MAJOR CHANGES TO THE MLB DRAFT COULD HURT THE YANKEES

A major change to the MLB draft will impact the Yankees and every other team this year. The last major change came in 2012, when the draft was shortened from 50 rounds down to 40....but this summer we will have just five rounds. It's another side affect of the Coronavirus as Major League Baseball begins to regroup and bring baseball back.

Owners are looking for new ways to save some money thanks to this pandemic. I get it, baseball is a business but that doesn't mean I have to be thrilled about it right? I didn't believe the news at first, but it is true.

This decision will impact over 1,000 prospects that expected to be drafted this summer. These players will either sign undrafted and be eligible for a maximum $20,000 or wait until the next draft for more favorable terms. If I was a prospect right now I would be pretty bummed out. Some young and talented players could have to wait even longer for their big shot. From a team's perspective, this could really hurt any teams farm system for years to come. I can see why a lot of these front offices were pushing for a longer draft. You can read more about the specifics of the upcoming draft HERE.

The smaller draft does align with the league's proposal to eliminate a quarter of minor league teams, an idea that I don't like either...and it has been widely criticized. The Morning Call has a good breakdown of what that could mean HERE. The new draft is definitely a major concern for minor league teams, so it is something to watch.

So what does a five round draft look like for the Yankees this year? Well....definitely more strategic.

The first five rounds means that all thirty teams have plenty of talent to pick from. The athletes in the first few rounds are the cream of the crop, they have a good chance of progressing to the next level. Some may even say they have better odds, but regardless the first few rounds are important. This year that couldn't be more true for the Yankees. To say the first few rounds will be important to us is an understatement. Here's why....

The Yankees got their "white whale" when they signed Gerrit Cole this winter. We all know how important he is to us going forward, but when we signed Cole we also forfeit our second and fifth round picks of this upcoming draft, so we won't even get five picks. That leaves us with a first-round pick (Number 28 overall) and then a selection in the third and fourth rounds. The Yankees are going to have to be very strategic....and our scouts are going to be extra thorough.

It's an important point to realize here, the loss of the draft picks hurts BUT even if the Yankees had known they would be surrendering two of their five picks this summer they still should have signed Cole. The loss of the draft picks sucks, but missing out on Cole would have hurt a lot worse. Cole is a game changer, a draft pick is a "wait and see."

This draft will be different for the Yankees, but it's not necessarily bad. They can still sign undrafted players and maybe they will get a few of them. We have a few Yankees on the 40-man roster right now that were drafted after the 5th round. We all recognize Mike Tauchman, Chad Green, Luke Voit and Jonathan Holder, right? I guess we will have to wait and see what happens, the draft is expected to start on June 10th. I'm looking forward to it....are you?

--Jeana Bellezza
BYB Managing Editor
Twitter: @nyprincessj