How many rounds are in the MLB Draft? A brief history

We’re less than two months away from the 2023 MLB Draft taking place in Seattle. How many rounds will it be? What is new with this year’s draft?

The 2023 MLB Draft will take place July 9–11.

For the first time in draft history, a draft lottery was used to set a portion of the draft order. The lottery decided the first six selections. Then, the remaining lottery teams were set in reverse order based on their regular season winning percentage.

But unlike even the seven-round draft in the NFL, the MLB Draft is an exceptionally long process with hundreds of selections. How many rounds exactly are there in the MLB Draft, though? Let’s take a look.

How many rounds are in the MLB Draft?

There are 20 rounds in the MLB Draft, totaling 614 picks being made.

After the lottery at the top, playoff teams will then will select based on their postseason finish, revenue, and reverse order of winning percentage to complete the rest of the first round. Throughout the rest of the draft, the reverse order of regular season winning percentage and postseason finish will be used to set the draft order for Round 2, all the way through Round 20.

Back in 2019, the CBA reduced the draft to just 20 rounds. Prior to those changes, the MLB Draft was 40 rounds and 1,214 players would be drafted. Most of the players would never come close to reaching a deal with the club. A team-friendly stipulation in the draft is that compensation picks are assigned to teams for players that did not sign from the 2022 MLB Draft.

This year, the Pittsburgh Pirates won the MLB Draft Lottery. They will have the first selection in the draft. As a result of the New York Mets and Los Angeles Dodgers exceeding the first luxury tax threshold by $40 million or more, their draft slots moved down 10 slots.

The Seattle Mariners were awarded the first Prospect Promotion Incentive Pick after Julio Rodríguez won Rookie of the Year. For that reason, they receive an extra pick (29th) at the end of the first round.

Adding the lottery aspect to the MLB Draft adds some additional excitement to the process. The game is evolving and appealing to a wider audience. They’re implementing changes to maintain that by spicing things up. This is one of the changes that many fans will grow to appreciate.

Tons of names like Dylan Crews (LSU), Paul Skenes (LSU), Wyatt Langford (Florida), and Walker Jenkins (HS) will hear their names called in July at the draft. It will be exciting to see how it all unfolds.