This week in “Last Week in Bizball”, dynamic pricing and the secondary market, worldwide draft update, plus tidbits.

DYNAMIC PRICING & THE SECONDARY MARKET

Seemingly every week I mention that another team has either implemented, or expanded their use of, dynamic pricing of tickets. Another subject that I frequently bring attention to is the challenges that the secondary ticket market pose to many MLB franchises. Despite the reported approximate $60 million annually that BAM earns from their formal partnership with StubHub, and the avalanche of qualified sales leads it generates, many clubs believe that secondary ticketing is killing their primary sales. My piece from December on MLB and secondary ticketing included this quote (courtesy of SBJ) from Braves Executive Vice President of Sales and Marketing Derek Schiller, “I don’t believe there is any bigger obstacle or issue, any bigger threat to the professional team sports marketplace and industry as a whole…This is the single biggest issue facing our industry….The amount of dollars at risk is growing near exponentially. And we absolutely as an industry — and not just baseball — need to manage it.”

The Giants were the first MLB franchise to implement dynamic pricing, using it on a limited basis for the 09 season. This season, 17 teams will use dynamic pricing. 10 of those teams will use dynamic pricing to set the price of all single-game tickets. Initially, the motive behind dynamic pricing was both to increase the number of tickets sold and the average sale price. More recently, clubs are also implementing and expanding the use of dynamic pricing to limit the amount of ticket inventory resold on the secondary market. LWIB Danny Ecker reported on the Cubs decision to use dynamic pricing this season for 5,000 bleacher seats. According to the piece, “Expanding that model to the entire ballpark could mean recouping as much as $11 million a year from resellers.” And, “Teams are looking at (dynamic pricing) to capture some of that secondary market that they're not capturing,” says Colin Faulkner, the Cubs' vice president of ticket sales and service…”

WORLWIDE DRAFT UPDATE

January 9 was the date of the first meeting of the International Talent Committee. The co-chairs for the committee are MLBPA ED Michael Weiner and MLB’s senior executive on labour matters, Rob Manfred. According to the press release, “…the International Talent Committee is responsible for examining a number of areas related to the procuring of international players including but not limited to the exploration of the possibility of an international draft, improving the education and acculturation programs of Clubs at their international academies and the development of appropriate country-by-country plans for playing and development opportunities for players prior to draft eligibility.” This committee exists as a direct result of the new CBA, which contemplates either an expansion of the Rule 4 draft, or the introduction of a wholly separate “international” draft. (The Rule 4 currently includes Canada and Puerto Rico). After years of attempting to control club spending in the Rule 4 via his office’s “slot recommendations” commissioner Selig succeeded in the last round of negotiations in implementing fundamental changes to the acquisition of amateur talent. Beginning this season, clubs exceeding spending limits in both the Rule 4 and international free agent market will be severely penalized by MLB. In addition, MLB foresees the implementation of a draft in the Dominican Republic as part of its ongoing efforts to reduce age/identity fraud and bonus skimming there. LWIB, commissioner Selig commented to Baseball America on the much discussed worldwide draft, "It is inevitable. I would like to see it. We have made some significant progress to that end. When we went to the draft in 1965, it was to create a more level playing field. We've done that, and the same thing will have to happen internationally." Josh Leventhal added that there is plenty of opposition to a worldwide draft, both within, and outside of, MLB.

….many front-office officials have said they neither want an international draft nor are confident that MLB has the ability to pull it off.

The Dominican Republic, Venezuela and the other Latin American countries all have their own issues with laws, player registration and investigations that would need to be worked out. Then there are agreements with Asian baseball governing bodies that would have to be worked out, including Japan, Korea and Taiwan, all of which have their own professional leagues.

Some major league club officials think an international draft will penalize teams that work hard in Latin America and have invested more resources into scouting the region. However, many teams, trainers and agents have seen the writing on the wall the last couple of years that an international draft was behind MLB's efforts to reform Latin America, even if MLB didn't always explicitly frame it that way.

Also LWIB, Zachary Levine examined how the Astros attempt to greatly increase the quality and quantity of players they recruit in Latin America is being impacted by the aforementioned changes in the CBA.

SELECT READ MORE TO SEE THIS WEEK'S TIDBITS

Matt Antonelli as a Padre

This is part five of the series on Matt Antonelli. See Matthew Coller's article archive for parts 1-4.

Matt Antonelli remains one step away from returning to The Show.

After spending most of spring training with the major league club, the Baltimore Orioles have assigned Antonelli to triple-A Norfolk. While his goal was to make the opening day roster, the former first-rounder is much closer to his ultimate goal than he was one year ago. Last April, returning to the major leagues seemed merely a pipe dream.

To begin the 2011 season, Antonelli was stuck in extended spring training. He was recovering from yet another injury while trying to sort out a rust-riddled swing.

At that time, the newest member of the Norfolk Tide was in camp with the Washington Nationals, who had signed him after he was released by the Padres following the 2010 season. During the spring he received few chances to show the Nats what he could do – and the chances he did get did not go so well.

Antonelli had only played one game in 2010 and just 59 in 2009 – all while battling a broken hamate bone in his wrist. Last year, his wrist was healed, but swing timing was out of whack.

It turns out hitting a 90 mph fastball isn't at all like riding a bike.

“I learned a lot about staying positive,” Antonelli said via email last spring. “When nothing seems to want to go your way. If I had given up after my first surgery didn't work, I wouldn't be playing right now. I've learned a lot about being patient and staying determined in the face of adversity.”

In addition to regaining his swing, Antonelli pulled his hamstring near the end of the spring. When he finally began his 2011 season, the Nationals assigned the him to their double-A affiliate Harrisburg. The injury gave Antonelli time to recover his swing. When the season finally began in mid-May, he hit well and was quickly moved up to the Nationals' triple-A team the Syracuse Chiefs.

In Syracuse, finally feeling like the same player who was a star at Wake Forest University and hit 21 home runs between high-A and double-A in 2007, Antonelli picked up where he'd left off before his wrist injury. In 86 games, he hit .297 with a .393 on-base percentage and eight home runs.

No matter his performance, the Nationals placed another barricade in his road back to the show, electing not to call him up in September.

He entered the off-season wondering if he'd gone from top prospect to four-A. From once called the “best prospect at second base” to a triple-A lifer, bound to drift from club to club Crash Davis style.

But one thing Mr. Davis didn't benefit from when Bull Durham was released in 1988 was sabermetrics. While Antonelli was headed back to his Massachusetts home – worried more about asking his girlfriend to marry him and buying a house than where he'd play next year – former Red Sox general manager Dan Duquette was being hired by the Orioles. (His girlfriend said yes, by the way)

Duquette got busy playing catchup with the behind-the-times O's. He hired financial and statistical analysts and often noted new stats as being “accepted in baseball.” That was good news for Antonelli, whose specialty – drawing walks – is highly regarded by statisticians.

When Duquette signed Antonelli to a major league contract in late November, the team's press release noted his impressive on-base percentage and OPS (on-base plus slugging) numbers in the minor leagues.

“My coach in college used to yell at me,” Antonelli said last week from Orioles camp in Sarasota, Fla. “I would always take the first pitch and it would drive him nuts. I don't know why, but I've always had this ability to work walks.”

From the moment he arrived at spring training with the O's, everything was different from the year before. This time, he wasn't feeling his way around like a kid on his first day of school. He was confident he could make the big club instead of being hopeful to just stay healthy.

“This time around it doesn't feel strange at all,” he said over the phone, likely with a smile on his face. “I felt like I was an experienced veteran at switching teams even though I'd only done it once before.”

Unlike Nationals' camp last year, Antonelli was given significant time with the big club. He started off hot, getting on base 12 of his first 25 plate appearances.

But over the last week, he went 0-for-9 without a walk and the Orioles elected to assign him to triple-A. Of course, there were other circumstances that caused the big club to send him down. The O's had picked up another infielder Ryan Flaherty in the Rule 5 draft. Under Rule 5, the player has to make the 25 man roster or be sent back to his old team – which in Flaherty's case is the Chicago Cubs. Flaherty performed well and gave the Orioles little choice.

“I learned a long time ago that it just isn't up to you,” Antonelli said. “I used to drive myself crazy thinking about whether I would be the next guy called up. I would think, maybe if I get a couple hits today or whatever. I've learned to just play my game and let everything else take care of itself.”

Where Antonelli's career goes from here?  In the minors, you can hit, hit, hit and never see a call. He knows how the business works, but understands he's much closer to his dream than he was one year ago.

“One of the reasons I came to Baltimore is that I thought I'd have an opportunity hopefully at some point to play in the majors,” he said. “Whether it would be at the very beginning or whenever to be contributing at that level. That's my goal. Hopefully all the things I did last year will give me a chance this year, that's really all I'm looking for.”

Matthew Coller is a senior staff member of the Business of Sports Network, and is a freelance writer. He can be followed on Twitter

Follow The Biz of Baseball on Twitter

Follow the Business of Sports Network on Facebook