2020 MLB amateur draft cut from 40 rounds to five
The COVID-19 pandemic already has cost Major League Baseball nearly a quarter of its season, and now the 2020 amateur draft has been chopped from 40 rounds to five, a source confirmed Friday.
The drastic measure was not entirely unexpected. MLB bargained for the flexibility to reduce the number of rounds as part of the March 26 agreement with the union that also dealt with service time provisions and a $170-million advance on salaries through May.
Players who go undrafted after five rounds will become free agents, with those signings capped at $20,000. A year ago, the first pick of the sixth round had a slot value of roughly $320,000 and the vast majority from that same round wound up signing for at least $200,000.
The Mets have the No. 19 selection in the first round. The Yankees are at No. 28 but lost their second- and fifth-round picks for signing free agent Gerrit Cole this past offseason.
According to The Associated Press, with only 160 players to be picked during this year’s draft, which will be held June 10-11, the cutback in signing-pool money will save teams close to $30 million overall. There were negotiations about possibly going with a 10-round draft this year, but those discussions fell through.
There will be immediate, lasting ramifications as a larger group of more talented non-drafted players will hit the market, free to sign with any club. On the flip side, college juniors who would have been chosen in a normal draft now face a difficult choice of turning pro for a cut-rate $20,000 bonus or returning to school to repeat their junior season, with the extra year of eligibility being granted because of the pandemic. The resulting logjam at the college levels could have a trickle-down effect for high school prospects as well.
David Lennon is an award-winning columnist, a voter for baseball's Hall of Fame and has covered six no-hitters, including two perfect games.
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