MLB June amateur draft uncertain with college and high school baseball canceled

For Billy Gasparino, it all happened so fast.

A week ago, the Dodgers’ director of amateur scouting began preparing his department for a slowdown and possible suspension of high school and college baseball games around the country in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, as governing bodies began implementing bans on large gatherings.

Two days later, Gasparino was in Texas on a scouting trip and planned to attend more games this weekend. By Thursday morning, those games were canceled. Hours later, he was home in Los Angeles, unsure when he’ll be back on the road to evaluate players for the upcoming 2020 draft — whenever it happens, if it happens.

Major League Baseball suspended spring training and delayed the start of the regular season by at least two weeks Thursday, but the coronavirus outbreak was already going to affect one significant event on the league’s calendar: the first-year player draft held every June.

With a rapidly growing number of college and high school baseball seasons around the country suspended or canceled, MLB scouting departments are left with little to scout in preparation for the annual influx of young talent. So far, clubs are handling the unprecedented situation differently, perhaps until MLB mandates a uniform policy.

Gasparino said the Dodgers officially shut down scouting operations for two weeks starting Monday.

“We’re going to try to make it to April 1and just reassess the environment,” Gasparino said. “Maybe creatively come up with some ideas, watch games on video. We have a lot of data we can sort through and just become more of a research department until we know what’s going to happen next.”

Angels scouting director Matt Swanson said the organization is still allowing personnel to scout games within driving distance of their homes “depending on where they are and if the situation allows for it.” But he personally waved a white flag Friday, after what he estimated was his fifth consecutive morning scrapping best-laid plans for scouting in his home state of Texas.

“There’s not much precedent for this,” Swanson said. “So I’ve tried to err on the side of caution with this. I’d rather be too cautious and allow ourselves to take a step back. This is kind of the wise thing to do, just pump the breaks a little bit.

This year’s draft is scheduled for June 10-12, but MLB, still sorting through the unprecedented circumstances, recently acknowledged in a memo to clubs that it will be different in some way, according to people who have seen the document.

How different, exactly, is the looming question.

A few club officials across the majors believe the 40-round draft will be cut short — perhaps to 30 rounds — and undoubtedly postponed.

“For me, personally, it makes sense to push the draft back until at least July,” a high-ranking executive with one major league club said.