On Friday, messaging went out to front offices across the league that the 2025 MLB Draft would be a two-day event rather than the traditional three day event it has been in recent years.
The biggest change to the event will be the addition of round three tacked onto the back-end of day one. The 2024 MLB Draft saw 74 names called on day one this past summer. That number will go north of 100 picks this year.
Day two will be a marathon. Day three was already nearly a four-hour event this summer when rounds 11 through 20 were held. That was 300 picks. Day two of the 2025 MLB Draft will be north of 500 picks.
Sources: Major League Baseball is considering making the 2025 MLB Draft a two-day event. Rounds 1-3 would take place on day one. Rounds 4-20 would take place on day two. Plan is expected to be finalized soon. Still some final details to iron out.
— Joe Doyle (@JoeDoyleMiLB) December 20, 2024
The changes were talked about extensively at the Winter Meetings among club officials, agents and league personnel. According to some close to the situation, some front offices and owners did not like that day three of the draft overlapped during the All-Star Game. Some complained it took eyeballs and attention away from the All-Star Game because front offices were locked in their war rooms churning through the final day of the event. Others believe, quite simply, folks wanted to get their short-lived vacations going a day earlier.
What does it mean for the event? Time will tell. Historically, round eleven has been an exciting round. Conversations that took place between scouts and agents during the evening hours following day two always resulted in over-slot deals taking shape at the beginning of day three. One would expect there will be more over-slot deals taking place at the front of rounds four and five in 2025. Round four selections have bonus pool values anywhere from $500k to $750k. So over-slot deals in that range will be big and noteworthy.
As the draft wears on, rounds 8 through 20 will likely blend in with one another rather than seeing a flash of over-slot deals take place in rounds eleven and twelve like has been tradition. The deals will still take place, though they’ll probably be more evenly spreadout among the later rounds rather than crammed into what was the beginning of day three.
Industry personnel continue to pound the table for the Draft to be moved back to June to align with the College World Series. That is unlikely to happen until a new CBA is executed. Major League Baseball finds value in the Draft taking place during All-Star Weekend. Along those same lines, fans want to see tradeable draft picks. Because of the money associated with draft picks, that too will not take shape until the next CBA at the very earliest.
- The MLB Draft is now a two-day event. What it means: - December 20, 2024
- 2025 MLB Draft: Top 250 Prospects - December 11, 2024
- 2025 MLB Draft Lottery: Winners/Losers/Fallout - December 10, 2024
