*Photo from SB Nation*
MLB has finalized the details regarding the holding of the 2020 draft, according to ESPN's Jeff Passan and JJ Cooper of Baseball America. The draft will be held virtually and will take place on June 10-11. Round one will take place on the 10th and rounds 2-5 will occur on the 11th. MLB Network is likely to broadcast the entire draft, unlike most years, in which they only televise the first round. MLB will not allow teams to assemble in draft rooms, it will be entirely virtual.
According to Passan, the head of baseball operations for every team will be video recorded, much like the NFL draft, with a camera in their homes, but there won't be audio recording. Each team will have a conference call with each member of their front office to determine the draft picks they make, and will call their pick into the commissioner's office, where commissioner Rob Manfred will announce the picks from a so far undisclosed location.
The deadline for teams to sign their draft picks has been pushed back to August 1. The deadline was pushed back over concern that the players may not be able to fly to the city that drafted them for physicals to finalize the contracts they signed. MLB is working on a system where players undergo their physicals locally instead of having to travel.
Teams will also be allowed to sign undrafted free agents for a maximum signing bonus of $20,000, although they won't be allowed to contact any undrafted players until 9:00 AM on June 14, three days after the draft concludes. Due to the draft being shortened from 40 rounds all the way to 5, there will be a significantly higher amount of undrafted players available, and teams will have no limit to the amount of undrafted players they sign.
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