In addition to dictating when and how the major league season will resume, the agreement between MLB and the players will have a tremendous impact on the minor leagues. More specifically, moving the draft to July and reducing it to as few as five rounds completely alters the landscape of short-season leagues at the lower levels. For the Cubs, that means adjusting the way rosters for the Eugene Emeralds and two Arizona Rookie League teams in Mesa are constructed.
The draft normally takes place in the first couple weeks of June, right around the end of the college baseball season.