2020 MLB Draft: League, MLBPA have yet to agree on the Draft
MLB and the MLBPA have already agreed on rather substantial changes to the 2020 MLB Draft, though the latest proposal by the League involves more cuts than the Player’s Union is comfortable with.
As we’re all plenty aware of, the current COVID-19 pandemic has kept sports at a stand-still since mid-March, which in turn has impacted numerous events scheduled for later this year. One of those events is the 2020 MLB Draft, originally scheduled for June 10.
However, the draft in its original form was eliminated back in early April, as MLB looked for ways to save costs at a time when money is certainly tight. A 2020 draft is still set to take place, though the alterations already made are quite drastic. Here’s a list of the key changes already agreed upon by the League and the Player’s Union (taken straight from Mike Axisa’s write-up at CBS Sports on April 6):
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- The draft can be held as early as June 10, the original start date, or pushed back as late as July 20. The signing deadline will be no later than Aug. 1.
- MLB can cut the draft from 40 rounds to as few as five, and bonus pool figures will remain the same as 2019. Typically there is a 3-5 percent raise each year.
- Players will receive $100,000 upfront. The rest of their signing bonus will be paid in two equal installments on July 1 each of the next two years.
- Undrafted free agents will have their bonuses capped at $20,000. Previously they could receive up to $125,000 before counting against their team’s bonus pool.
- What better time to discuss a couple of power-hungry parties looking to get one over on the other? Although, in all seriousness, MLB and the MLBPA really need to work this out.
Also, most of the framework above will be implemented for the 2021 MLB Draft, though MLB is only permitted to cut the draft down to 20 rounds, instead of five, and next year un-drafted free agents will be allowed to sign for more than $20,000. Remember, all of this was agreed upon by MLB and the MLBPA, save for of course honing in on a few of the details.
Well on Thursday, MLB attempted to settle a few of those details… and the MLBPA was quick to shut them down.
2020 MLB Draft: League, MLBPA have yet to agree on the Draft
First reported by Ken Rosenthal and Evan Drellich from The Athletic, MLB came to the Player’s Union with an updated proposal that basically elaborated more on several key items: draft length, limits regarding the selection of un-drafted players, and slot values; but the players didn’t bite. Here’s a rundown of what MLB was asking for:
A 10-round draft
This is actually a larger draft than the minimum the two sides agreed on earlier, as the MLBPA was prepared to allow a reduction to just five rounds in length. However, as you’ll see in the next point, MLB’s interest in a 10-round draft wasn’t for the MLBPA’s sake, but more for allowing a split in slot values (save more money!).
A reduction in slot values
The reason the MLBPA balked at a 10-round draft is quite understandable, given what MLB was really after, which was essentially a draft cut in half. MLB wanted rounds 1-5 to have slot values equivalent to last year’s draft (which is what the two sides had already agreed on for the ENTIRE draft), while rounds 6-10 would have slot values cut by 50%. This was most likely the main reason the two sides couldn’t form a compromise this week.
2020 MLB Draft: League, MLBPA have yet to agree on the Draft
A limit of five undrafted players at $20,000
Now this one is just weird. Just like the slot value issue, both MLB and the MLBPA had already come to an agreement about undrafted players.
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The two sides, as shown above, decided to cap all undrafted players’ bonuses at $20,000, which was already a pretty big change, given those types of players usually could land bonuses five or six times that amount in previous years.
Well, now MLB wants to put a limit on how many players a team can sign at that amount, setting a limit of five for $20,000 and an unlimited amount of players for $5,000 or below.
The issue now, though, is that the MLBPA is running against time. As Rosenthal and Drellich mention in their article, MLB has all the leverage at this point, considering they could just simply cut the draft all the way down to the minimum of five rounds if the Player’s Union doesn’t corporate.
The impact of no revenue gives the League plenty of reasons to cry poor if they don’t get exactly what they want.
Although, perhaps the best strategy for the MLBPA is to just do nothing. As we’ve seen with this latest proposal, MLB isn’t interested in giving up anything; in fact, they’re obviously trying to take away more from the players.
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It may be best for the MLBPA to just have the 2020 MLB draft along the lines of the original terms before the draft is completely stripped down by the League.