Major League Baseball has ordered a new policy, the amateur recovery period policy, which adds some new rules that apply to exploring amateur players in the winter. Reports of Jeff Passan of ESPN And JJ Cooper from Baseball America Enter the details.
There are numerous complicated nuances involved, but the core of the new policy is that there is not a single team employee to explore amateur players, either with their own eyes or video/data tracking equipment, for a period of winter. This is to encourage players to rest, instead of staying in top play for showcases. This only applies to domestic players who are eligible. It does not apply to international players or unprecedented free agents.
The moratorium comprises a period from 15 October to 15 January for high school players. There is a slightly narrower window for university players, from November 15 to January 15. During those windows, MLB team staff are not allowed to see a tension-inteller in a baseball environment. This includes games, showcases, training sessions “and all other activities with regard to throwing, hitting, catching or fielding.” They are also not allowed to buy information about video or data tracking information about players. If a player submits unsolicited video to a team, the club must inform MLB within 24 hours. Cooper notes that the NCAA also has a quiet period for recruiting baseball players outside the campus from 13 October to 28 February, which also gives players less incentive to stay in game form in the winter.
All baseball fans are certainly aware that arm injuries occur more and more often in modern times. Large elbow and shoulder operations that require absences of more than a year – especially for pitchers – occur regularly nowadays. The amateur ranks have not been spared this trend, because the frequency of injuries has also influenced high school and university players.
Both articles mentioned above mention a study of December 2024 from MLB that investigated this problem. Cooper quotes an investigation into an American Sports Institute in which it turned out that pitchers were five times more likely to require surgery if they had no rest period outside the season. According to these new rules, players can still figure out if they choose, but the hope is that the lack of exploration options will encourage them to take a break and create a “dead period” of scouting.
There are some exceptions. Employees are allowed to view players in a non-basis ball environment, including playing other sports such as basketball. Cooper notes that four autumn ball matches are planned on November 15, who are grandfather. Team staff can also see how their own children play baseball, but only in a non-professional setting, which means that no data can be collected for the database of a team. Scouts can also visit players at home, as long as there is no baseball activity involved.
As stated, this policy does not apply internationally. Only players from the United States, Canada and Puerto Rico are eligible for the MLB design. Players from the Dominican Republic, Venezuela, Mexico and other countries are part of the international signing bonus system. The policy also does not cover agents, who are regulated by the MLB Players Association and not the competition.
Every employee who breaks the rules can be confronted with individual punishment, such as fines or suspensions. Their team may be confronted with penalties in terms of sanctions in the design or in the amateur setting system.
MLBs Memo, sent to all 30 teams, states that the hope is “to reduce the incentive for amateur players to perform on maximum effort throughout the year by indicating a period in the agenda, during which time clubs are forbidden to evaluate amateur players, to ensure appropriate rest, recovery and development for players.” Cooper notes that all 30 amateur exploratory directors were consulted, together with coaches and medical experts. The policy also has the support of the MLB owners of the Competition Committee.
Photo with thanks to Greg Derr, imagn images
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