2026 Collective Bargaining Negotiations

[bigegypt0417]

MLB Seeks Sweeping Draft Overhaul, Including End Of High School Eligibility

[andyb]

Slash draft bonuses by 50%?

I think most players realize the risk in playing baseball with no guaranteed contracts in the minors. The draft bonuses were already curtailed by the pool system. The draft class clearly has no say in the manner. Hopefully the players do not sell the amateurs down the river. The whole point is to attract more kids that want to play baseball.

[bigegypt0417]

I wonder how much that will matter now with NIL money.

The players association might need to sacrifice something.

[Philsmania]

WIll all HS players be FA's or will teams be barred from signing HS players?

[Philsmania]

I wonder how much that will matter now with NIL money.

Other than conferences like the SEC or a handful of others, I doubt NCAA baseball NIL money is anywhere near what football and basketball player money is. The return on investment for the schools simply isn't there. Most universities probably don't make a penny baseball. Heck, at SJU, the games are all free.

Veering OT slightly but one interesting note that Howie Roseman made recently is that now we may actually see NFL rookies taking paycuts when they sign their first NFL contracts.

[andyb]

I think college NIL money is good enough to prevent HS players that would not get $500K+ bonuses from going pro out of HS. The Ben Brown and Logan O'Hoppe type signings will just not happen often.

I can't believe they are closing the door on the first and second rounders though. They make more in draft bonuses than in college. They also have leverage so they get a little more than their draft slot occasionally.

This MLB proposal cuts the draft pool from like $360 million to $200 million - that is just not going to happen. This is the most vulnerable class of player. Now the drafting of 18-year-olds is a different question,, but really with a slot and pool system is it THAT big a problem since the money is capped? This is yet another reason why more people hate the owners rather than the players in these negotiations.

https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/49107139/sources-mlb-proposes-international-draft-part-cba-talks

[bkox]

NEWS: MLB has proposed an international draft, just like it did during the last round of talks. This one is for roughly the same money but significantly fewer slots.

Another big change: The minimum age would be 18.

More … https://t.co/sL3J1wyh6d

— Alden González ( @Alden_Gonzalez ) June 18, 2026

[julio]

What happens to 18-year-old kids who have no real interest in attending a college or university? The only other option available to them is the independent leagues. It could get really amusing if some can't miss high school kid winds up in the Atlantic League, with a club that holds a multi-year contract with him, and the kid proves to be essentially major-league ready. The kid is drafted as a 19-year-old, and the Atlantic League club demands a large payment (think Japanese player posting fee) in order to sell the contract to the drafting MLB club?

Is MLB saying, "Go to a college or Junior College — not to get a degree, which neither we nor you give a hoot about, but because these schools are now our free (to MLB) player development system."

Then there's also the question of international players. 18-year-old American high school graduates are not draft-eligible, but 18-year-old Dominicans can be signed? they're planning an international draft with eligibility at age 18.

Also, what happens to international player development if there's a draft, and the buscones who shepherd and develop these kids before they're old enough to sign are suddenly cut out of the revenue stream? If the buscones have to find other lines of work, there will simply be less organized youth baseball in places like the Dominican and Venezuela, and less talent developed, period.

[andyb]

Much more detail here. They want a 20-year-old limit for the domestic draft. 18 internationally (and as a cost savings they skip the first year!).

MLB proposes international draft, dramatic overhaul of amateur draft setup

[andyb]

Is MLB saying, "Go to a college or Junior College — not to get a degree, which neither we nor you give a hoot about, but because these schools are now our free (to MLB) player development system."

Pretty much.

Although I do not expect the players to agree to anything like that. The pools provide enough incentive to stay in school beyond the top couple of rounds. I just think MLB likes the idea of cutting amateur bonuses by 30%-50%. This is cutting the hand that feeds them of course as fewer players will play baseball if there is so much risk on the front end.

I am not opposed to an international draft but just think they can have a separate pool with soft slots like in the regular draft. Teams should be able to trade picks. And a draft in general will lessen the abuse. As a compromise I might have a 17-year-old limit (maybe by a January draft date) to push the signing age back a little (like 6 months since it is now 16 by September. If teams are not guaranteed a 14-year-old there just won't be pre-draft deals but I am fine with a team trading for a player they have a good relationship with.

[andyb]

Many of the greatest players ever were good major leaguers at 19-21. MLB’s draft proposal would make it almost impossible for a player to debut before he is 22.

I think it would also wreck free agency, as almost no player would get there before age 28.

— Joe Sheehan (@sheehannewsletter.bsky.social) June 18, 2026 at 2:02 PM

That last line about free agency may be the most important to the owners.

The players should counter with age-based free agency for everyone at age 27 or 28, perhaps with a minimum of 3 years of service time.

[zambonir]

Is MLB saying, "Go to a college or Junior College — not to get a degree, which neither we nor you give a hoot about, but because these schools are now our free (to MLB) player development system."

Seems like that was the plan all along when they began trimming the minors. With talk of doing more of that too.

[allentown]

They want the NFL system where the colleges do most of the work that the minor leagues do now.

[allentown]

I believe that continue corruption makes an international draft essential to the integrity of baseball. I also believe that baseball shoots itself in both feet by continue to reduce the size and importance of the minor leagues. The minor leagues are a great way of adding more and younger fans to a sport with the oldest fanbase of U.S. sports. Baseball has to take President Trump seriously: he has the power to cut off, or at least greatly reduce, the visas needed to bring foreign players to the U.S.

[andyb]

Yeah but there is $50 million in NIL money at the big schools where in baseball the top programs are more like $5 million.

Now a college scholarship plus $50K-$100K in NIL money for a good HS prospect (times 3 years) is not awful, but you are still only talking about a $500K overall package for a first or second rounder (the best will get a few million) who might get $3-$5 million in the draft.

The next Mike Trout is just going to go to the NFL.

[andyb]

MLB.com article here with more details (college players could be drafted after 2 years) and the initial negative response from the players.

https://www.mlb.com/news/mlb-domestic-and-international-draft-proposals

[Philsmania]

The next Mike Trout is just going to go to the NFL.

Or, if they are even smarter, basketball. Much less brutal.

[BostonRoss]

The next Mike Trout is just going to go to the NFL.

Or, if they are even smarter, basketball. Much less brutal.

Yeah, but there are fewer jobs in the NBA.

[BostonRoss]

Gee, MLB is so thoughtful, protecting those teenagers from turning into the next Mickey Mantle or Bryce Harper!

[andyb]

There is some truth that there is NIL money in college. But it just seems MLB is counting on that money increasing by 1000% and it won't. Everyone knows the best HS basketball and football players and wants to see them in college. Bryce Harper was well known in HS but would he be looking at $5 million in NIL money today? He'd get a few million but no guarantees after that.

Now this big change won't happen. I think someone posted on Twitter that something like 75% of Hall of Famers made their baseball debut by age 23 (and the majority of those early debuts were from HS draftees). MLB is limiting the very players who end up their best players. They are looking at it like accountants and just saying HS players have more risk. Of course they do. But finding that 18 year old diamond in the rough is how you find Hall of Famers or at least a majority of them historically.