The 2023 MLB Draft is nearly here. But, apart from which players will go where, fans shouldn't expect much in the way of shocking draft-day storylines.
That's because MLB, unlike the NBA, NFL and NHL, does not allow teams to trade their picks. So don't expect the Pirates to move away from their top overall choice in exchange for a bevy of players (similar to what the Panthers offered the Bears to draft Bryce Young first overall in the 2023 draft). And don't expect any multi-team deals similar to those of the NBA.
The rule ostensibly is to protect the competitive balance of the league, though its execution — and MLB's stubborn refusal to move away from it altogether — has created consternation among fans. Why then, does the league continue to adhere to a rule that has been in place since the first MLB draft?
Here's everything you need to know about why MLB teams can't trade picks, various additions to the rule and the notable lone exception:
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Can teams trade MLB draft picks?
Unlike the other three major American sports leagues — the NBA, NFL and NHL — MLB does not allow teams to trade draft picks. That includes any form of compensation, including draft picks (current or future), players, prospects or cash.
The rule has been established since MLB's first draft in 1965. The reasoning behind the rule was that the league didn't want cash-strapped teams — especially from small markets — to "mortgage their future" by selling the top picks of the draft to large-market teams for quick income.
Critics of the rule argue that it has the opposite effect for small-market or low-revenue teams: If they can't afford to pay a player with the value they command at a certain slot value, then they're forced instead to draft someone else instead of trading the pick for capital or players from other teams.
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What was the Pete Incaviglia Rule?
MLB was so adamant teams could not trade draft picks that it expanded the rule in 1985 to include players taken in the MLB draft (forbidding transactions akin to NBA's sign-and-trade deals). The rule is named after Pete Incaviglia, who was taken in eighth overall by the Expos.
He could not agree to a contract with Montreal and the team traded him to the Rangers in exchange for Bob Sebra and Jim Anderson. MLB reacted by forbidding teams from trading a player until they had been under contract with the franchise for a year.
Teams circumvented this rule by including drafted prospects in trades as "players to be named later." MLB rules dictated such players must be named and dealt within six months of the rest of the trade occurring; that said, teams still had to adhere to the one-year rule for drafted players.
MLB changed the rule during the 2015 season, allowing teams to trade drafted players the day after the World Series concluded, instead of a full calendar year later.
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Can teams trade competitive balance draft picks?
Currently, MLB only allows for the trade of competitive balance draft picks, which were negotiated in the 2012-16 Collective Bargaining Agreement and amended in the 2017-21 CBA.
That said, they can't be dealt for cash. Any trade involving a competitive balance draft pick must include at least one player, sent to the team trading the pick. Moreover, the pick cannot be flipped by the team receiving it. Per MLB:
Unlike other draft picks, competitive balance draft picks can be traded. However, they cannot be dealt simply in exchange for cash, and can be traded only by the club to which it was awarded. In other words, the picks may be traded no more than once.
Current rules stipulate the 10 lowest-revenue teams and the teams from the 10 smallest markets are eligible to receive a competitive balance pick. The maximum number of eligible teams is 20, though some eligible teams fall under both categories.
