MLB Draft 2014: How does it work?

The 2014 MLB Draft begins Thursday and many sports fans don’t follow it quite like other professional sports drafts.

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The draft is held every year in June by conference call between all 30 major league clubs. The order of the draft pick is decided based off of the reverse order of the teams won-lost records at the end of the previous season. Certain transfer of selection rights from one club to another are allowed as compensation to those teams who lost certain types of major league free agent players after last season. Additional selections can also be awarded for the same reason.

For the most part, any player is eligible for the draft if they are a resident of the United States or Canada and the player has never signed a Major League or Minor League contract. Residents include players who are enrolled in high school and college in the U.S. regardless of where they are from originally.

Eligible criteria include:

• High school graduates who have not yet attended college.
• College players enrolled in a four year school. These players must have completed either their junior or senior year of school or be over the age of 21.
• Junior college players

A club has a leeway to retain the rights to sign a selected player until 11:59 pm on August 15, or until a player enters/returns to a college program. Those players who are drafted but do not sign with the club that selected him may be allowed to be drafter at a later date as long as the player is still eligible per the rules of the draft.

If the player is not signed and enters a future draft, the same club which did not sign him is not allowed to draft the player a second time unless agreed upon by the player.

Those players who are eligible for the draft but are not selected by any of the 30 teams will become a free agent and can sign with any club prior to going back to school.

There are 40 rounds in the draft and each club continues to select players until it makes its selection in the 40th round. Rather than choose a player, the club has the right to pass in any round.