Cincinnati Reds earn competitive balance pick as usual

The Cincinnati Reds will draft early and relatively often in the 2018 Major League Baseball Amateur Draft.

The Cincinnati Reds didn’t have the worst record in MLB or the National League.  That is the extent of the positive news about their 2017 record.  They did end up in last place in the NL Central.

The Reds are drafting fifth, after spending two consecutive years selecting second.  Six teams are eligible for one or more compensation picks due to making a qualifying offer.  They are the Chicago Cubs, Cleveland Indians, Colorado Rockies, Kansas City Royals, Saint Louis Cardinals, and Tampa Bay Rays.

The compensation pick order will depend on how much the player is signed for among other factors.  After the initial round and the compensation picks, the competitive balance picks occur.  In 2018 the Reds will pick in Round B of the competitive balance picks.

The Reds’ 2018 competitive balance pick will be 73rd overall.  That can change based on the outcome of the qualifying offers’ free agent signings.  The competitive picks are also eligible to be traded.

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Competitive balance picks are awarded to the lowest revenue earning teams based on winning percentage.  It isn’t quite that simple, but it is close.  The same fourteen teams earned competitive balance picks last year.

The Cincinnati Reds haven’t seen the results of the competitive balance picks, yet, but could soon.

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Last year, the Reds selected Jeter with their competitive balance pick, shortstop Jeter Downs.  Downs had a good first professional campaign.  He batted .267 with an OBP of .370 in rookie ball.

Taylor Trammell was the competitive balance pick for the Reds in 2016 out of high school.  Over a pair of minor league seasons he has batted .288 with an OBP of .370.  Trammell projects as a center fielder, but having come out of high school Trammell’s trajectory could easily change.

The year before that the Reds selected Tanner Rainey, a right handed pitcher.  The Reds drafted him as a staring pitcher.  Last year he transitioned to become a high leverage reliever.

In 2014 the Reds didn’t earn a competitive balance pick.  Their 2013 season was too successful.  They made the one game wild card game before falling to pieces.

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It really brings to question whether the competitive balance picks will work.  It essentially works out to an extra second or first round pick for the fourteen lowest profit teams that didn’t make the playoffs.  The Reds’ first competitive balance pick is still likely over a year away from his MLB debut.