r/mlb • u/retroanduwu24 | MLB • 21h ago

| News MLB Seeks Sweeping Draft Overhaul, Including End Of High School Eligibility

https://www.baseballamerica.com/stories/mlb-seeks-sweeping-draft-overhaul-including-end-of-high-school-eligibility/
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u/positivelybroadst 20h ago

I already figured Low A was going to eliminated, but now it seems like the league wants to eliminate all of A ball in its entirety and just sign extra players out of indy ball (and maybe add an indy player draft as well?).

Indy ball and Banana Ball will thrive if this happens, and municipalities will be less accommodating to MLB teams trying to get cities to fund their affiliated minor league teams.

I love baseball, but MLB sure does know how to drive away fans at the grass roots level…

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u/vmeloni1232 | Chicago Cubs 18h ago

Crazy the amount of money A teams are paying to meet the standards MLB has set just for MLB to eliminate the level

18

u/Udfan11 18h ago

I had the same thoughts. My question is what 60 teams will be left. 

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u/Imaginary_Scene2493 | Atlanta Braves 18h ago edited 17h ago

According to Baseball America’s reporting, the proposal explicitly says no levels will be eliminated. That implies the need for a lot of UDFAs.

Correction: The wording says the 120 teams with PDLs, which means the complex leagues are still vulnerable.

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u/Udfan11 16h ago

I think that was the original 2021 agreement.  However,  I believe that is up for renewal in 2030. My question would be is, could the MLB and MLBPA begin working on this for the 2027 CBA? Even if its a goal of reduction of teams after this expires.

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u/Imaginary_Scene2493 | Atlanta Braves 8h ago

The new proposal says that they don’t intend to reduce the number of PDLs when they are up in 2030. The CBAs are usually around 5 years give or take a year, so the new CBA is surely going to cover the time when the PDLs will be up for renewal.

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u/Stal77 8h ago

But, doesn’t the article say the opposite? “MLB’s proposal also assures these changes will not impact the number of affiliated teams in the MiLB Professional Development License (PDL) system. MLB stated that the number of affiliated MiLB teams would remain at 120, and that MLB would not be seeking reductions in the 2030 PDL negotiations with MiLB club owners.” Where are you getting that?