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Draft  | Story  | 12/24/2020

Year in Review: MLB Draft

Brian Sakowski     
Photo: Robert Hassell III (Perfect Game)
Year in Review: PG Events | High School | College

COVID Wreaks Havoc

Any “year in review” article starts with COVID in 2020, with the global pandemic halting baseball across the country in the spring at every level, and subsequently only allowing for a five-round draft this past June rather than the usual 40 rounds. This was done, presumably, for the sake of saving MLB team ownership money in the wake of the pandemic, with signing bonuses deferred for the players selected in this five-round draft as well. This led to a substantial backlog of players who, in normal circumstances, would have been signed as college juniors, JUCO players, or prep seniors; which in turn led to roster crunches at every level across the nation. The NCAA as well as the NJCAA approved blanket waivers for an extra year of eligibility, with JUCO actually allowing for two such years. The effects of this will be felt for many years, especially if MLB decides to keep the draft shorter again in 2021, with the expectation being for a 20-round draft, still just half of what it was prior to 2020.



PG All-Americans Taken Early and Often

College players were taken with the first seven picks of the 2020 draft, but then once the prep ball started rolling, we saw PG All-Americans fly off the board. Robert Hassell III and Zac Veen went back-to-back at picks 8 and 9, and they were followed by Austin Hendrick (12), Mick Abel (15), Ed Howard (16), Pete Crow-Armstrong (20), Jordan Walker (21), and Tyler Soderstrom (26) in the first round. Drew Romo (35) went in the Competitive Balance A round, with Dax Fulton (40), Jared Jones (44), and Jared Kelley (47) following in the 2nd round.

College Heavy

We mentioned above how the first seven players selected were college players, a trend that is likely to continue given the relative safe value placed on college players in the age of never-ending quantifiable data. Overall, 19 of the first 30 picks (1st round), 40 of the first 60 picks (2 rounds), and 108 of the 160 overall picks (entire draft) were selections from 4-year schools, or 67.5% of the overall picks. This isn’t even taking into account the amount of post-draft, undrafted free agent deals signed, of which there were over 200 and came predominantly from the college ranks again.

Torkelson Goes 1:1

Spencer Torkelson, along with Vanderbilt’s Austin Martin and Texas A&M’s Asa Lacy, seemed to jockey back and forth throughout the spring as far as rumored favorites for 1:1, but Torkelson ended up being the selection by Detroit, with Lacy going fourth to the Royals and Martin fifth to Toronto. Torkelson’s all-time record bids were cut short by COVID, but when one looks back on his collegiate career at Arizona State, it’s hard to be anything short of wowed. He was interestingly announced as a third baseman by Detroit and played there throughout the summer at the alternate site camp, and is expected to be a franchise building block for the Tigers as they start to look towards competing at the end of a long, long rebuild.

JUCO Representation

Connor Phillips of McLennan, as expected, became the first JUCO player selected when he went off the board to the Mariners at pick 64, midway through the Competitive Balance Round B, between the 2nd and 3rd rounds. He was followed by Wabash Valley righthander Adisyn Coffey at pick 83 to the White Sox, San Jac lefty Luke Little at pick 117 to the Cubs, Northwest Florida State righty Beck Way to the Yankees at pick 129, and Mitchell Parker at pick 153 to the Nationals. Several deserving JUCO players in that range opted to either return to JUCO like Mat Olsen at Central Arizona and Hunter Parks at Florence-Darlington, while others chose to continue on to their 4-year school of choice, like Chase Silseth (Arizona), Brandon Birdsell (Texas Tech), Tyson Guerrero (Washington), and Jake Smith (Miami), amongst others.
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