Back to future: MLB draft returns, makes All-Star debut

The coronavirus pandemic grounded scouts and wiped out nearly all of 2020′s amateur baseball calendar, therefore Ben Cherington’s first amateur draft as general manager of the Pittsburgh Pirates was brief and distant. With the Bucs in line for the No. 1 overall pick this year, he’s glad to see his scouts back in the draft room, squabbling over their big board like they used to. “The room has been fantastic in terms of getting through the formalities and getting down to business,” Cherington added. “All right, that was fun.” 

Major League Baseball is hosting a modified draft as part of the All-Star festivities in Denver, a year after it was curtailed because of the mayhem of COVID-19. The 20-round draft will take three days to complete. The draft was shifted to July’s All-Star weekend, with the first round airing on MLB Network on Sunday night after the All-Star Futures Game, a showcase for the best minor league players. Since 2009, the draft has been broadcast live from MLB Network’s studios in Secaucus, New Jersey.

Here are some other things to keep an eye on during the choosing process; GETTING BACK TO NORMAL. Last year’s draft was reduced from 40 to five rounds in response to the epidemic, and the entire selection process was conducted remotely. This year’s draft will be held in person, but it will feature 20 rounds, which may become the new standard after MLB took control of the minors last offseason and eliminated a quarter of its affiliates. It also did away with short-season leagues, which used to be supplied with players picked later in the draft. 

Of course, those lost late rounds were hardly brimming with future big leaguers, but numerous players, notably John Smoltz (22nd round), Mark Buehrle (38th), Keith Hernandez (42nd), and Mike Piazza (42nd), turned selections in the 20s, 30s, and later into noteworthy careers (62nd). COVID-19 halted college and high school seasons across the country in 2020, and several Major League Baseball organizations furloughed scouting last summer. This made it difficult for teams to evaluate players for this year’s class, however amateur baseball has largely recovered this spring.

This weekend, scouts will bunker down in front of huge magnetic boards to assess who is deserving of a selection – a favorite time of year for front office employees. Cherington stated, “We have to debate, debate, debate, disagree, disagree, disagree. Let’s go as far as we can, then commit.” WHO IS ON THE TIME CLOCK? For the first time since drafting Gerrit Cole in 2011, the Pirates have the No. 1 overall pick. 

Cole was by far the most successful of their four prior top picks. In 2021, Pittsburgh is poised to pick high once more as part of a rebuild that could be characterized by the performance of its draftees. “Yes, there is pressure,” Cherington admitted. “However, it’s both a challenge and an opportunity. It doesn’t feel like much of a burden.”