A few weeks ago, Major League Baseball held its 2014 First-Year Player Draft. Of the 1,125 players selected, 36 had committed to play at schools across the Pac-12. So far, 19 have signed professional contracts, ending Pac-12 fans’ hopes of seeing these athletes play at the respective schools they committed to. For the other 18 that have not signed as of Sunday, June 30th (today), they have until July 18th to decide whether they will sign or forego professional baseball for now in the hopes of improving their draft stock while being able to enjoy the college lifestyle for at least three years, when they next become eligible to declare for the MLB draft.
Obviously, the decision for those that have been unsigned weighs mainly on whether they are receiving the overall money they desire depending on where they were drafted. When the new Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) was signed near the end of 2011, new rules were implemented toward the First-Year Player Draft that leveled the playing field across Major League Baseball in terms of the larger-market teams no longer having the advantage to spend more money on their drafts picks.
In the past, the Commissioner’s Office, would make “slot” recommendations about what the Commissioner’s Office felt certain draft spots in the draft were worth. If teams exceeded this amount, they had to provide an explanation to the Commissioner, Bud Selig, and if the team came up with an adequate explanation, the team(s) went unpunished.
However, Selig and the owners wanted a much more stringent slotting system in place. During the first 10 rounds of the draft, each individual pick is assigned a specific bonus amount for each team drafting in that exact spot. For example, since the Houston Astros had the first overall pick in this year’s draft, the first overall pick was assigned a value of $7,922,100 (source: Baseball America). For the first 10 rounds, the Astros were assigned an overall “pool” allotment of $13,362,200, the highest among Major League teams because they have the most selections targeting the most valuable amateur players coming from high school or college. The Astros would be allowed to overspend on Brady Aiken’s bonus, but they cannot pay more than $13,362,200 with all of their draft picks they hold within the first 10 rounds without facing an overage tax penalty. In addition, from rounds 11-40, no team can spend in excess of $100,000 on any individual draft pick’s bonus without facing the same overage tax penalties.
If a team exceeds its total bonus pool amount by anywhere from 0-5%, they are forced to pay a 75% tax on the overage they spent. (ex. Let’s say the Astros spend $13,500,000 this season on bonuses for their draft picks in the first 10 rounds. $13,500,000 – $13,362,200 = $137,800. $137,800/$13,362,200 = 1.03%. In this situation, since the Astros would be in the 0-5% range, they would have to pay 75% * $137,800 (the overage of the team’s bonus pool) = $103,350. So, the Astros would have to pay a $103,350 penalty.
If a team exceeds its total bonus pool amount by anywhere from 5-10%, it is forced to pay a 75% tax on the overage they spent plus they forfeit their first-round draft pick in the following year’s draft.
If a team exceeds its total bonus pool amount by anywhere from 10-15%, they are forced to pay a 100% tax on the overage they spent plus they forfeit their first-round and second-round draft picks in the following year’s draft.
If a team exceeds its total bonus pool amount by 15+%, they are forced to pay a 100% tax on the overage they spent plus they forfeit their first-round draft picks in the next two drafts.
The draft rules of recent CBA go even more in depth, but these are just the basics. These rules disallow teams from spending excessive amounts of money on their draft picks and gives teams more to think about when determining their own value on a player versus his assigned slot value by the league. It is certainly not a coincidence that all of the players on this list that were drafted in the 10th round or better have already been signed and those in the 11th round and later have not. As the July 18th deadline approaches, we will continue to monitor these players’ statuses and provide updates all the way until the signing deadline.
PAC-12 COMMITMENTS SELECTED IN THE 2014 MLB FIRST-YEAR PLAYER DRAFT
| Name | Round | Overall | Height | Weight | High School | Hometown | Organization | Position | Commitment | Signed (Pro Ball)? |
| Brady Aiken | 1 | 1 | 6’3″ | 210 | Cathedral Cathlic | Cardiff by the Sea, CA | Houston Astros | Pitcher – L | UCLA | No (waiting announcement) |
| Alex Jackson | 1 | 6 | 6’2″ | 210 | Rancho Bernardo | Escondido, CA | Seattle Mariners | Catcher | Oregon | Yes |
| Derek Hill | 1 | 23 | 6’2″ | 175 | Elk Grove | Sacramento, CA | Detroit Tigers | Outfielder | Oregon | Yes |
| Cole Tucker | 1 | 24 | 6’3″ | 185 | Mountain Pointe | Phoenix, AZ | Pittsburgh Pirates | SS | Arizona | Yes |
| Michael Kopech | Compensation – 1A | 33 | 6’3″ | 195 | Mt. Pleasant | Mount Pleasant, TX | Boston Red Sox | Pitcher – R | Arizona | Yes |
| Jacob Gatewood | Competive Balance – A | 41 | 6’5″ | 190 | Clovis | Clovis, CA | Milwaukee Brewers | SS | USC | Yes |
| Ryan Castellani | 2 | 48 | 6’4″ | 195 | Brophy College Prep. | Phoenix, AZ | Colorado Rockies | Pitcher – R | Arizona State | Yes |
| Grant Hockin | 2 | 61 | 6’4″ | 195 | Damien | Pomona, CA | Cleveland Indians | Pitcher – R | UCLA | Yes |
| Alex Verdugo | 2 | 62 | 6’0″ | 200 | Sahuaro | Tucson, AZ | Los Angeles Dodgers | OF/LHP | Arizona State | Yes |
| Marcus Wilson | Competive Balance – B | 69 | 6’3″ | 175 | Juniperro Serra | Los Angeles, CA | Arizona Diamondbacks | Outfielder | Arizona State | Yes |
| Joshua Morgan | 3 | 95 | 5’11” | 185 | Orange County Lutheran | Corona, CA | Texas Rangers | SS | UCLA | Yes |
| Brock Burke | 3 | 96 | 6’2″ | 170 | Evergreen | Evergreen, CO | Tampa Bay Rays | Pitcher – L | Oregon | Yes |
| Jacob Nix | 5 | 136 | 6’3″ | 200 | Los Alamitos | Los Alamitos, CA | Houston Astros | Pitcher – R | UCLA | Yes |
| Casey Soltis | 5 | 137 | 6’1″ | 185 | Granada | Livermore, CA | Miami Marlins | Outfielder | Oregon | Yes |
| Max George | 6 | 173 | 5’9″ | 180 | Regis Jesuit | Parker, CO | Colorado Rockies | SS/2nd | Oregon State | Yes |
| Trace Loehr | 6 | 192 | 5’10” | 175 | Putnam | Milwaukie, OR | Oakland Athletics | SS | Oregon State | Yes |
| Branden Kelliher | 8 | 252 | 5’11” | 175 | Lake Stevens | Lake Stevens, WA | Oakland Athletics | Pitcher – R | Oregon | Yes |
| Spencer Moran | 11 | 337 | 6’6″ | 180 | Moutain View | Surprise, AZ | Tampa Bay Rays | Pitcher – R | Utah | Yes |
| Gage Hinsz | 11 | 341 | 6’4″ | 210 | Billings West | Billings, MT | Pittsburgh Pirates | Pitcher – R | Oregon State | No |
| Jordan Yamamoto | 12 | 356 | 6’0″ | 185 | Saint Louis School | Pearl City, HI | Milwaukee Brewers | Pitcher – R | Arizona | Yes |
| J.J. Matijevic | 22 | 674 | 6’2″ | 200 | Norwin | North Huntingdon, PA | Boston Red Sox | SS/Util | Arizona | No |
| Darius Day | 23 | 696 | 5’11” | 180 | Simeon Carter Academy | Chicago, IL | Texas Rangers | Outfielder | Arizona | No |
| Joe Gillette | 23 | 705 | 6’3″ | 190 | Scotts Valley | Scotts Valley, CA | St. Louis Cardinals | Infielder | Oregon State | No |
| Denis Karas | 24 | 731 | 5’10” | 165 | Campolindo | Lafeyette, CA | Pittsburgh Pirates | Pitcher – R | California | No |
| Kainoa (KJ) Harrison | 25 | 758 | 6’1″ | 195 | Punahou | Kailua, HI | Cleveland Indians | Catcher | Oregon State | No |
| David Peterson | 28 | 854 | 6’6″ | 230 | Regis Jesuit | Denver, CO | Boston Red Sox | Pitcher – L | Oregon | No |
| Cameron Avila-Leeper | 29 | 860 | 5’11 | 150 | Grant Union | Sacramento, CA | Minnesota Twins | Pitcher – L | Arizona | No |
| Elliot Cary | 32 | 964 | 6’3″ | 175 | Clackamas | Clackamas, OR | Washington Nationals | Pitcher – L | Oregon State | No |
| Andrew Summerville | 34 | 1011 | 6’3″ | 185 | Lakeside | Seattle, WA | Seattle Mariners | Pitcher – L | Stanford | No |
| Tim Susnara | 34 | 1018 | 6’1″ | 195 | St. Francis | Redwood City, CA | San Francisco Giants | Catcher | Oregon | No |
| Nick Leonard | 34 | 1033 | 6’2″ | 180 | Mountain Vista | Highlands Ranch, CO | Atlanta Braves | Pitcher – R | Washington State | No |
| Mitch Hart | 35 | 1048 | 6’4″ | 195 | Granite Bay | Granite Bay, CA | San Francisco Giants | Pitcher – R | USC | No |
| Griffin Canning | 38 | 1133 | 6’1″ | Unknown | Santa Margarita | Coto De Caza, CA | Colorado Rockies | Pitcher – R | UCLA | No |
| Drew Rasmussen | 39 | 1170 | 6’1″ | 200 | Mt. Spokane | Colbert, WA | Arizona Diamondbacks | Pitcher – R | Oregon State | No |
| Jeff Bain | 39 | 1179 | 6’4″ | 215 | San Marino | Pasadena, CA | Los Angeles Dodgers | Pitcher – R | California | No |
| Michael Gretler | 39 | 1184 | 6’2″ | 180 | Bonney Lake | Bonney Lake, WA | Boston Red Sox | Infielder | Oregon State | No |
