Down by Law: Type A, B free agents

August 6th, 2007 → 1:41 pm @

The other day I (incorrectly) wrote that if/when Gagne signs with another team next year, the Sox will get two draft picks. That’s not true; Gagne needs to first be classified as a Type A free agent (which he almost certainly will end up being). The Type A/Type B free agent classification is one of those arcane subjects that many of the better informed baseball fans couldn’t explain; thankfully, we have ESPN’s Keith Law, who, by any measure, is in my top 5 baseball writers (Bradford, Neyer, and Posnanski are up there, too). Here’s Law’s quick rundown:

“• Type A players, ranked in the top 30 percent of players at their positions. A team that signs a Type A player gives its top draft pick to the club that the player is leaving. The “losing” club also receives a supplemental pick in the “sandwich” round between the first and second rounds.

• Type B players, ranked below the top 30 percent but in the top 50 percent of players at their positions. A team that loses a Type B player receives a supplemental pick, but the signing team does not lose any picks.

• All other players, who carry no compensation at all. There had previously been a third class of “Type C” players, but that was eliminated in the new CBA.”

Read his whole story here.

Post Categories: Eric Gagne & Free Agents & Keith Law