Major League Baseball could suspend amateur draft and international signings on July 2

Major League Baseball is considering suspending Amateur Draft activities and international signings on July 2 due to the coronavirus pandemic, as confirmed.a source toThe Associated Press.

Although none of this has been made public, the measure would respond to the need to use those large sums of money that each organization allocates in the investment of talent to pay employees, Minor League players, salaries to MLB players and hundreds of others. of logistics expenses.

The MLB regular season was scheduled to begin on March 26. Following a statement from the office of Commissioner Robert Manfred, the earliest the campaign to restore activities would begin would be mid-May.

For the same situation, the MLB schedule would be cut to 130 games or less, if necessary.

Although the rules of the Draft and the international signing period are part of an inviolable collective agreement between MLB and the Players Association (MLBPA), Ronald Blum ofAP explains that these provisions may have an exception when citing the status of "national emergency", so the suspension could be applied.

The June Amateur Draft serves to recruit the best High School and College prospects within the United States system. While the international signings of July 2, represent the entry into professional baseball of international prospects of various nationalities such as Dominican, Cuba, Venezuela, Mexico and other countries around the world.