Foreign imports

[Admin]

there has been some confusion about the rules concerning players that are signed by MLB teams from outside the country...whether they are eligible for the MILB draft or not. (Abreau +)
the commish(pitts) says...
anybody who is the property of a major league organization is available for the MiLB draft. if a foreign import signs after the milb draft, then you have to wait until next milb or 150/50.
this should clear up any problems. if you have any questions please contact pitts.

[Detroit]

Can we just super clarify this....?

This means, if a foreign import has not signed a Major League contract, not negotiating, actually signed on the dotted line, by 6am on January 11th, that player is not eligible. Is this statement correct?

There is a possibility that a player may sign a contract while the draft is ongoing, just wanted to clarify.

Save your $$ boys

[Minnesota Twins]

Tanaka has to sign before 6AM on the 11th then or we wait like for Darvish is what I'm hearing

[Detroit]

I just wanted to make sure that was the case...

No pulling him out in the 4th round!

[ex-Pittsburgh Pirates]

Correct.
Just to 'super-clarify' further...it doesn't have to be a major league contract. The player can sign a minor league deal as well. He has to be affiliated with a major league team though. No independent ball crap.

[ex-Pittsburgh Pirates]

Just to further super-duper clarify....if you draft a player, you need to be able to show me a post from a major fantasy or news website that says the player has signed or agreed to terms with a team, and that post must have been made prior to the start of the draft. (The actual signing often comes days or weeks later).

Yes...I just said that I'll accept 'agreed to terms' if it sounds like the deal is finalized. If the post implies that some terms are agreed to but not others, then I will not accept that.

For example, if Rotoworld reports that Tanaka and the Pirates have agreed on $$$ but are still working out other terms (# of years, trade refusals, etc), then I will not accept that.

[Detroit]

Good response Pitts. Thanks for Super Duper clarifying!

[Deleted]

Does the player need to be listed on Baseball America website?

[ex-Pittsburgh Pirates]

In the past, we used the BA website as a proxy for whether or not a player has been signed by a major league organization. I'm comfortable with drafting a player even though he is not on the BA website AS LONG AS YOU CAN SHOW PROOF THAT HE HAS AGREED TO A CONTRACT.

I'd like to see what Chicago thinks about that. I don't know what the criteria is for BA to put someone in their system. and I don't want to rely on some unpaid intern to put the player in the system after he signs. I think it is best if these foreign players are available in the MiLB draft rather than have to go to 150/50. Just my opinion.

Perhaps there is an opportunity here. We already have an Entry draft and MiLB draft. Would anyone be interested in a 'supplemental foreign professional' draft? I'd think it would be 1 round. Maybe tack it on the end of the MiLB draft. Anyone interested in something like that?

[LA Dodgers]

Pitts that's a interesting idea.

[Deleted]

it is my understanding...
guys like lad guerrero and cws abreau(http://www.baseballprospectus.com/p/102005) signed long ago and are found on the ba db. they are eligible. then there is the case of cws micker zapata who is not found on the db or on milb.com. he would not be eligible.
tanaka if he signs by 6am saturday would be eligible. if he doesnt sign by then, then we wait for the 50/150 rule to apply.
anybody signing AFTER we begin the MiLB draft is ineligible and must wait for 50/150 or next milb draft.

[Detroit]

I'm not sure how you would incorporate a foreign imports draft...

If they are signed to a contract (minors or majors) then they are eligible to be drafted during the MiLB draft. If you were going to add a round where only foreign players can be drafted, you should also adjust the total number of years you are allowed to have in your minors.

I am in favor of adding a round, but not just for foreign players. If they are eligble to be drafted during the MiLB draft, then managers need to do their homework in order to know who to draft.

[Deleted]

We don't need another draft for foreign imports, we have enough drafts.  The blind bids covers the foreign imports that were not signed in time for our MiLB free agent draft. 5 rounds is plenty, we have already reduced rounds from the entry draft due to the 75 year limits. Iif a player like Tanaka signs after our draft, just adds excitement to when he hits  MLB eligibility.

[ex-Pittsburgh Pirates]

The thing I don't like about the way we handle imports is that the whole thing is random. There is no reward for teams who want to do their homework on foreign players. I think there should be. Instead, we let foreign players enter our game pretty much at random. I always preferred letting players draft foreign professionals....this would mainly be Japanese, Korean, and Cuban players. Some of these guys are more valuable than top prospects, yet we will allow them to become available at 150/50. It just seems unfair to drop high quality players into the pool mid-season. It really can affect the standings in a random way.

Just my thoughts. I'm not proposing we do anything right now.

[Deleted]

pitts wants to know all his xmas gifts b4hand.
affect standings? lets just ban injuries