MLBPA pushes back on owners with plan to keep 20-round draft
The union’s proposal keeps high school eligibility, expands college access and resists MLB’s bid to shrink the domestic draft.
By Georgia Hale · Staff Writer
3 min read
The MLB Players Association wants the domestic draft to stay at 20 rounds, setting up a clear clash with Major League Baseball owners after the league proposed a much smaller version of the event.
The union delivered its proposal Tuesday, according to ESPN, after MLB last month pitched cutting the draft from 20 rounds to 12, reducing amateur signing bonuses by more than $150 million and barring high school players from entering.
The MLBPA’s plan would keep draft access open for high school and junior-college players. It also would expand eligibility for four-year college players by allowing sophomores to enter regardless of age.
Under the current rules cited by ESPN, college sophomores can be drafted only if they are at least 21 by Aug. 1 of that draft year.
Union wants bonus pools tied to revenue
The MLBPA also wants to preserve a bonus-pool system that rises with industry revenue. ESPN reported the pool total was $358.7 million in 2026, after sitting at $350.4 million in 2025.
The union’s proposal includes extra help for small-market clubs. Teams classified as small market under the collective bargaining agreement could add $2 million to their bonus pool in one draft over the next five years.
A small-market team also would receive another $1 million in bonus-pool space if it reached the postseason the previous year, according to ESPN.
The MLBPA wants to keep competitive-balance selections as well. Those picks give low-revenue and small-market teams a chance at an additional pick in Round A, between the first and second rounds, or Round B, between the second and third rounds.
Tax penalties would be softened
The union is also seeking lighter penalties for teams that spend beyond their assigned bonus pools.
Under the current CBA, ESPN reported, a team that exceeds its pool by more than 5% faces a 75% tax and loses a first-round pick. Spending more than 10% over the pool brings a 100% tax and costs the club both a first-round and second-round pick.
The MLBPA’s version would let teams spend up to 15% over their pool without forfeiting a draft pick. A team would not lose a first-rounder unless it went more than 20% over its limit.
ESPN reported that no club has ever exceeded its pool by more than 5%. The union wants teams to have more room to chase younger amateur players who may be weighing college name, image and likeness money or considering basketball or football.
To add another lure, the MLBPA proposed allowing small-market teams to sign as many as two players picked before the third round to major league contracts. In those cases, the slot value for the pick would come out of the team’s pool.
Teams were allowed to use major league contracts in that way before signing-bonus pools began in 2012, according to ESPN.
MLB’s proposal remains on the table
The union also wants the draft moved from July to June and wants teams to be allowed to trade picks in the first 10 rounds until two hours before the draft begins.
MLB made its proposal June 18, calling for a 12-round domestic draft with hard slot values and $200 million in signing-bonus pools for 2027, ESPN reported.
The league also proposed an international draft using the same framework. That idea was part of a broader package that included a cap-and-floor system at the major league level.
The MLBPA has not yet submitted its plan for international amateurs, a group that includes players born outside the United States, Canada and Puerto Rico.
This story draws on original reporting from ESPN.com.