The Elias Rankings, which is the formula used by Major League Baseball to determine if a free agent is a Type A (worth two draft picks in compensation) or Type B (one pick), were obtained by MLBTradeRumors.com [1] on Thursday. Adrian Beltre and Victor Martinez were ranked as Type A free agents, while David Ortiz, Jason Varitek and Felipe Lopez were rated as Type B free agents.
A team must offer a departing free agent arbitration -- and have the free agent reject the offer -- in order to receive compensation when the player signs with another team. A team that signs a Type A free agent will surrender its first-round pick to the team the player is leaving and also receive a supplemental pick (from MLB) in the "sandwich" round between the first and second rounds. A team that loses a Type B free agent only receives the supplemental selection.
For more Red Sox news visit the team page at weei.com/redsox [2].
Links:
[1] http://mlbtraderumors.com/2010/10/official-elias-rankings.html
[2] http://weei.com/redsox
[3] http://www.weei.com/category/boston/red-sox