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How many rounds are in the MLB draft?

By Joe Smeltzer | Last updated Jul 23, 2019 9:42 PM ET

The NBA draft has only two rounds, and the NFL and NHL drafts each have seven. The professional sport with the most rounds is baseball, with 40. Although the number of rounds (and selections) in the MLB draft is significantly more than in other sports, it has contracted over the years. In 2011, the draft consisted of 50 rounds; in 1988, it was 75 rounds.

Who can be selected in the MLB draft?

Unlike athletes in the NFL and NBA drafts, baseball players are eligible to enter the MLB draft as high school seniors. If a high school athlete is selected, he can sign with the team that drafted him or enroll in college and remain eligible for future drafts. Because of this, it’s not uncommon for players to be selected in two separate drafts, something that never occurs in the NFL or NBA.

Who was a Hall of Fame steal in the MLB draft?

In the 62^nd round of the 1988 MLB draft, the Los Angeles Dodgers took future Hall of Fame catcher Mike Piazza, who finished his big-league career with 427 home runs and 1,335 runs batted in. Piazza, who retired in 2007, was the 1,390th selection in the 1988 draft.

Joe Smeltzer has more than a decade of journalistic experience, starting when he was a sophomore in high school with his blog, Smeltzer on Sports. Since then, he’s earned a degree in communication (with an emphasis on journalism) from Waynesburg University, where he worked on the student newspaper for all four years, eventually becoming sports web editor. Joe began contributing for Yardbarker in the summer of 2019, the same year he became a stringer for the Observer-Reporter in Washington, Pennsylvania, where he still contributes to local high school sports coverage. He is also a Penn State athletics beat reporter for Nittany Sports Now, under the Pittsburgh Sports Now umbrella. In two and a half years on the Penn State beat, Joe’s mainly covered football, wrestling and men’s basketball and covered prime events such as the 2023 Rose Bowl and 2024 U.S. Olympic wrestling trials.

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