Major League Baseball has been forced to make a slew of changes in 2020 due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, with the most obvious being that the season has not been able to start yet.
The league and the Players Association still have a number of details to sort out whether, it be safety or financial issues, among others, but the hope remains that a 2020 regular season will take place, potentially as early as July.
It’s no secret that organizations have missed out on a significant amount of revenue during the shutdown, and that will likely continue even if a season is played since there likely won’t be any fans in stadiums.
Because of that, it was agreed upon that the 2020 MLB Draft would be shortened from 40 to just five rounds. On top of that, the league is facing other changes to the selection process.
According to Jeff Passan of ESPN, the 2020 MLB Draft will take place remotely on June 10 and 11, as was expected to be the case due to coronavirus:
Major League Baseball plans to hold the 2020 MLB Draft remotely, according to a memo obtained by ESPN. As of now, teams are not allowed to have draft rooms and will do all drafting via video conference. That could change, the memo says, as the draft date approaches.
— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) May 15, 2020
MLB will be following a similar format as last month’s NFL Draft, which wound up being a huge success:
Like the NFL Draft, the head of baseball operations for every team — either president or GM — will be sent a video it and will be on camera with no audio during the MLB Draft, according to the memo
— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) May 15, 2020
Perhaps the most interesting aspect of this year’s draft is that teams will be able to sign an unlimited number of undrafted players for up to $20,000, beginning June 14.
That seems to be a benefit for organizations like the Los Angeles Dodgers, who are consistently one of the best teams in all of baseball due to their ability to develop players in the Minor Leagues. Plus, playing in a city like L.A. shouldn’t hurt their chances of signing talented players either.
While it is unfortunate that the draft had to be shortened to five rounds, the weekend it takes place should serve as a nice distraction for sports fans around the world in what is otherwise a difficult time period. Like the NFL, MLB will have its chance to take center stage for a weekend while showcasing some of the bright, young players in this year’s draft.
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