How many rounds are there in the MLB draft? How many players are selected?
With this year’s MLB Draft once again taking place during the All-Star, we take a look at how many rounds teams have to select some of their future players.
The MLB Draft is set to get underway this weekend, as teams will make their first selections on Sunday night, July 17th, at 7pm EST, and will continue on Monday and Tuesday. It will happen under the umbrella of the All-Star Game and all its other events, with the L.A. Live, next to Crypto Arena, as the venue, with ESPN airing the first round and MLB Network taking care of showing the rest.
How many rounds
The MLB Draft is by far the one with the most rounds in American professional sports, as teams get an influx of tens of players that they then distribute among all of their associated minor league teams. This year’s Draft will have 20 rounds, plus two short extra rounds of Compensatory Picks and Competitive Balance Picks after each of the first two rounds. The first two rounds, where the best amateur prospects will be selected, happen on Sunday. This number of rounds has been established as permanent for upcoming drafts, more than doubling the NFL or the NHL, which have seven rounds each.
Each team has a pick per round, with the exception of the Dodgers, who don’t have one in the first round due to exceeding the luxury tax these past seasons, and the Mets, who have two, numbers 11 and 14, with the first one as compensation for not being able to sign their first round pick, Kumar Rocker, after last year’s draft.
Total players selected
Apart from the conventional rounds, the MLB Draft also has two extra rounds after each the first and second rounds, one with compensatory picks as 31 going to the Rockies after losing free agent SS Trevor Story to the Red Sox, and the other with competitive balance picks for teams from small markets. This means that the first pick of the second round will be number 40, while the first pick of the third round will take slot 81.
This means that 620 players will be selected in this year’s MLB Draft and begin their path towards playing in the major leagues.