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

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

Commissioner Rob Manfred, who recently praised the league’s competitive balance, is now fully committed to pushing for a salary cap to ensure owners can make more profits. But those efforts aren’t limited to reducing spending on salaries for players currently in the major leagues, a new report released Thursday found.

ESPN’s Jeff Passan reported Thursday that owners have proposed a significant change to the CBA that would severely impact the progress of the MLB Draft. Currently, players can be drafted after completing their high school careers, and players in international markets are signed through a separate system and the bonus pool is removed from the draft process.

According to this new proposal, high school players will no longer be able to participate in the draft, and team owners will get their long-dreamed dream of an international draft.

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While the draft has been well over 50 rounds for years, the current format has reduced that number to 20. The owners’ proposal was to further shorten this period to just 12 laps. The most important factor for MLB and its owner groups is this: The amateur signing bonus pool will be cut nearly in half, to $200 million. The figures are even more striking when international transfers are taken into account.

per last year AthleticLocal amateur players received bonuses of “approximately 402 million dollars”. International amateurs received “approximately $197 million”.

Between the two talent pools, that’s a jackpot of nearly $600 million. The proposal would save owners $400 million in the first year, as the league proposed skipping the entire international amateur player class before starting a second 12-round draft. Going forward, this will mean annual savings of approximately $200 million. Over seven years, this represents a total savings of $1.6 billion.

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The league also wants to raise the age of players eligible for the draft, as domestic amateurs have to turn 20 by Sept. 1 and high school graduation has been delayed by two years. International players must be 18 years old, while the current rule is 17.

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

As if the obvious money savings weren’t motivation enough, it’s clear the league plans to use college baseball as a form of pre-minor league development.

“College baseball has undergone a remarkable transformation over the past several years,” the league said in a statement. The statement was included. “Today’s top programs provide players with resources, competition and national visibility unimaginable a decade ago.

“By creating a draft system centered around college-age players and making most college players eligible a year earlier, more players will benefit from both a college education and an elite development environment and reach professional baseball – and ultimately the major leagues – faster.”

In the league’s words, reaching the major leagues quickly is the principle that “we can save more money on player development, spend less money on prospects who never achieve success, and transfer some of those costs from teams to universities.”

Unsurprisingly, the Players Association did not respond well to this.

“Today, MLB has made another set of proposals that are absolutely bad for baseball, will cripple the next generation of players, and harm the future of our game,” the MLBPA said in a statement. he said. “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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The league’s proposals certainly have merit; The minors are full of players who will never reach the big leagues, and the more physical development a player makes, the easier he is to scout. But MLB is not the NFL. There are young high schoolers who can quickly reach the big leagues. Arbitrarily limiting this possibility has nothing to do with improving the game; it’s all about limiting the amount the property spends.

As it relates to college baseball, the owners clearly intend for the schools to bear some of the financial burden. But there is a limit to how much programs and external collectives are willing to spend. And if top high school students like pitcher Seth Hernandez or No. 1 overall pick Eli Willits are forced to go the college route, that will push budgets even higher and take space away from other athletes who want to play.

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

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Owners enjoyed public support in this process, as misplaced fears about competitive balance led to widespread demand for salary caps. Hopefully this proposal and its obvious motivation to reduce expenses and maximize profits will lead more baseball fans to realize that owners’ sole purpose in this process is to keep more of the money they make.

That doesn’t make them bad. Or bad guys. But those savings won’t be redistributed to players because team owners have already proposed spending less on MLB talent. Discounted ticket prices do not go to fans through parking fees or concession costs. It goes directly to real estate investments near the stadiums to generate more income. Salary caps won’t fix baseball, they don’t need to, and they won’t give owners more permission to spend less.