Blue Jays: MLBPA rejects shortened amateur draft proposal

The MLBPA has rejected the league’s latest proposal pertaining to the 2020 amateur draft, the current plan would see the draft shortened to just ten rounds.

The Toronto Blue Jays are sitting pretty with the 5th overall selection in the upcoming amateur draft, however, the draft will not look the same as in previous years and that is if the league and the MLBPA can even find some common ground to make the event happen.

According to Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic, the league is proposing a ten-round draft shortened from the usual 40 rounds. However, the imposed restrictions seemed to be the sticking point among the two sides. The league maintains they want the slot values for rounds one through five to remain the same as in 2019 and then cut in half to 50 percent for rounds six through ten.

The league is also proposing that teams can only sign five players for $20,000 who were not drafted in the initial ten rounds. The remaining signing of players can be unlimited as long as it is for $5000 or less.

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So essentially teams would draft ten players, sign five for 20k and then be able to sign as many as they want for 5k or less. This proposed financial structure is the current sticking point with the MLBPA.

The draft is currently slated for June 10th if the two sides can work out an agreement on the finer points of the event. It will be interesting to see how the two sides come together to get the season off without a hitch.

Both sides will have to make a ton of concessions and money will be front and centre on the issues surrounding the MLB season as it is going to be played in empty stadiums with no fan revenue.

You got to feel bad for the kids who have prepared their entire lives for this draft and will now be shortchanged or not drafted at all if they are not a top selection. Hopefully, the MLB and MLBPA can come to a resolution that benefits everyone involved.