MLB owners propose overhaul to draft, international signing rules

Major League Baseball owners have put forward a plan that would remake the sport’s entry pipeline, from U.S. high school phenoms to teenagers in Latin America. The proposal would cut the U.S., Canada and Puerto Rico amateur draft from 20 rounds to 12 beginning in 2027, then raise the eligibility age so a player would have to be at least 20 years old by Sept. 1, 2028, to enter the draft.

That change would effectively block direct high school entry and force more American prospects into college baseball or other developmental stops before they could sign. It would also create an identical 12-round international draft, replacing the current open signing market for players outside the United States, Canada and Puerto Rico with a far tighter system of hard slot values and a proposed $200 million bonus pool for 360 amateur players.

The contrast with the current international system is stark. Under existing rules, players may sign with a major league club between Jan. 15 and Dec. 15, but they must turn 16 before signing and be 17 before Sept. 1 of the following year. The owners’ new framework would narrow that market dramatically, especially for prospects in Latin America, where clubs and academies have long competed for bonuses that can change a family’s future.

Baseball’s ownership side has argued that college baseball has become a stronger pathway, pointing to expanded scholarships, name, image and likeness opportunities, revenue sharing and greater investment in facilities and player development. But the labor logic is plain: a shorter draft, later eligibility and hard bonus slots would give clubs more control over costs and reduce the leverage of young players and their advisers. For elite high school players, the route to professional baseball would get longer and less direct. For international amateurs, the market would become more regimented and less open.

The proposal also reopens one of baseball’s most contentious labor fights. The Major League Baseball Players Association rejected an earlier international draft concept in 2022, and MLB and the union had agreed in the 2022 collective bargaining agreement to a negotiation window that later expired. ESPN reported that earlier international-draft talks were tied to eliminating the qualifying offer system for free agents, underscoring how deeply the issue reaches into the league’s broader economic structure.

Owners are trying to frame the overhaul as order and discipline. Players are likely to see a different result: fewer choices, lower bonuses and more power shifted toward clubs.