Major League Baseball owners have proposed sweeping changes to how the league drafts and signs amateur players, a move that would reshape the pipeline of talent entering professional baseball and save ownership groups an estimated $200 million per year once fully in effect.
According to Fox News, ESPN's Jeff Passan reported Thursday that the owners had proposed a key change to the collective bargaining agreement that would remove high school players from draft eligibility entirely. Currently, players can be drafted after finishing high school, and international players are signed through a separate system with its own bonus pool. Under the new proposal, both systems would be combined into a single international draft, and domestic players would need to meet a new age threshold.
To be eligible under the owners' proposal, domestic amateur players would need to turn 20 by September 1 and be at least two years removed from high school graduation. International players would need to be 18, up from the current minimum age of 17.
The structural changes go further than eligibility rules. The current draft already shrank from more than 50 rounds to 20. The owners' proposal would cut it again, down to just 12 rounds. The amateur signing bonus pool would also be cut nearly in half, to $200 million total.
The numbers behind that cut are significant. Last year, according to The Athletic, domestic amateur players received about $402 million in bonuses. International amateurs received about $197 million. Combined, that is close to $600 million. The owners' proposal would save approximately $400 million in the first year alone, since the league is also proposing to skip an entire class of international amateur players before starting the new 12-round draft. Over seven years, the total savings would reach an estimated $1.6 billion.
The league issued a statement framing the proposal around the development benefits of college baseball. "Over the last several years, college baseball has undergone a remarkable transformation," the league said. "Today's top programs provide players with resources, competition, and national exposure that were unimaginable a decade ago." The statement added that creating a draft system centered around college-aged players, and making most college players eligible one year earlier, would allow more players to benefit from both a college education and an elite development environment before reaching professional baseball.
Critics of the proposal have not held back. The changes were described in one assessment as "flat out bad for baseball," a phrase that also appeared in reporting on the proposal. The MLB Players Association has not yet responded publicly with a formal counter, but the negotiations are ongoing as the league and players work toward a new collective bargaining agreement.
Commissioner Rob Manfred, who recently praised competitive balance in the league, has been described as fully committed to pushing for a salary cap as part of the broader CBA talks. The draft proposal fits into that larger effort to reduce costs across the board, from player salaries for those already in the majors down to the youngest players entering the system.
The CBA negotiations are taking place in New York, and no agreement has been announced.
