With the MLB draft abbreviated this year due to the coronavirus pandemic, there was significant financial jockeying that occurred on the second day of the draft — jockeying that was not in the players’ favor.
“Beginning in round three, the draft went almost wholly under-slot value,” one major league agent said. “If you wanted to be drafted after the first couple rounds, you had to go under (slot value), with obviously some exceptions.”
In an unprecedented year for baseball, the trend was not a surprise to the game’s insiders, especially considering MLB’s rule that undrafted players cannot get more than a $20,000 signing bonus in 2020 or 2021.