The Brewers knew when they traded for left-hander CC Sabathia in early July that they'd probably lose him to free agency after the season. They felt OK about that because they figured they'd get two first-round draft picks in return for his loss.
Guess again. When the New York Yankees signed free agent first baseman Mark Teixeira to an eight-year, $180 deal, it resulted in the Brewers losing an extra first-round pick in the amateur draft next June.
Teixeira was ranked slightly higher than CC Sabathia among Class A free agents in the Elias Sports Bureau rankings, which determines free agent compensation for their former clubs. Elias gave Teixeira a 98.889 ranking, compared to 98.110 to Sabathia.
Teixeira's former club, the Los Angeles Angels, will receive a first-round pick in 2009 from the Yankees as compensation, and the Brewers now will receive New York's second-round selection. Both clubs also will receive a sandwich pick between the first and second rounds as compensation for losing the free agents.
Teixeira was the only Class A free agent with a higher ranking than Sabathia, who signed with the Yankees for seven years and $161 million. The Angels will pick in the No. 26 spot in the first round next June in place of New York.
"It's not so much the system of compensation as the Elias rankings that we have problems with," Brewers assistant general manager Gord Ash said. "When those rankings come out every year, you scratch you head at how some of the players are ranked."
New York has a second first-round pick in the 2009 draft, designated as No. 28a, as compensation for not signing 2008 first-rounder Gerrit Cole. But that pick is protected and cannot be forfeited as compensation for picking a free agent.
Draft-pick compensation is part of baseball's collective bargaining agreement, and any changes would have to be negotiated with the players union.
"(General managers) talk about it every year," Ash said. "We can give recommendations, but at the end of the day it's always dropped (from discussion) as not being important enough (to pursue)."
The $423.5 million doled out by the Yankees to sign Sabathia, A.J. Burnett ($82.5 million) and Teixeira resulted in expected cries from other clubs that baseball needs a salary cap. Teams are penalized for excessive spending with a luxury tax, but that didn't stop the Yankees from signing Teixeira a day after being assessed a $26.9 million tax for their 2008 payroll of approximately $200 million.
"Everybody in the game thinks we need (a salary cap) except for the players union," Ash said. "We've been to battle with them for two decades with no success."
