As far as I know, players don’t enter the MLBPA until they actually have a major league contract. Very few drafted players get one. Therefore, it is NOT the MLBPA’s responsibility to protect players who aren’t even in the union yet. And with all the money going to draftees, shouldn’t the PA want more of that diverted to the guys paying the dues? Seems like it benefits both sides to not have unproven talent making quite so much money before they’ve done anything.

….the easy excuse for the increase in bonuses has been the agents. But I don’t buy it for a second. The teams have tons of leverage, in that they are the only organizations which can offer these players big money. And the money even for players at the bottom of the majors is big.

But baseball teams are getting younger faster than at any other point in history, and it is because the economics favors using young players. Even with the higher bonuses, young baseball talent remains the best bargain in sports. And the teams all know it – this is obvious from the difficulty that Type A free agents had landing contracts, from the massive upswing in the value of prospects in trades the last few seasons, and the increase in total spending on amateur players. Changing the game so that the economics in favor of younger players are even greater will simply screw players out of more money and destabilize the dynamics of the game, increasing the value of young talent to a level massively out of proportion with proven talent. And it will end up costing not only the young players, but the veterans who are free agents and have proved themselves at the major league level, a lot of money. And that money will almost certainly not be passed on to the fans, but will go into ownership’s pockets.

The only problem with the draft as it is right now is that teams and fans have come to value amateur talent more highly, but still haven’t adjusted to the idea that what you value more should cost more. And I see no reason to support that kind of thinking.