Major League Baseball owners propose major changes to draft structure: ‘flat out bad for baseball’

Major League Baseball is in the midst of negotiations with the MLB Players Association regarding the future of the collective bargaining agreement between the two parties.

Commissioner Rob Manfred, who not long ago praised the league’s competitive balance, is now fully committed to targeting the salary cap to ensure owners can pocket a bigger profit. But as Thursday’s new report revealed, those efforts are not limited to reducing spending on player wages for those at the big clubs.

ESPN’s Jeff Passan reported Thursday that the owners have proposed a significant change to the CBA that will have a major impact on the MLB Draft going forward. Currently, players are eligible after completing their high school careers, and players in the international market are signed through a separate program and bonus pool removed from the draft process.

Under the new proposal, high school players will no longer be eligible to enter the draft, and owners will get their long-cherished dream of an international draft.

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While the draft, for years, went well beyond 50 rounds, the current format has shortened it to 20. And here’s a big deal for MLB and ownership teams: The rookie signing bonus pool will be cut, roughly in half, to $200 million. The numbers are even more impressive when considering international signings.

Last year, per Athleticrookie domestic players received “approximately $402 million” in bonuses. International novices received “approximately $197 million.”

Between the two talent pools, that’s about $600 million in bonuses. The proposal would save owners $400 million in their first year, as the league proposes to skip the entire international rookie class before the start of the second, 12-round draft. Going forward, it would be an annual savings of about $200 million. Over seven years, that’s a total savings of $1.6 billion.

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The league also wants to raise the age of eligible players, with draftees needing to be 20 years old by Sept. 1, and two years removed from high school graduation. International players will have to be 18 years old, where the current rule is 17.

MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred opens the MLB Draft at the Coca-Cola Roxy on July 13, 2025. (Brett Davis/Imagn Photos)

As if the obvious savings weren’t motivating enough, it’s clear that the league intends to use college baseball as a way to develop a pre-minor league.

“Over the past few years, college baseball has undergone a remarkable transformation,” the league said in a statement. “Today’s top programs provide players with facilities, competition, and exposure in a country that was unimaginable a decade ago.

“By creating a draft program that focuses on young college players and making more college players eligible one year earlier, more players will benefit from both a college education and an elite development environment while reaching professional baseball – and eventually the major leagues – much faster.”

Getting to the big leagues sooner, as the league puts it, is a goal that says, “we can save more money on player development, waste less money on prospects that never pan out, and shift some of that cost from teams to colleges.”

Unsurprisingly, the Players Association did not respond well.

“Today, MLB made another set of extremely negative proposals for baseball, ones that will cripple the next generation of players and harm the future of our game,” the MLBPA said in a statement. “The players are committed to negotiating in good faith and leaving baseball better than they found it — the league’s proposals fall woefully short.”

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There is some merit to the wing’s proposals; The minors are full of players who will never make it to the majors, and the more physically a player improves, the easier it is to look. But MLB is not the NFL. There are young high school students who can quickly reach the big stage. Limiting what’s possible has nothing to do with improving the game and everything to do with limiting what ownership wastes.

As far as college baseball is concerned, the owners clearly intend for the schools to shoulder some of the financial burden. But there is a limit to what external programs and collections are willing to use. And if the top high schoolers, like, Pitcher Seth Hernandez or No. 1 overall draft pick Eli Willits, being forced to go the college route, will push the budget up and take away spots for other athletes who want to play.

Major League Baseball Commissioner Robert D. Manfred Jr. speaks at the 2024 MLB Draft presented by Nike at the Cowtown Coliseum in Fort Worth, Texas, on July 14, 2024. (Photos by Daniel Shirey/MLB via Getty Images)

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Owners have enjoyed the benefit of public support for this process, as unwarranted fears of competitive balance have led to increased demands for a salary cap. We hope that this proposal, with its obvious motivation to reduce spending and increase profits, will lead to more baseball fans realizing that the owners’ sole purpose in this process is to keep more of the money they make.

That doesn’t make them bad. Or villains. But these savings will not be redistributed to players, as owners have proposed spending less on MLB talent. It does not go to fans through reduced ticket prices, parking fees or concession fees. Goes directly into real estate investment near stadiums to make extra money. Salary caps won’t fix baseball, not that it needs fixing, and it also won’t give franchise owners more money to spend less.