Elephant Rumblings: 2020 MLB draft will last 5 rounds

Good morning, Athletics Nation!

The latest piece of the puzzle has been put in place for the 2020 season, as the league has decided to limit the MLB draft to just five rounds this summer.

Normally the draft lasts 40 rounds, but there was no question that it would be shortened from that during a time when all American sports are shut down completely by the coronavirus pandemic. ESPN’s Jeff Passan reports that there had been discussions about doing 10 rounds, but instead it will be cut to five, which is the lowest number allowed per an agreement made by the two sides weeks ago.

Ramifications will be many. A normal draft sees around 1,200 amateur players invited into the pros, but now there will be only 150. Teams can sign unlimited undrafted players after those five rounds, but only for up to $20,000 each, which might not be enough to entice some amateurs to leave school — for example, the slot values of the A’s 6th-10th round picks last year ranged from $243,000 down to $142,000, and beyond the 11th round the slot limit used to be $125,000.

While those middle/late rounds bring extremely low odds for each individual player, collectively they do have an impact. In his writeup, Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic notes (via Sportradar) that, of the thousand or so players who entered the pros via the draft and played at least one MLB game in 2019, nearly half of them were taken in the 6th round or later. Of course, those players can still go pro if they want to essentially forego a signing bonus; or they can also stay in school, wait a year, and try again in 2021, when the draft will be at least 20 rounds. But even still, this will be quite a bump in the road for a career path already fraught with risk.

There’s a lot more to unpack in this news, so we’ll likely do another post about it in the next couple days, but those are the basics. Five rounds for the 2020 draft, to feed into a minor league system whose season looks like it will probably be canceled entirely. Some of this is unavoidable due to the circumstances, but it’s fair to wonder if this extremely restrictive plan is the best way to go about things. In the words of Scott Boras: “We probably should have bought a billboard that said, ‘Go play other sports after Little League. Goodbye.’”

A’s Coverage:

• Lockard: A shortened MLB Draft? Here are some of the A’s and Giants’ late-round gems ($$$)
• Lockard: Mocking the 2020 MLB Draft: Giants and A’s land big arms with their top picks ($$$)
• Lockard: Do-over: The A’s sign Jason Giambi to an extension in 2001 ($$$)
• Shea: Reduced 2020 MLB draft threatens to derail some Bay Area prospects’ dreams
• Seamheads podcast: Guest is Alex Jensen, Stockton Ports broadcaster (Apple) | Spotify | Stitcher
• Portside Pod (podcast): Guest is minor league coach Rick Magnante
• Franco: The A’s Draft Gamble That Paid Off
• Coffey and Lewis: Remembering Charlie-O the mule, the A’s mascot inspired by Charles O. Finley ($$$)
• Didion: Why A’s Matt Olson is most underrated player entering 2020 MLB season
• Gallegos: A salute to mom from a member of every club
• Gallegos: Stockton at heart of Braden’s immortality with A’s
• Slusser: A’s Dallas Braden finished perfect game despite numerous imperfections ($)
• Hickey: On His Perfect Day, Athletics’ Catfish Hunter Wasn’t Quite Perfect
• Hickey: Athletics’ Dallas Braden Stands With Dock Ellis and David Wells as Brilliant While Impaired
• Hickey: Mother’s Day II: A’s Derek Norris’s Career Best Game Honored Mom
• Brazil: Why A’s Chris Bassitt, rest of MLB players are watching KBO closely
• Hall: Today in Oakland A’s history (5/8): Catfish Hunter throws perfect game
• Hall: Today in Oakland A’s history (5/9): Dallas Braden throws perfect game
• Hall: Stories about my Oakland A’s fan Mom
• Hall: Chaptain America, the Oakland A’s own Marvel superhero
• Hall: Evie the Cat, and a brief history of animals running on baseball fields
• A’s trivia: Name the 8 no-hitters, in order

MLB News & Interest:

• Passan and McDaniel: MLB shortens 2020 draft from 40 rounds to 5
• Rosenthal: Inside MLB’s reduced amateur draft and the money fight still to come ($$$)
• Madden: Baseball’s only coronavirus certainty is the destruction of the minor leagues
• Hickey: California Governor Newsom’s Plan a Formidable Hurdle for Pro Sports to Reopen
• Knight: COVID-19 antibody study of MLB employees finds .7 percent have had the virus ($$$)
• Dr. Ahmad: Could COVID19 worsen the Tommy John epidemic?
• Zencka: The Pitcher To Receive The Most Extra Strikes In 2019 Was…
• Zencka: Three Teams Who’ve Yet To Win Their Division
• Byrne: Pittsburgh’s Promising Middle Infield
• Today in Baseball History

Best of Twitter:

The official news break

Draft thoughts from Lockard

More from Lockard

One more look at Braden’s perfect game, which had its anniversary over the weekend

I wonder how many batters called him “That (expletive) Greg Maddux”

Chad Pinder helping out with the kids