With the coronavirus pandemic shutting down the 2020 baseball season at both the college and high school levels, fans of America’s national pastime knew that this year’s MLB Draft was guaranteed to be different. On Friday, ESPN’s Jeff Passan reported that sources told he and ESPN Baseball Insider Kiley McDaniel that the 2020 MLB Draft will be cut to only 5 rounds. According to the report, undrafted players would be eligible to sign for a maximum of $20,000.
The 2019 MLB Draft featured 1,217 picks over 40 rounds. If the 2020 Draft is cut to only 5 rounds as Passan reports, one would expect that college programs will see more of their committed high school prospects make it to college campuses instead of opting to play in the minor leagues and start making money. Perfect Game currently ranks Vanderbilt’s 2020 class No. 1 in the nation. Arkansas, Florida and LSU check in at Nos. 3-5, while the Miami Hurricanes (No. 2) keep it from being an all-SEC top 5.
SEC baseball programs usually lose star juniors and top commits to the MLB Draft due to the rule that DI players cannot re-enter the draft until their junior season if they do not elect to the play in the minors out of high school. On March 30, the NCAA Division I Council Coordination Committee voted to grant spring sports athletes (such as college baseball players) an extra year of eligibility after the coronavirus pandemic shutdown. While it will allow all spring athletes will be able to return to their respective schools in the 2020-21 academic year, the downside is that programs will be forced to offer “less (or zero) aid or match what they provided this year,” according to The Athletic’s Nicole Auerbach. The aid/scholarship situation figures to become even more complicated for baseball programs with the shortened draft.
Saturday Down South reports and comments on the news around the Southeastern Conference as well as larger college football topics.
