Bell Compensation

I wrote about the new CBA and Heath Bell‘s impending free agency a couple days ago. My understanding was the Padres would no longer get anything in return if they lost Bell to free agency. As it turns out the Padres will still get compensation. They will get two draft picks. The picks just won’t be forfeited by the team signing Bell. Instead, the Padres would be granted picks directly ahead of the team signing Bell.

This, of course, only applies to this off-season. My analysis of compensation going forward will still apply after next season. That being said, Heath Bell actually becomes a more attractive Free Agent.

Teams will not have to give up anything in return to sign Bell, so those would-be suitors who didn’t want to lose draft picks can once again be suitors. With more options available, perhaps Bell’s decision to either accept or reject arbitration becomes easier.

Tom Krasovic of Inside the Padres spoke with Jed Hoyer about any foresight on his part regarding the new CBA and Padres’ compensation for Bell.  Hoyer felt pretty good about the new CBA and the fact that the Padres would still get compensation.

I just wanted to put this out there as clarification since my original post was written before the news of how this off-season’s free agency would work came out.