2020 MLB draft to be five rounds

The 2020 MLB draft will be just five rounds and will begin on June 10, according to a report from The Athletic's Ken Rosenthal and Evan Drellich. 

Rumors have been swirling ever since the COVID-19 pandemic shut down the sports world, but it seems as if sources have confirmed to Rosenthal and Drellich that the MLB draft will indeed be limited to just five rounds, which will be the shortest in the league's history. The MLB draft usually takes 40 rounds to complete.

Once the draft is over, teams are free to sign undrafted players with a maximum signing bonus of $20,000. 

The Athletic reports that the league made a proposal to the MLB Players Association which would include a 10-round draft, but that proposal "came with trade-offs the Players Association determined were too restrictive," according to Rosenthal and Drellich. 

The shortened draft comes as a cost-savings measure for the league, although its sure to get some backlash from fans and players alike. As pointed out on Twitter by The Athletic's Jayson Stark, more than 1,000 players who would have been drafted in a normal year will not get that chance this season.

Of course, as mentioned, teams can sign players after the draft, but those signing bonuses will be limited to $20,000. Signing bonuses in rounds 6-10 usually range anywhere from $10,000 to $250,000.