One feature of the latest collective bargaining agreement between MLB and the MLB Player’s Association was the creation of the Prospect Promotion Incentive.
The idea, in short, is to reward teams for being aggressive about promoting their top prospects. Teams can earn an extra draft pick if a player accrues a full year of service time and wins a major year-end award.
The Seattle Mariners were the first to take advantage of this new incentive. They will receive an extra pick — immediately following the 1st Round — in the upcoming MLB Draft thanks to Julio Rodriguez winning the AL Rookie of the Year award last season.
Rodriguez had an immediate impact on the Mariners last season. He hit .284/.345/.509 on the year with 28 home runs and 25 stolen bases. Rodriguez’s ROY selection was nearly unanimous, as he was listed first on 29 of 30 ballots.
For a player to accrue a full year of service time (equal to 172 days) they would need to either make a club’s Opening Day roster or be called up within the first two weeks.
This year’s Opening Day rosters featured a record 14 players eligible for the Prospect Promotion Incentive. The list is below, alphabetically:
- Hunter Brown, RHP, Astros.
- Cade Cavalli, RHP, Nationals.
- Corbin Carroll, OF, Diamondbacks.
- Triston Casas, 1B, Red Sox.
- Oscar Colas, OF, White Sox.
- Gunnar Henderson, 3B, Orioles.
- Josh Jung, 3B, Rangers.
- Logan O’Hoppe, C, Angels.
- Ryan Pepiot, RHP, Dodgers.
- Ezequiel Tovar, SS, Rockies.
- Miguel Vargas, 2B, Dodgers.
- Anthony Volpe, SS, Yankees.
- Ken Waldichuk, LHP, A’s.
- Jordan Walker, OF, Cardinals.
All of them but Colas, Volpe and Walker made their MLB debuts last season.
Cavalli will miss the entire 2023 season due to Tommy John surgery but would still be eligible to earn the Nationals an extra pick should he return in time to win the Rookie of the Year award in 2024.
