In report from Bed Badler of Baseball America, it appears Major League Baseball is making a push to implement an International Draft for the 2020 season. If not for 2020, Major League Baseball is hopeful there could be a draft in place by the 2021 season. As usual, the main holdup for the implementation of an international draft is it needs to be collectively bargained, and the current Collective Bargaining Agreement does not expire until after the 2021 season.

In previous negotiations, the Players’ Association seemed staunchly against such a draft. Badler notes in his article the union’s opposition has softened in recent years with abuses in the current system including but certainly not limited to teams getting players to commit to them as early as 13 or 14 years old. That said, the union remains a significant hurdle, especially with the radical changes Major League Baseball wants to implement in a new international draft. Those changes include:

• Every pick having an absolutely set slot value
• Annual rotation of the draft order by division instead of tying the draft order to records
• Ability to trade draft picks

Under the current system, an international free agent is any player who resides outside of the United States, Canada, or Puerto Rico. With the exception of players who are 25 years or older, every single international player signed counts against the bonus pool. This previously meant Shohei Ohtani was deemed an international free agent subject to the bonus rules in place. Seeing what transpired with Ohtani, it will be interesting to see how foreign born players in the Nippon Professional Baseball Organization or KBO League will be treated.

Another consideration are Cuban born players. At the moment, they would be theoretically ineligible for the draft unless they have defected and established a residency in another country prior to the deadline set for an August draft. Possibly, this was considered in the proposed rule which sets a $25,000 maximum signing bonus for any player not drafted within the first 20 rounds of the draft.

Overall, Major League Baseball is proposing a seismic shift in how foreign born players join Major League franchises. While there are a series of proposed measures in place, it is quite possible they will be changed significantly as both sides continue working towards a new CBA to prevent any work stoppage during or after the 2021 season. With those CBA discussions ongoing, it is possible we may not see an international draft until the new CBA is in place.