Prospect Promotion Incentive: Rookie Of The Year Duo Nets Orioles, Diamondbacks Draft Picks

Corbin Carroll (left) and Gunnar Henderson (right)

Image credit: (Photos via Getty Images)

Diamondbacks right fielder Corbin Carroll and Orioles shortstop Gunnar Henderson formed one of the most productive Rookie of the Year duos in history this season.

They also made history in another way.

Carroll and Henderson are the first two drafted players to outfit their organizations with Prospect Promotion Incentive draft picks. Mariners center fielder Julio Rodriguez, who signed internationally in 2017, earned Seattle the first-ever PPI pick in the 2023 draft by winning American League Rookie of the Year in 2022.

With Carroll and Henderson winning ROY awards in the National and American leagues, the D-backs and Orioles each add a PPI draft pick after the first round in 2024. Arizona will make its PPI pick ahead of Baltimore.

The overall selection numbers for 2024 PPI picks are tentatively slated for 31st and 32nd overall, but that is subject to change once Competitive Balance Tax penalties are assessed and draft pick forfeitures for signing qualified free agents are determined.

For the sake of comparison, the 31st and 32nd draft picks in 2023 had slot values of $2,670,600 and $2,607,500 attached to them. Those totals will rise slightly for 2024 but provide a rough idea of how much additional money Arizona and Baltimore add their draft bonus pools.

In the 2023 draft, the Mariners gained $2,800,700 for their bonus pool by adding the 29th overall pick via PPI. Seattle used the pick to select high school outfielder Jonny Farmelo, who has not yet made his pro debut but ranks as a top 10 prospect for the organization heading into 2024.

The Prospect Promotion Incentive program was introduced in the 2022 Collective Bargaining Agreement. The initiative is aimed at reducing service time manipulation by incentivizing teams to roster their best 26 players—including top prospects—on Opening Day.

A player qualifies as PPI eligible by meeting three criteria:

(1) He must appear on a preseason Top 100 Prospects ranking by at least two of Baseball America, ESPN or MLB Pipeline.

(2) He must be rookie-eligible and must have fewer than 60 days of prior MLB service.

(3) He must accrue one year of MLB service as a rookie.

But merely being eligible for PPI isn’t all that’s required to earn draft picks. Eligible players must win a Rookie of the Year award, as Carroll and Henderson did this year and Rodriguez did in 2022; or they must finish top three in MVP or Cy Young Award voting prior to qualifying for arbitration.

No player has yet met MVP or CYA voting criteria. The best candidate to do so may be Royals shortstop Bobby Witt Jr., who retains PPI eligibility for 2024.If he were to finish top three in AL MVP voting next season, he would net a PPI draft pick for Kansas City in the 2025 draft.

Carroll, Henderson and Rodriguez are no longer PPI eligible in future seasons. Each individual player may trigger only one PPI draft pick for his organization.

Editor’s note: A previous version of this story misstated the order of PPI draft selections.