Failing to sign a draft pick question

David Watts · 10-01-2025, 09:16 AM

Roberto Clemente was drafted by the San Antonio Missions prior to the 1970 season. The Missions had the 1st pick and chose Clemente over Greg Maddux. The Missions failed to sign Roberto, so he went off to college in Tennessee. This is where my question comes in. Due to not signing Clemente, the Missions were given 2 picks in the post 1970 amateur draft. The first pick, which I'm assuming was the compensation pick turned out to be the 2nd pick in the draft. The 2nd pick was determined by their finish in the 1970 standings. Is that how the compensation picks work in real life? San Antonio was actually able to re-draft Clemente with that second pick, as the 115 loss Corpus Christi Hooks selected Mark McGwire with the 1st pick in the draft.

koohead · 10-01-2025, 11:43 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by David Watts

Roberto Clemente was drafted by the San Antonio Missions prior to the 1970 season. The Missions had the 1st pick and chose Clemente over Greg Maddux. The Missions failed to sign Roberto, so he went off to college in Tennessee. This is where my question comes in. Due to not signing Clemente, the Missions were given 2 picks in the post 1970 amateur draft. The first pick, which I'm assuming was the compensation pick turned out to be the 2nd pick in the draft. The 2nd pick was determined by their finish in the 1970 standings. Is that how the compensation picks work in real life? San Antonio was actually able to re-draft Clemente with that second pick, as the 115 loss Corpus Christi Hooks selected Mark McGwire with the 1st pick in the draft.

According to https://newbaseballmedia.com/the-mlb...-does-not-sign that is correct behavior but not for their finish...the pick is awarded based on the unsigned player's pick number. So since Clemente was 1:1, the Mission would get 1:2 the following year for failing to sign him. Believe it has varied over the years based on the CBA though.

David Watts · 10-01-2025, 11:51 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by koohead

According to https://newbaseballmedia.com/the-mlb...-does-not-sign that is correct behavior but not for their finish...the pick is awarded based on the unsigned player's pick number. So since Clemente was 1:1, the Mission would get 1:2 the following year for failing to sign him. Believe it has varied over the years based on the CBA though.

Thanks. That's exactly what the Missions got. Mark McGwire was selected by Corpus Christi as the #1 pick in the draft. The Missions took Clemente with the #2 pick in the draft, as you said 1:2.

jeffw3000 · 10-06-2025, 09:32 AM

Yes. that is how it works. They began giving picks for unsigned players in the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd rounds in 2012. Before that you teams were not awarded a compensatory pick for unsigned players. In the 1st and 2bd round I believe it has pretty much been the same since they started awarding compensatory picks. Before the current CBA in the 3rd round, they used to give a pick at the end of the round, but that was changed in the new CBA.

10-01-2025, 09:16 AM	#1
David Watts Hall Of Famer Join Date: Apr 2002 Location: Looking for a place called Leehofooks Posts: 9,789 Infractions: 0/1 (1)	Failing to sign a draft pick question Roberto Clemente was drafted by the San Antonio Missions prior to the 1970 season. The Missions had the 1st pick and chose Clemente over Greg Maddux. The Missions failed to sign Roberto, so he went off to college in Tennessee. This is where my question comes in. Due to not signing Clemente, the Missions were given 2 picks in the post 1970 amateur draft. The first pick, which I'm assuming was the compensation pick turned out to be the 2nd pick in the draft. The 2nd pick was determined by their finish in the 1970 standings. Is that how the compensation picks work in real life? San Antonio was actually able to re-draft Clemente with that second pick, as the 115 loss Corpus Christi Hooks selected Mark McGwire with the 1st pick in the draft.

10-06-2025, 09:32 AM	#4
jeffw3000 Major Leagues Join Date: Jun 2009 Posts: 314	Yes. that is how it works. They began giving picks for unsigned players in the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd rounds in 2012. Before that you teams were not awarded a compensatory pick for unsigned players. In the 1st and 2bd round I believe it has pretty much been the same since they started awarding compensatory picks. Before the current CBA in the 3rd round, they used to give a pick at the end of the round, but that was changed in the new CBA.