MLB Official Calls International Draft 'a Major Structural Roadblock' in CBA Talks

As the negotiations continue between Major League Baseball and the players association, the potential addition of an international draft is considered "a major structural roadblock" between the two sides, an MLB official told ESPN's Joon Lee. 

According to Evan Drellich of The Athletic, the international draft was added to every proposal from the league but it has been rejected each time.

The draft is considered a "non-starter" for Latin players, per Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic. 

Under the current system, each team has an international bonus pool that can be used to sign the top available prospects in any way they want. This offseason, the New York Yankees reportedly used $4 million of their $5.2 million available to sign top prospect Roderick Arias.

Unlike in a draft, the players are allowed to choose their teams and with agents negotiating potential bonuses. It's especially an important decision considering the players are often signed at 16 years old and likely won't hit free agency for another decade.

San Diego Padres star Fernando Tatis Jr. is a notable recent success story as an international signing, initially joining the Chicago White Sox with a $700,000 bonus in 2015. The All-Star believes the process shouldn't change.

"The International Draft is going to kill baseball in [Dominican Republic]," Tatis said, per Hector Gomez. "It's going to affect us a lot, because there will be many young people who used to give them the opportunity to get a bonus and with the draft it will not be the same."

In its proposals, the league has tied the international draft to draft-pick compensation for free agents, per ESPN's Jesse Rogers, meaning a team would have to give up a pick for signing a high-priced player. The union was given an option to either accept the international draft and remove draft-pick compensation, or vise versa. 

A third option is to keep the status quo in these areas, but allow the league to reopen the CBA in two years.

Drellich broke down the counter from the players:

The two sides are still yet to agree on a CBA, however, with more games being canceled on Wednesday.