What is a competitive balance pick? Explaining the MLB Draft's compensatory rounds

The world is often a clash between the haves and the have-nots. 

MLB is trying to make sure that doesn't become too significant a factor in its sport. For a league that lacks a salary cap, the World Series has long been a trophy dominated by the biggest spenders. Deep pockets and big checkbooks can mask many issues — from poor free agent signings to horrific drafting. 

The league's smaller markets aren't as fortunate. That's not the say the money isn't there, however. To spend or not to spend is often a choice among MLB owners, rather than an issue related to lack of funding. 

Regardless, in an attempt to put each of the 30 teams on a level playing field, the league instituted a new round in the MLB Draft designed to help those clubs that rank at, or near the bottom of revenue and market. These competitive balance picks are there to provide MLB's charity cases, relatively speaking, with an extra prospect who might one day change their fortunes. 

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The Sporting News explains the quirky competitive balance picks that exist in the MLB Draft. 

What is a competitive balance pick in MLB Draft?

If a team ranks in the bottom 10 of league revenue or resides in one of the 10 smallest markets, it is eligible for a competitive balance pick in the MLB Draft. 

Most of the time these categories overlap, however, meaning that fewer than 20 picks are awarded each year. From there, the eligible teams are entered into a lottery to determine the order of those picks. 

The first set of teams are placed into what is called "Round A," which follows the conclusion of the first round. "Round B" teams fall behind the second round in the draft order. 

A lottery determines the order of the competitive balance picks, including whether the team finds its selection in Round A or B. These picks can be traded — the only selections in the draft that can change teams. The restriction is that they can only be dealt once, so once a trade is completed, it cannot be move again unlike in other leagues.

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MLB competitive balance picks 2023

There are a total of 14 picks in the competitive balance round in 2023. Fans will likely be surprised to see the Mets and Dodgers in Round A, but that is because each team dropped 10 spots from their first-round pick for exceeding the competitive balance tax threshold by more than $40 million. Their selections are not considered competitive balance picks — so they do not count toward the total number of picks in the round. 

Round A follows the conclusion of Round 1, while Round B follows the conclusion of Round 2. 

Here is the list of teams — and where they'll select — for the 2023 competitive balance rounds. 

Competitive Balance Round A

Competitive Balance Round B