MLB Needs to Allow Trading of Draft Picks

Article Written By ESPN 99.1's Andrew Brown

Major League Baseball needs to get with the times and start to allow the trading of draft picks and I'm talking ASAP.

I’ve always been a fan of tradition, never straying away from the norm.

Baseball is a sport of deep tradition, superstition, and the sport most likely to resist change. Normally I would stand by the no change regime but with the topic of trading draft picks, my tune has changed.

Major League Baseball is the only big time sport not to allow the trading of draft picks, which makes me cringe more every time the topic comes up.

It’s a sport where the term “prospect” is thrown around in trade talks with the same weight as draft picks in the NFL, conjuring up the question: “Why can’t we just trade draft picks”?

I’m sure the San Diego Padres would have much rather cut out the “middle man” allowing them to not completely cripple their prospect list and future. MLB already has a boring and seemingly never ending draft so why not make things interesting by adding more entertainment value to the draft?

Each year we see how much the NFL draft and all the possibilities that surround each pick can garnish attention, which keeps the interest level high. Even as an avid baseball fan I know I’d be more intrigued by the possibility of the Diamondbacks or the Astros trading away their first round picks for say, a Cole Hamels or Cliff Lee.

This is not to say I don’t see the other side of the coin however; the potential for small market dumps causing a stockpile of talent on one team, greedy owners, and hectic agents are very real concerns, however, the positives of trading draft picks will wipe out all those concerns and will ease the worry warts.

I’m sure I’m not the only one who wants to see this change as soon as possible even though the most likely time for change would be after 2017 when a new labor deal will be set in place.

Never the less, in the ever changing world of sports, it’s time for Major League Baseball to forgo tradition on this one and trade those draft picks.

** Article Written By ESPN 99.1's Andrew Brown