Hunt and Peck

MLB might skip the 2020 draft - A Hunt and Peck

At least it is considering it.

By lil_scooter93 Mar 23, 2020, 2:00pm EDT

The recent coronavirus: COVID-19 pandemic that led to the postponement of the Major League Baseball season may impact baseball even further. According to Ronald Blum of The Associated Press, Major League Baseball officials have been involved in discussions regarding the 2020 draft and service time, among other things such as payment for minor league players. Per Blum:

Major League Baseball is considering skipping its amateur draft this year and putting off the next international signing period as a way to preserve cash while games are affected by the new coronavirus...

...MLB has proposed crediting full service for 130 games or more and proportional service for a shorter season...

The cancellation of the draft raises a lot of questions. While collegiate players could simply enroll in college another year, this solution is not possible for college seniors. This solutions also does not apply for high school seniors, which as the rules are right now, would not be allowed to be drafted until the end of their junior year if they played college ball. What will be the future for these young players?

The next thing to look at is draft order. Major League Baseball plans on playing a shortened season in 2020 at this point. When the draft returns in 2021, how would the draft order be assigned?

It is all very tricky, indeed. These are tough times, of course, which calls for tough decisions. Hopefully Major League Baseball can come up with a solution.

AP sources: MLB could skip draft; service time big issue