The draft is one of the most anticipated Major League Baseball season events. The selection of young prospects who hope to make history in professional baseball is the subject of numerous analyses and speculations. The draft has undergone several changes in its history, and only in 2023 did it adopt a new format that should have a great impact on the league.
From its creation in 1965 until 2022, the MLB Draft followed the same format as the National Football League’s (NFL). In those years, teams chose their new players in the reverse order of the general standings of the regular season. That is, the team with the worst record chose first, and so on through the World Series champion.
However, the draft underwent a drastic change in 2023 to more closely resemble that of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Since last year, the MLB also began holding a lottery to allocate the first draft picks to discourage so-called “tanking.”
The new draft format
With the 2022 Collective Bargaining Agreement, the league and MLBPA agreed that the first six picks would be assigned through a lottery to avoid tanking. In the new system, the 18 teams that did not enter the postseason have a chance to obtain the first selection, with their odds decreasing the better placed they were in the final standings.
Before the draft, the MLB assigns each of the eligible teams various number combinations according to their odds. The numbers, in turn, correspond to several ping-pong balls that are drawn every 15 seconds.
The lottery will assign the first six turns. Positions seven to 18 will be received by the rest of the eligible teams according to the odds assigned to them before the draw. The teams that entered the postseason will receive their turns according to their elimination date and revenue-sharing status.
How many rounds does the draft have?
The MLB Draft is the largest of the US professional sports leagues. Until 2019, it could have up to 40 rounds. By comparison, the NFL and NHL drafts have seven rounds, the MLS has three, and the NBA has just two.
Starting in 2021, the league and players union agreed to reduce the size of the draft to just 20 rounds, plus compensatory picks for some teams. In total, teams select 614 players, a number still impressive when compared to the 260 picks in the NFL, 224 in the NHL, 87 in the MLS, and 60 in the NBA.
The 2025 MLB Draft will be held on Sunday, July 13 and Monday, July 14, during All-Star Week.
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