Brewers would be unfairly punished by MLB’s proposed changes to draft and international free agency

In Major League Baseball's next Collective Bargaining Agreement, which will have to be enacted before the end of the day on December 1 to avoid a lockout, Commissioner Rob Manfred and team owners are very transparently pushing for changes to the league's structure that create more equality between small-market and large-market teams. However, as a small-market club that has expertly navigated MLB's current landscape, the Milwaukee Brewers could actually end up being negatively impacted by changes that are supposed to create parity in baseball.

The main tradeoff that's being discussed in the initial negotiations between the league and the MLB Player's Association (MLBPA) -- the two parties who have to agree on the next CBA -- is that the league will get to enact its desired salary cap and floor, which owners are strongly pushing for, and in return the MLBPA, which is vehemently against the enactment of a salary cap specifically, will receive better financial compensation and more favorable benefits for players prior to their free-agent years. Ideas like raising the league minimum salary, enacting an aggressive baseline arbitration salary, and decreasing the number of years of team control organizations have of players prior to them becoming free agents have already been floated by the MLBPA.

As much as a salary cap could end up benefitting the Milwaukee Brewers, in that it would prevent their recurring NL competition like the Los Angeles Dodgers and Philadelphia Phillies from stacking their rosters with expensive free agents and bloating their payrolls, the proposed changes listed above will certainly have a significant impact on Milwaukee's ability to field consistently competitive rosters.

The Brewers, out of necessity given their lack of financial resources, are able to remain consistent in a ridiculously unfair financial landscape by capitalizing on the surplus value that players bring at the beginning of their careers, before their salaries are determined by the open market. For this reason, Milwaukee consistently trades players before they hit free agency and acquires in return players who fit the certain mold of offering more value than their early-career salaries suggest. Changes like increasing the amount of money a player makes in their pre-arbitration or arbitration years and decreasing the number of years of control teams have before free agency will therefore only decrease this surplus value and harm the small-market teams like the Brewers, who have figured out that this is their only chance of remaining competitive in MLB's current financial structure.

As if those possible changes, which, it must be noted, are far from being enacted, weren't bad enough, MLB is now proposing alterations to the amateur draft and international free agent market that will only further harm the Brewers' ability to add talent to their organization. In some ways, these recent changes may be even more impactful than the proposed ones that the MLBPA has already put forth.

MLB proposes eliminating high school players from MLB Draft and turning international free agent market into a new international draft

In many ways, investing in player development systems is far cheaper than investing in talent at the big-league level. The money required to sign a top-tier free agent to a long-term extension (now frequently hundreds of millions of dollars) could be used to completely revamp an organization's player development system in the minor leagues. Savvy to this reality, the Brewers, who know they can't compete on the free agent market, have poured tons of money into a new facility down in the Dominican Republic, increased the scouting personnel they have in the organization, and overall put an emphasis on player development in a way that few other teams have. It's undeniably been a wise investment for the small-market Brewers, who must get creative about where they look to gain competitive advantages over the rest of the league.

Two clear results from this recent investment are already starting to have major impacts on the major league roster. The first is that the Brewers' success in the international free agent market has vastly improved in recent seasons. By putting an emphasis on this area of talent acquisition, the Brewers have added names like Jackson Chourio, Abner Uribe, Luis Lara, Jesús Made, and Luis Peña to their organization in recent years, and with prospects like Ricki Moneys and Alexander Frias already impressing in Milwaukee's minor league system, this strength doesn't appear to be going anywhere.

The other area of talent acquisition that the Brewers have excelled in since pouring more resources into their scouting and player development systems is selecting high school players in the MLB Draft. Brice Turang and Cooper Pratt stick out as obvious examples of Milwaukee's success when it comes to selecting prep players in the amateur draft, but current top prospects Josh Adamczewski, Luke Adams, and Braylon Payne further emphasize just how strong the Brewers have been when it comes to drafting high school players in recent years. Milwaukee uses the differing signing bonuses that high school players require to their advantage, often leading to the organization adding early-round talent in the later rounds of the MLB Draft.

However, late last week, MLB proposed changes to both the amateur draft and the international free agent market amid their ongoing negotiations with the MLBPA. As reported by Mark Feinsand of MLB.com, among others, the league proposed both eliminating high school players from the MLB Draft -- requiring players to attend at least two years of college before joining the minor leagues -- and installing a new international draft that eliminates the international free agent market. For a more in-depth explanation of the proposed changes, check out Feinsand's report, which is free to read over at MLB.com and linked below for your convenience.

MLB proposes Domestic and International Drafts to Players Association

Given the Brewers' success in these two areas of talent acquisition, MLB's proposed changes would, if adopted, have a significant impact on Milwaukee's ability to add young talent to their organization. Milwaukee would no longer be able to utilize two key strengths of their organization that they have had to grow due to their inability to compete with big-market clubs in other areas of player acquisition. Sure, the Brewers would still be able to acquire international players from the proposed draft, their MLB Draft strategy would adapt, and they would still be able to take advantage of their excellent player development system.

However, for a team that has figured out how to optimize the few financial resources that they do have, while other small-market teams still try to operate like large-market clubs with little to no success, the Brewers must certainly be frustrated that the league is now threatening two of the few advantages they have over the rest of MLB. Yes, the system is broken and needs fixing, but while MLB gift-wraps their new CBA in a message of parity and assistance for the small-market club, know that some clubs like the Brewers won't be entirely thrilled about some of the changes that are eventually enacted.

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