Report: MLB Draft still scheduled for June while players, owners negotiate details

The 2020 MLB Draft remains on track to take place in June, but there is disagreement between owners and players as to the rules. The MLB Players’ Association rejected a proposal from management that would have included a ten-round draft with a split in how bonuses would pay out to drafted and undrafted players, according to The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal and Evan Drellich.

Players and management reached an agreement in March that provided a general framework for an eventual return. For the draft, the agreement included a minimum draft of five rounds and a maximum of 40. It included “a commitment to assign slot values identical to 2019’s [and] teams could sign an unlimited number of unsigned draftees for a maximum of $20,000.”

Both sides were allowed to submit revisions, which is what MLB did, but they appear to have the power to simply operate from the basic framework and cut the draft even shorter to a mere five rounds. Their current ten-round proposal would have first through fifth round picks slotted equivalent to the same picks in 2019, and sixth through tenth round picks getting 50 percent of those values with a hard cap on the signing bonus. Additionally, the league proposed a limit of five undrafted players at $20,000 each and an unlimited number of players at $5,000 or less.

Rosenthal and Drellich are reporting the draft is still expected to be held in June. The exact date is not entirely clear, but it is usually in the first week of June. The Detroit Tigers hold the first pick, followed by the Baltimore Orioles, Miami Marlins, Kansas City Royals, and Toronto Blue Jays. The Houston Astros do not have a first round pick due to the sign-stealing punishment. There are no compensation round picks this year, but we’ll see eight teams picking in Competitive Balance Round A.

Here’s the full order for the 2020 MLB Draft.