Although the offseason is still young, the 2017-18 free agent market has been pretty slow moving. The hot stove has yet to really heat up, possibly because teams are waiting to find out when Shohei Ohtani will be posted.
Because no free agents have signed yet, the 2018 amateur draft order remains unchanged. Things will start to shift around a bit once the nine qualified free agents begin to sign. It'll take a while for next year's draft order to finalize.
On Thursday, MLB awarded 14 small market teams a competitive balance draft pick in the 2018 draft, according to MLB.com's Jonathan Mayo. These picks are self-explanatory. They're giving to smaller market clubs to help them stay competitive. Mayo has the details:
Then there are the Competitive Balance Rounds, A and B, once again slated to take place after the completion of the first and second rounds, respectively. The Competitive Balance Rounds are no longer determined via lottery. Instead, in 2017, all teams that fell in the bottom 10 in revenue or bottom 10 in market size got a pick in Round A, after the first round, or Round B, following the second round. Using a formula that takes revenue and winning percentage into account, six teams were awarded Round A picks, with eight teams getting picks in Comp Round B
In 2018, the groups of teams switch places, meaning there will be eight Comp Round A picks and six in Round B. Major League Baseball re-ran the aforementioned formula, and while no teams dropped out because they are no longer in the bottom 10 in revenue and/or market size, the order in each round has changed.
In previous years the competitive balance picks were awarded during the summer. Nowadays they aren't announced until after the season because they're based on revenue and things like that. Here are the 14 competitive balance picks:
Competitive Balance Round A (after first round)
31. Pirates
32. Rays (compensation for failing to sign 2017 draft pick Drew Rasmussen)
33. Orioles
34. Padres
35. Diamondbacks
36. Royals
37. Indians
38. Rockies
39. Cardinals
Competitive Balance Round B (after second round)
70. Marlins
71. Athletics
72. Rays
73. Reds
74. Brewers
75. Twins
There are a few important things to note here. One, that No. 32 overall pick is a compensation pick, not a competitive balance pick. The Rays did not sign Rasmussen, their 2017 supplemental first rounder, because an issue popped up with his physical. It just so happens the compensation pick lands in the competitive balance round. The other eight picks in Competitive Balance Round A are the competitive balance round picks. Got all that?
Two, the exact draft slots are not final. Right now Competitive Balance Round A covers picks 31-39 while Competitive Balance Round B covers picks 70-75. That will change slightly as qualified free agents change teams and draft picks are gained and lost via the free agent compensation system. Things won't change a ton, but they'll change.
And three, these 14 competitive balance picks are tradeable! They are the only tradeable picks in the entire draft. For whatever reason they are only tradeable during the regular season though, not during the offseason. Also, they can not be traded for cash and they can only be traded once. These picks don't have a ton of value. In recent seasons they've been traded for middle relievers and depth players, or as the third or fourth piece in a trade.
