Elias Sports Bureau - Elias Rankings

Elias Rankings

At the end of each baseball season, Elias compiles rankings for each player based upon performance over the two most recent seasons. These rankings are used to place players into three tiers of value, Type A (top 20 percent of rankings), Type B (next 20 percent of rankings), or Non Compensation (remaining 60 percent). This was changed in the 2006 Collective Bargaining Agreement which eliminated Type C free agents and restricted Type A free agents from the top 30% to the top 20% and correspondingly shifted Type B free agents, and the effects were first experienced in the 2007 offseason. The type determines what kind of draft pick a team will receive as compensation if its player signs with another team:

• If a Type A free agent is signed by a different team, the signing team must compensate the player's former team with its first round draft pick in the next rule 4 Amateur Draft. However, if the signing team's first round pick is in the top 15 then it surrenders its second round pick instead. Also the player's former team receives a "sandwich" pick in between the first and second rounds.
• If a Type B free agent is signed by a different team, the old team receives a "sandwich" pick in between the first and second rounds and the signing team loses no draft pick.
• If a Non Compensation free agent is signed, no compensatory picks are awarded to the player's former team.