Baseball Considering "Lottery" Draft To Discourage Tanking

As discussions continue between MLB and the players union, one of the topics being proposed is a "lottery-style draft", similar to the NBA, in order to discourage tanking.

According to The Athletic, a lottery system is being discussed, beginning in 2023, that would see every team that missed the post-season participate.

Key points of the owners proposal look like this:

First 3 picks of the amateur draft would be determined by lottery
Teams with worst 3 records would each have 15% odds of getting 1st pick
4th worst record would have 12.5% chance at top pick, 5th worst: 10%
Odds would descend, until the 16th worst team, which would have a 0.75% chance
After first 3 lottery picks, the draft would pick up at No. 4 by inverse records, as previously
A team cannot receive a Top 3 lottery pick two years in succession

The union has proposed a very different lottery plan, that they believe is a much stronger deterrent to tanking, as follows:

First 8 picks will be determined by lottery
After that, the draft would continue with small market clubs picking in reverse order of winning percentage, then large market clubs in reverse order of win%
Small market teams that finish in the bottom 8 for two consecutive years, or the bottom 12 in three straight years, cannot participate in the lottery
Large market teams that finished in the bottom 4 for two straight years, or bottom 8 for three consecutive years, are ineligible for the lottery
Small market teams that do well (either making the playoffs, or finishing at least .500, get additional supplemental picks

As negotiations continue, we will keep an eye on how many ping pong balls will be in the play as a new draft lottery is formulated.

Collective bargaining talks are expected to resume today.

Photo Credit: Troy Taormina-USA TODAY Sports