By GLENN GUILBEAU, Tiger Rag Editor
Like many, LSU baseball coach Jay Johnson does not think some of Major League Baseball’s new and radical proposals will come to fruition.
MLB owners on Thursday released a plan that would stop high school players from being selected in the annual MLB amateur draft, which began in 1965, and not allow players to be drafted until they were at least age 20 by Sept. 1 of his signing year and two years removed from their high school graduation class. This would also stop junior college players from being drafted until they complete two seasons.
MLB proposes sweeping draft changes, including ban on high school picks, angering scouts, agents and even club officials https://t.co/jbVJ0P4Z5Z
— Bob Nightengale (@BNightengale) June 19, 2026
Among the proposals by MLB as it seeks a new collective bargaining agreement with the Players Association is cutting the MLB Draft from 20 rounds to 12 starting in 2027 and starting a separate 12-round draft just for international players. MLB also wants to cut the money being spent on signing bonuses with a stricter pay-by-pick slotting system.
“Interesting concept, but I don’t see it (ban on drafting high school players) getting through the players association,” Johnson, winner of two national championships since 2023, told Tiger Rag on Saturday. “I believe they will shorten the draft, but I believe high school players will remain a part of it.”
MLB agent Scott Boras told the Associated Press he does not like eliminating high school players from the draft.
“The game’s greatest stars are precocious talents. We always want to have a great window for them,” Boras said. “When you bar a labor force from opportunity in America, it is not an American concept.”
MLB, meanwhile, has noticed college players are just much better prepared for MLB than high school players, which used to not be the case. But college baseball has improved so drastically in recent decades, and of late with pay for college players arriving in 2022 via Name, Image & Likeness collectives.
“NIL opportunities, revenue sharing and significant investments in facilities and player development have made college baseball an increasingly important pathway that is producing Major League-ready talent at an accelerated rate,” MLB said in a statement. “By creating a draft system centered around college-aged players and making most college players eligible one year earlier, more players will benefit from both a college education and an elite development environment while reaching professional baseball — and ultimately the major leagues — more quickly.”
As of now, most college players cannot enter the MLB Draft until after their junior season, unless they turn 21 before Aug. 1, which is the case with draft-eligible LSU sophomore center fielder Derek Curiel, who is expected to go early in the first round on July 11. Under the new proposal, college coaches would have players for a maximum of two years instead of three.
The players’ association says MLB’s new plan would cut compensation to players by $1 billion over five years, including $400 million from this year to 2027.
“MLB made another set of proposals that are flat-out bad for baseball, ones that would cripple the next generation of players and damage the future of our game,” the players’ union said in a statement.
Johnson does like the hard slotting idea by MLB, though the players association that won’t happen unless there are concessions by owners.
“A hard slotting system would be good,” Johnson said. “That would make a it a true draft. I’m looking forward to seeing what happens.”
MLB’s five-year collective bargaining agreement expires Dec. 1, and management is expected to immediately impose a lockout as it did in December of 2021 before an agreement happened 99 days later, preserving the 162-game schedule.
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