Major League Baseball is proposing radical changes to the structure of its amateur draft, according to ESPN’s Jeff Passan.
The proposed changes would have massive impacts on the future of college baseball. Passan reports that MLB is looking to shrink the annual draft from 20 rounds to 12, eliminate high school player eligibility and make college sophomore able to enter the draft, among other changes.
Each of those changes would have a profound impact on the sport of college baseball as well as the players themselves. All high school players would be required to play at least 2 seasons of college baseball under this model. Currently college players are only able to enter the draft after their junior seasons.
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Shrinking the number of rounds from 20 to 12 would significantly lower the number of minor leaguers drafted each year, however.
It’s worth noting that these changes would have to be agreed to by the MLB Player’s Association during Collective Bargaining Agreement negotiations. There’s currently no indication that the MLBPA would be willing to make such concessions.
Major League Baseball’s CBA is set to expire after the 2026 season. A new agreement will have to be finalized before games can be played in 2027.
Spenser is a news editor for Saturday Down South and covers college football across all Saturday Football brands.
