They're showing world series re-runs now. I'd think some talk about free agency leading up to the open signing period would drive more viewership than an hour long show about baseball cards, but I could be wrong. I don't know why the MLBPA would be super against it. Does letting the process play out over months really add dollars to the contracts? I'd think the same process would play out just over a shorter period of time. But I could be wrong on that.

That's a really interesting idea on the draft. I wonder how that'd change draft decisions. Would it make the picks at the top of the draft more likely to be hits? You'd think it'd certainly have stopped the Twins from taking Cavaco at a minimum since I'd guess he'd get shredded in a league like that. But I'd certainly tune in to watch. It could include building an academy in the US like they have in the DR and those places where after the college and high school seasons the players get to go there and work with league trainers and coaches. Could be a way to bring the international players into the draft as well. Bring the top kids from all over here and teams get to send their scouts in and see the kids against each other. Very interesting.

[chpettit19]

Just now, Oldgoat_MN said:

I can't even imagine a scenario where MLB teams would draft players either PRIOR to their final year or months after their season is over.

On the other hand, I think brainstorming ideas for generating interest in the off season is a good practice. 

Notice I have offered nothing. I'll try to think of something now.

Thinking... it's hard when you don't practice. 

I think the high school kids would be the problem moving it forward. But the college kids are already super well scouted so I don't think that'd be as much of a concern. I mean sites are already releasing their initial "2024 Draft Board" articles and rankings. The high school kids tend to be the ones who move up and down the board more drastically. It'd be a bit of a "culture shock" early on, but the league would adjust. It wasn't that long ago that they were doing the draft before the college season ended so it's not too crazy of a leap there.

[Vanimal46]

As the years go by, I’m more accepting of the slow burn approach for MLB offseason. The NBA/NFL free agent frenzy is cool for a week, then you forget who went where. 

This offseason hasn’t been terribly slow. We got the Ohtani and Yamamoto signings, and the Soto trade so far. In January we will see lots of activity. 

[Vanimal46]

I know this is more of a general conversation, but I’m glad the Twins were upfront this offseason about their intentions to scale back payroll. It’s saved me a lot of time not worrying about who’s signing where. 

[DJL44]

I'd rather see a dead period between the end of the winter meetings and January. Take 3 weeks off and start again in the new year. No matter what MLB does they aren't going to get more attention than Christmas (it's kind of a big deal).

[Nine of twelve]

I think the draft needs to remain in June. I suppose it would be better to have it in the doldrums of the offseason from a newsiness standpoint but I think the draft has to be right after the high school and college seasons so that scouts can make a better appraisal of the players. Drafting in baseball is already difficult enough and I think it would be inadvisable to make it more so. Players can develop significantly at the age of 17 or 18, and if a college player has missed the previous season that also is a problem.

[chpettit19]

4 hours ago, Nine of twelve said:

I think the draft needs to remain in June. I suppose it would be better to have it in the doldrums of the offseason from a newsiness standpoint but I think the draft has to be right after the high school and college seasons so that scouts can make a better appraisal of the players. Drafting in baseball is already difficult enough and I think it would be inadvisable to make it more so. Players can develop significantly at the age of 17 or 18, and if a college player has missed the previous season that also is a problem.

I don't totally disagree, but how much would it really change? Teams sign 16 year olds out of Latin America every year to multi-million dollar deals so it's not like they have no knowledge of how to scout young players. It would've likely cost Jackson Holliday money as he wouldn't have been the #1 pick, but it'd also save teams from drafting guys like Cavaco in the first.

Yes, a college guy missing the previous season would be a problem. But guys getting hurt during their last season is just as much of a problem, isn't it? It's not like guys only get hurt during their sophomore year or anything.

It's never going to happen, and I don't think it's that big of a deal. But I don't think it'd have that much of an effect (the top 5 still would've been the top 5 this year). And I think the league would adjust. 

[Nine of twelve]

Which is better for baseball, to have the draft be better scouted or to hype the draft in December rather than June (keeping in mind that the draft isn't even worth the hype in the first place)? I'd say the former.

[chpettit19]

2 hours ago, Nine of twelve said:

Which is better for baseball, to have the draft be better scouted or to hype the draft in December rather than June (keeping in mind that the draft isn't even worth the hype in the first place)? I'd say the former.

Depends how much "better scouted" it is. If simply having the most time possible to scout players is the most vital part why not force every kid to play 4 years of college baseball? My argument is that it wouldn't be that much better scouted. As I said, they're already signing kids younger than high school juniors and seniors in other parts of the world. They're trying to do an international draft as well. This would allow you to do a whole world draft if you wanted to. Ethan Holliday (Jackson's little brother) is only 16 years old and already has multiple articles written about him, and all the major scouting outlets have said he's already more advanced than Jackson was at that age. They're already scouting these guys. I don't know that there's that much of a difference in terms of scouting.

Doing the draft earlier also gives them a chance to get those guys in their systems to start giving them better coaching and training earlier. If Jackson Holliday had been drafted in the offseason instead of the middle of the year there's a chance he's already debuted. If Dylan Crews, Paul Skenes, and Wyatt Langford were drafted in the offseason instead of the middle of the year there's a chance they're all already major leaguers. Walker Jenkins could be starting 2024 in AA depending on how well he did in 2023 if he'd been drafted in the offseason. There's positives to moving it up as well.

[Nine of twelve]

2 hours ago, chpettit19 said:

Doing the draft earlier also gives them a chance to get those guys in their systems to start giving them better coaching and training earlier.

Will it actually make any long-term difference to start coaching a 17-year-old four months sooner? Would such a player attain major league status at a younger age because of that? Would you want your son to leave high school in January or February of his senior year? All for the sake of generating fan and media interest in the draft in December? I know what I think but I'll let each reader answer those questions for themselves.

[chpettit19]

2 hours ago, Nine of twelve said:

Will it actually make any long-term difference to start coaching a 17-year-old four months sooner? Would such a player attain major league status at a younger age because of that? Would you want your son to leave high school in January or February of his senior year? All for the sake of generating fan and media interest in the draft in December? I know what I think but I'll let each reader answer those questions for themselves.

Why wouldn't it make a difference? You said "players can develop significantly at the age of 17 or 18." Wouldn't it stand to reason that they'd develop even more with professional coaching instead of high school coaching? Professional trainers? More resources for nutritional advice? Better fields and equipment? More access to time on the field? I listed off 4 guys from the last 2 drafts who'd likely already have debuted in major league baseball had they been drafted in the offseason instead of the middle of the regular season. I added Walker Jenkins as another option for someone who would stand to debut a year earlier. Bryce Harper would've debuted earlier. Yes, I do believe players would debut earlier if they were given better coaching sooner.

High school kids leave school in January of their senior year to attend college for both academic and athletic reasons all the time. There are a whole bunch of high school kids who just graduated and will be attending major universities starting in a couple weeks so they can practice with their college football team to give them a chance to play earlier in college. This stuff is already happening. I don't have a son, but if I did and he wanted to graduate early to pursue his dream, and give himself a leg up in that pursuit, I'd absolutely be open to it if he was mature enough to handle it. You can also keep the signing deadline as early August and then that kid can choose to play his senior year as normal before signing and head straight to his team's training facilities after he graduates.