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Show H MINOR LEAGUES i HAVE A PROBLEM What They Gain and What They Lose H in the Inatter of Players Under the Uew Agreement i The minor league baseball magnates' troubles never cease. The latest hard-ship hard-ship discovered under the operation of fl the. new national agreement is the so- called abuse of the drafting rule. It is alleged that certain shrewd club owners In the minor circuits have made friend- H ly arrangements with clubs in higher classes to draff a number of their best players, not for the use of the drafting club, but with the understanding that H 1 these players shall be returned in the spring to the club from which thev were drafted. In this way, it is claimed, a good minor league team may be kept intact, while lees provident managers H lose their all through tho draft. This is H made possible by ho new clause in the H agreement, which provides that a draft- ed player, when released within a cer- tain length of timo by the drafting H club, shall revert to the club from I which ho was taken. Before that pro-H pro-H vision was made tho minora were al-H al-H ways kicking because players could bo drafted and then sold or farmed to any H club at tho choice of the drafting club, T it frequently happening that good play- H ers came bock to strengthen a rival j club to the one from which thej' were H ! taken. The clause was Inserted to prc- H i vent that and help to bar the farming i evil, but tho minora are still kicking. H As a matter of fact, the chances of a really good player reverting to a minor H ' league, after being drafted, are small. Merely by way of Illustration, suppose the Cleveland club drafts a number of players from a club in a class C league. , The provision is that such players, If relea&ed within a fixed period, shall rc-H rc-H J vert to the club from which they aro , drafted. But before the Cleveland club , can release any player on its list that 1 club must notify the other seven clubs in its circuit, any one of which can k claim the player and prevent his "re-H "re-H verting." If none of the American H league clubs wants tho player, then, according to a retent ruling of the na-H. na-H. tlonal commission, tho "secondary H draft" can be put in operation, wherc-H wherc-H by the said player can be drafted by I any club in a class A or class B leaguo, fven if the di-afting period specified for H those classes shall havo expired. It H , can readily be seen that anyplaycr who has given promise enough to Justify the belief that he will last in faster com- pany than that from which he was H drafted, is not likely to revert tq his , former club when so many other major and minor league clubs have the right to claim him. Even when a player Is drafted to a class immediately above that which he occupied, an entire : league must waive claim to him before he can be released or revert to his for- ; mer team. The minors may save a few incdiocrc players by the method polnt- ; Q out, but not often a good player. HI |