Good News for Phillies

MLB and MLBPA reached a new collective bargaining agreement last night and it’s good news for the Phillies.

USA Today’s Bob Nightendale has a nice piece on the details of the agreement. Here’s the part that is good news for the Phillies:

There will be subtle changes to free agency, however, in that players will be virtually unrestricted. Teams will no longer forfeit a first-round draft pick when signing free agents. If a team is under the luxury tax, it would lose a third-round draft pick when signing a player who rejects the qualifying offer. If a team is over the tax, it would lose a second- and fifth-round pick and $1 million in international bonus money.

The team that loses a free agent with a qualifying offer will receive a pick, according to Fox Sports, only if the player receives a contract worth at least $50 million. The pick the team receives will depend on its market size.

Those changes won’t take effect until the free agent class of of 2017.

The Phillies should be a team with little on the payroll and a group of youngsters showing promise after the 2017 season, just as this kicks in. With a lucrative TV contract, one would think the Phillies would be major players in the 2018 Free Agency class, which could be one of the greatest classes ever (Clayton Kershaw, Dallas Keuchel Josh Donaldson, Dellin Betances, Andrew Miller, Jeurys Familia, Andrew McCutchen, A.J. Pollock, Michael Brantley, Garrett Richards, Adrian Gonzalez, Trevor Rosenthal, Craig Kimbrel Bryce Harper, Matt Harvey, Manny Machado, Adam Jones and Zach Britton all could be free agents).

Phillies could be major buyers without losing any first round draft picks. That’s good news!