Commissioner Manfred is reported to have announced a 5-round first-year player draft for 2020. The draft would use the same slot values as 2019 for those first 5 rounds. Any player not chosen in those first five rounds would effectively become a free agent, able to sign with the team of his choice, but subject to a signing bonus cap of $20,000.
There has been considerable debate about the merits of a 5-round draft. Defenders point to other professional sports, who have significantly fewer draft rounds than MB’s historical 40 rounds. The NBA has 2 rounds, and the NHL and NFL both have 7.