KBO revives territorial draft

The nation’s top baseball league announced Tuesday it will revive an old draft system to let teams select local talent.

Starting this year, teams in the Korea Baseball Organization will enter the territorial draft.

This type of draft had been used from the start of the KBO in 1982 to 2008. It was replaced by an open draft with a reverse-record order, in which the team with the worst record in the previous season had the first overall pick and could select any player, regardless of his regional base.

The KBO reached the decision to return to the old draft system at a board meeting Tuesday, chaired by KBO commissioner Koo Bon-neung and attended by presidents of the current nine teams plus the 10th club KT, which will play in the minor leagues next year and join the KBO in 2015. The league abolished the territorial draft in 2008 to ensure more parity. Top high school prospects often came out of certain regions and benefited the few teams based in those areas.

Without the territorial draft, however, KBO teams gradually reduced their financial support for local school teams and that affected development of youth baseball nationwide. Supporters of the territorial draft have said it will help KBO teams build strong local connections with their home fans.

According to the KBO, one round of the territorial draft will precede the current open draft. (Yonhap News)