2020 draft will be either 5 or 10 rounds, bonuses are significantly lower and deferred after the first 100k for both 20 and 21 drafts. Undrafted free agents capped at a 20k signing bonus. A lot of high school kids may opt for 3 years of college baseball and quite a few juniors may stick around for their senior year.
MLB draft changes are good for college baseball
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That has been the rule in baseball forever. Baseball rules are a little different than other sports. Anyone who is 18 is eligible for the MLB draft. You don't have to declare. If you get drafted and go to college you have to wait 3 years before you can reenter the draft.
What will be interesting is of they only go 5 rounds? There is a lot of talent in rounds 6-10 and bonuses in those rounds are pretty good. Especially for pitchers. Those guys have to make a choice. 20k signing bonus + endorsements or a year of college and see what happens with the draft next year.
Yes, that has been the rule for many years in college baseball. Football you have to be in school for three years to be draft eligible. Just wish that basketball had those rules as well.
I wonder if there is any collected data available that shows the long term effect of 18/19 year olds entering MLB and their farm systems. There may not be any thing that significantly distinguishes them from 20-22 year olds, but it would be interesting to see. Some of items that could be analyzed:
- years in the minors vs older age group
- how many actually made it to the majors vs older group
- how long were they in the system whether majors or minors vs older age group
- injury comparison
- post baseball career success. This would be very difficult data to get but, I think it would be good "big picture" information for these young aspiring baseball players to consider before going straight into the pros vs university.
- years in the minors vs older age group
- how many actually made it to the majors vs older group
- how long were they in the system whether majors or minors vs older age group
- injury comparison
- post baseball career success. This would be very difficult data to get but, I think it would be good "big picture" information for these young aspiring baseball players to consider before going straight into the pros vs university.
The problem with college baseball is 11.7 scholarships. You can spread that out over 27 guys with minimum of 25% for each scholarship player. Bonus pools in normal draft years have gotten pretty hefty. Kids getting drafted in the higher rounds are still pulling 6 figure bonuses. Kids that go to school look at 3 years and say will I go from a 125,000 signing bonus to a 2,500,000 signing bonus. Or the next thing to consider is how long before I can make a major league roster. Minimum is 545,000 per year but you have to be on the 40 man roster to make that money. Then there is also the endorsement money. I know that is coming to the NCAA but the baseball kids make most of their money off of shoes, bats, and gloves. I think there is a carve out if a university has a contract with a shoe company.
The next 2 years are going to be very different. If there is only 5 rounds this year then the drafts for the next few years are going to be stacked. I can see lots more kids going to college with the hopes of improving their draft status and bonus money a few years down the road.
The next 2 years are going to be very different. If there is only 5 rounds this year then the drafts for the next few years are going to be stacked. I can see lots more kids going to college with the hopes of improving their draft status and bonus money a few years down the road.
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