Why would a player be drafted twice? A Dwanya Williams-Sutton story
An explanatory look at the MLB draft, minor league compensation, bonus pools, signing negotiation, and why a few years of college might just make more cents
Dwanya Williams-Sutton was drafted by the Padres. And the Reds.
Say what?
Yep. Before the Padres selected Dwanya in the fifth round of the 2018 draft (141st overall), he was selected by the in the 26th round at #775 overall in the 2015 draft. If this is somewhat confusing, you’ve come to the right article because I’m going to attempt to explain.
Dwanya Williams-Sutton’s draft history provides a good lens through which to look into some of the complexity of navigating the tradeoffs of being drafted as a player, and the impact of how highly or lowly a player is selected.
First, it’s essential to understand the importance of signing bonuses. We tend to think of a “bonus” as icing on a good salary, but for drafted players, signing bonus is an essential part of their compensation.
Minor league salaries are notoriously low. How low?
MLB listed average pay for minor league players, ranging from $1,300 per month in the lowest A-level leagues, to $10,000 per month in AAA. (Marketplace.org)
The MLB players union is focused on ensuring quality wages for players at the major league level, but minor league players don’t have union representation at all. MLB’s official stance is that minor leaguers are participating in an internship apprenticeship program to their benefit and thus typical minimum wage laws do not apply. As a result, minor league salaries are jarringly low — some even argue they are illegal by minimum wage standards.
A 2014 class action lawsuit brought on behalf of minor leaguers argued that “minor leaguers are not paid minimum wage or overtime even though they may work more than 50 hours a week during the baseball season.”
So signing bonuses may well be the most significant compensation a player will receive until they make it to the majors (or at least until reaching the upper echelon of the minor leagues).
While players and teams have the ability to negotiate signing bonuses, the major league collective bargaining agreement limits the total amount of teams’ draft bonus money pools based on the dollar amount assigned to each “slot” in the draft. A player who is drafted in the first round and signed “under slot value” would leave more money available in their bonus pools for signing lower picks. If a team chooses to meet a player’s demands for more than the amount allocated for their slot, the team will end up with less.
In order to mitigate the significant risk of losing a draft pick because a team and a player can’t agree on a signing bonus, teams are able to call and do some early negotiation with players before drafting them, to get a sense for what the player may want.
The Mariners had Sam Carlson fall to them in the 2017 draft specifically because of this dance.
Because of the need to manage a team’s bonus pool and players’ desires to be drafted high enough to be paid well, drafting and being drafted is not just about a team choosing the best talent on the board. It’s essential for teams to ensure they have enough money in their bonus pool to sign their picks, and many high school players are going to be consciously debating whether to accept a college scholarship instead of getting a signing bonus below their goals.
Obviously it’s a risk. They could be injured and unable to perform at the same level. Or their numbers against much better competition could show holes in their game that weren’t as apparent in the smaller sample size of high school ball.
But there could be big rewards for taking such a risk. A player may choose to wait to be drafted in order to raise their draft stock, betting on their ability to improve in a college atmosphere. Dansby Swanson was drafted in the 38th round in 2012, and ultimately became the #1 pick.
But choosing a college scholarship has other benefits beyond the obvious. Playing in college allows a player to develop into their skills at a nearly similar rate as they might in the minor leagues—with more freedom and a lot less pressure. College players advance through the minor leagues at a much faster rate than their high school colleagues.
Sometimes teams will elect to take the risk and draft a player regardless of the player’s communicated intent to attend college, in the hopes that they can convince the player to sign with them, or because they’re betting they’ll have enough bonus pool room left after signing other picks to be able to give the player what they’re looking for.
During the 2015 draft, Dwanya took calls from two major league teams with offers in the 7th and another in the 8th round but he had already made up his mind that the fifth round was the lowest he was willing to be drafted.
Regardless, he was ultimately drafted by the Reds in the 26th round. He passed on their attempts to sign him and elected to attend East Carolina University.
In 2015, the slot values of the fifth round ranged from $285,000 to $378,000. They increased in 2018 to $300,000–$398,300. Of course, pick values don’t prevent players from using available bonus pool money and signing over slot value, and there were players in the 5th round of that draft who signed for as much as $700,000. In the 7th and 8th rounds of 2015, Williams-Sutton would have been talking to teams with between $148,000 and $220,000 available. With the 2018 141st slotted at $375,000, it looks like he ended up with his goal and got three years of a full-ride scholarship.
All in all, it looks like Dust Devil fans are winners in the deal.
And as for Dwanya? Sure doesn’t sound like he has any regrets:
“It’s crazy it’s already gone by this fast,” Williams-Sutton said. “But for me, the main memories will always be the regional championship, getting to play with all our seniors because they did so much for the program, and the AAC championship this year. Just being able to meet new guys, be around my teammates. I made life-long friends at East Carolina. Pirate Nation is the best.
“I wouldn’t trade this experience for anything.” (24/7 Sports)
