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A Little Off Topic, But What's Up With MLB's Ruling On Wade Townsend


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Thursday, September 30, 2004

A Little Off Topic, But What's Up With MLB's Ruling On Wade Townsend

The dynamic trio of Rice University pitchers selected in the first round of the First Year Player Draft conducted in June by Major League Baseball included righthander Wade Townsend. Townsend, following his junior year at Rice, was picked 8th overall by the Baltimore Orioles.

As the beginning of fall classes approached, Townsend and Baltimore were not getting close to completing a deal. In an attempt to leave the door open to signing with the Orioles, he formally signed an agency agreement with Casey Close of IMG and advised all parties he had done so. When he signed that agreement, he lost NCAA eligibility. He then enrolled in classes at Rice and continued to work towards his degree.

It is generally understood that under MLB rules a team loses negotiating rights with a drafted player if he returns to school and attends classes (when the school is an NCAA member). But as this article by Will Kimmey in Baseball America points out, those rules are fairly ambiguous. The purpose of the rule seems to be that negotiating rights are lost when a player returns to school and remains eligible for NCAA play.

But, noooooooooo. MLB is out today with its ruling that Baltimore has lost their negotiating rights to Townsend, and he will have to re-enter the draft in June, 2005. Here's an article by John Manual at Baseball America today. As Manual's article states, MLB has indicated it "wanted to avoid a situation where the NCAA could re-instate Townsend's eligibility while he was still negotiating with the Orioles on a contract." Yeah, right. If that was really the issue, MLB could rule that if Townsend applies to be reinstated (or if he is reinstated) that negotiating rights are lost.

The effect of this ruling is that drafted college juniors who have not come to terms with the teams that draft them must make a choice. Spend the fall flippin' burgers or hangin' out, and retain the right to sign a pro contract (with at least a little bit of negotiating leverage), or continue to get the college education that most will need for the rest of their lives. It's sad that dreams don't always come true, but most of the 1,500 or so players drafted each year will never play in the Major Leagues. For, in my opinion, absolutely no valid reason, Wade Townsend has been denied the opportunity to sign a pro contract with a Major League team because he dared to continue his education.

Townsend may sue. I hope he does. And I hope he takes MLB to the cleaners and has his right to sign with Baltimore upheld to boot. I won't hold my breath. Don't get me wrong, I think that the owners and players are both responsible for screwing up the pro game. But stupid decisions like this one are really irritating.

posted on 9/30/2004 by Jeff Agnew

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