Type A Free Agency Question.

[luckster]

I know when a team signs a type A free agent, they surrender a draft pick to the team that lost him.

If the Reds' finished the season today, I believe they would own the seventh overall pick in the draft.

What would happen if the Reds signed Bartolo Colon? Would they lose their first round pick to the White Sox, or would it be their second round pick?

I know it is usually the first round pick, but I'm wondering if a team's position in the draft influences the compensation.

[guernsey]

The team losing the player has to have offered the player arbitration before drft picks become involved.

If the team losing the player drafts in the first half of the draft, they lose a second round pick instead of a first round pick.

Following the '99 season, Tampa Bay signed both Guzman and Vaughn. The Reds didn't offer Vaughn arbitration, so the Reds didn't get a pick for losing him. Tampa Bay drafted in the upper-half of the first round, so the Reds got their second round pick for losing Guzman.

[UKFlounder]

Wow! I didn't realize draft position affected which pick a team lost.

Thanks for the info guernsey (& especially to luckster for asking the question )

[guernsey]

From BA's FAQ:

Can you explain how the free-agent compensation process works?

Every offseason, the Elias Sports Bureau compiles rankings of all major league players, based on the previous two year's stats. The players are ranked by position, so first basemen are not compared to second basemen, etc. The players are then broken down into Type A, Type B and Type C (and the rest).

Type A players are players rated in the top 30 percent of all players at their position. Type B players are players rated in the 31-50 percent bracket at their position. Type C players are players rated in the 51-60 percent bracket at their position. Because the players are only compared to others at their position, some players might be a Type B but seem to be not as good as some Type C players, etc., but that’s how the system works.

When a team loses a free agent who is ranked in one of the three categories, they receive compensation as follows (if and only if they offered that player arbitration before he signed with his new team):

Type A. Team losing player gets signing team’s first-round pick as well as a supplemental first-round pick. If the signing team is picking in the first half of the first round, they lose their second-rounder instead of their first-rounder.

Type B. Team losing player gets signing team’s first-round pick. If the signing team is picking in the first half of the first round, they lose their second-rounder instead of their first-rounder.

Type C. Team losing player gets a supplemental pick after the second round.

If a team doesn't offer arbitration to their free agent, they get nothing when he signs with another team. This brings up the next question of why don't the teams always offer arbitration? The answer is, they might simply be afraid he'll accept it. It's a gamble some teams aren't willing to take, even if it seems likely the player is heading out of town.

[luckster]

Thanks guernsey. I knew you would be the one answering this question.

Guess I should have just asked you directly.

[cincinnati chili]

This is the key part of guernsey's quote that will apply to the Reds If the signing team is picking in the first half of the first round, they lose their second-rounder instead of their first-rounder.

We're not going to lose a first rounder if we go after a Type A free agent - not that there's much out there in the way of pitching.