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.