The Blue Jays ‘off season to forget’ just became a bit more forgetable with the Yankees signing free agent first baseman Mark Teixeria.  Not only does Teixeria join a division rival of the Blue Jays, his status as a Type-A free agent has cost the Jays a second round draft pick.*

When a team loses a Type A free agent, such as Burnett, they recieve a compensatory pick in the sandwich round (between the first and second rounds), as well as the signing team’s first round pick.  However, the Yankees have signed three type-A free agents (Sabathia, Burnett and Teixeria), but only have one first round pick to give away.  As a result, the team who losses the free agent with the highest rank (in this case the Angels) recieves the signing team’s first rounder.  As Sabathia’s ranking is higher than Burnett’s, the Brewers get the Yankees second rounder, while the Jays will have to settle for the Yankees third rounder.

Of course, the Bronx bombers aren’t necessarily finished with their off-season shopping spree.  They still have their eyes set on slugger Manny Ramirez, another Type-A free agent rated higher than Burnett.  If the Yankees do sign Ramirez, the Dodgers would be entitled to the Yankees third rounder pick and the Jays would have to settle for a fourth rounder.

If recieving draft picks is supposed to compensate teams who lose valuable free agents, then the system sure is broken.  The Jays are essentially stuck with a fourth round pick for losing a player for whom they should have otherwise received a first round pick for.

*The Jays were never in line to recieve a first rounder from the Yankees as they signed Sabathia prior to signing Burnett.