A.J. Pierzyński and Ken Rosenthal discussing the future of the MLB Draft Photo Credit: Foul Territory on YouTube

Every major professional sports league has been trying for years to replicate the kind of popularity that the NFL has had around its annual draft. And while MLB may be a ways away from coming anywhere close to the NFL, MLB analyst A.J. Pierzynski and MLB insider Ken Rosenthal have one idea in mind to potentially bring attention to the draft in the future.

Prior to 2021, the MLB Draft had traditionally been held in June. It has since shifted to July to coincide with the league’s All-Star Week and Futures Game.

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While the league views this as a positive way to bring attention to the important week, A.J. Pierzynski and Ken Rosenthal believe that the MLB Draft could be better utilized differently.

During Monday’s edition of the Foul Territory podcast, Pierzynski pitched the idea of the MLB Draft being held at the site of the College World Series to further bring attention to both events.

“Here is a great idea for you,” said Pierzynski. “And I didn’t come up with this. Someone else did that is way smarter than me. Have the draft at the College World Series. You have supposedly the best eight teams there with the best players. Then you have the high school kids play out there that are all committed to these schools. So then these kids get drafted, and we can watch the college coaches kind of cry and say, ‘Oh, please come. We’ll pay you a million dollars to come to Florida instead of going for $5 million in the draft.’ Think of the drama we could have. It would be an awesome show. Plus, everybody would be in one location.”

Rosenthal then chimed in, largely agreeing that this possibility would create buzz around both the College World Series and the MLB Draft.

“I like the idea of the draft at the College World Series,” said Rosenthal. “Not necessarily for the reason of seeing coaches cry. But it is a logical thing to do. It would kind of increase interest in the College World Series and the draft, in my opinion. But the MLB again seems hung up on the idea that it is better at All-Star Week. They believe that it is drawing more attention to the All-Star Week. I just don’t see that it is making that much of a difference. That much of a difference where you need to push it back to July when you had it in June. But people can disagree and the MLB has its reasons, and obviously, they are running the league.”

As for why Pierzynski believes that MLB insists on having their draft in July instead of in June, he stated that he believes it ultimately comes back to MLB teams wanting team control on players for as long as possible.

“Here is the reason. It saves them a year because a lot of the guys don’t get to play that first year because they pushed the draft back so far in the minor league season. They are like, ‘Oh, don’t play that first year.’ And by the time they sign and all that, the season is over. Whereas before, in June, I signed, and that counted as a year to get to my Rule 5 status. They don’t want that anymore, it gives them an extra year of control. It’s a simple reason. They cut the minor leagues, therefore, they don’t want as many players. And they don’t want to have as many people play. It’s a simple equation. It has nothing to do with popularity. They just don’t want to do it.”

Last year, MLB Draft viewership on ESPN and MLB Network marked its second-highest audience on record, with the event receiving an average of 863,000 viewers. So, one could argue that the current format that MLB has in place for its draft is working.

Still, the MLB Draft hasn’t been anywhere close to the NFL Draft in terms of viewership, which will likely remain the case in 2025 after the NFL Draft recorded its second-highest viewership ever this year.

As Pierzynski alluded to, it seems as if MLB may be set on the idea of holding the MLB Draft in July for a plethora of reasons. But there is at least an argument that, from a fan perspective, a move back to June may be a bit more ideal.

About Reice Shipley

Reice Shipley is a staff writer for Comeback Media that graduated from Ithaca College with a degree in Sports Media. He previously worked at Barrett Sports Media and is a fan of all things Syracuse sports.