![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Debuts-graph-1024x497.png\")
(Graphic by Matthew Badger\/Cronkite News)<\/p>\n
Nine of the top 15 picks in Wilson\u2019s coveted 2023 MLB Draft class fall into this category, including first overall selection Paul Skenes of the Pirates, who instantly became one of the game\u2019s best pitchers. Other notables include No. 4 pick Wyatt Langford, who made the Rangers\u2019 Opening Day roster in 2024 after playing just 44 minor league games, and No. 11 pick Nolan Schanuel, who debuted for the Angels in his same draft year just 40 days after being selected.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Young players taking over the game is nothing new. Baseball\u2019s storied history gives us many examples, from Joe DiMaggio to Alex Rodriguez to Bryce Harper, but MLB\u2019s current youth movement stands out in many respects.<\/p>\n
Technological breakthroughs<\/p>\n
Former players agree one of the main differences between them and players now is how far technology has advanced, not just in the depth of information it provides but also in its accessibility and ability to influence development.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou can go on YouTube and learn about a swing, learn how to throw a pitch, there\u2019s just so much more that they have at their fingertips that we didn’t have,\u201d three-time All-Star pitcher Dan Plesac said.<\/p>\n
Plesac\u2019s career started in the late ’80s and extended into the early 2000s, before YouTube, StatCast or any other modern analytics resources were created. While these technologies might seem mundane now, they are not overlooked by former players.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe were always trying to hit the ball hard, but we had no way to objectively measure it,\u201d 2018 All-Star infielder Jed Lowrie said. \u201cNow, we have objective ways to measure that.\u201d<\/p>\n
Today\u2019s players have access to these technologies from a young age. Hitters can examine their bat speed or launch angle<\/a> to determine how to improve their swing. Pitchers can adjust their arm angle or stride length to make a certain pitch harder to hit. They can even increase velocity<\/a>.<\/p>\n These technologies not only benefit the players, but the organizations for which they play. Teams use these advancements to evaluate future talent and make more informed personnel decisions within the organization.<\/p>\n \u201cIt’s more teams specifically drafting the guy they like to put in their system,\u201d said Jacob Wilson\u2019s father Jack, who played a 12-year MLB career. \u201cNot just the best player, but the best player for them to be successful in how they like to play baseball.\u201d<\/p>\n Such was the case for Jacob Wilson.<\/p>\n \u201cThe A’s wanted more of a contact approach, so they get a guy like Jacob who’s a contact guy,\u201d his father said.<\/p>\n Every team has a different profile for players they want, but what they share is an enhanced ability to evaluate players successfully. New technology offers teams a deeper understanding of performance and allows them to project forward.<\/p>\n \u201cBetter information leads to better selection of players who are likely to succeed,\u201d MLB.com analytics expert Mike Petriello said.<\/p>\n \u201cYou can look at a guy\u2019s bat path and say, \u2018Well, this guy might be crushing low-level pitching but he\u2019s going to get eaten alive by a major league fastball.\u2019 Maybe that guy doesn\u2019t get the chance now that he might have because you can say, \u2018Well, it\u2019s a lower probability he\u2019s going to succeed.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n New technologies have also led to deeper understanding of analytics, which has transformed development for pitchers.<\/p>\n \u201cIt’s a lot more things now that are measurable that they can compare to a major league player,\u201d said former pitcher Adam Ottavino, who played for five teams across his 15-year MLB career. \u201cIt’s a lot easier and more convincing to say, \u2018Yeah, this guy’s ready, and this is the X, Y, Z reasons why.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n Petriello agreed.<\/p>\n \u201cBack in the day, you would say, \u2018Well, this guy throws 95 (mph), that\u2019s pretty good.\u2019 Now you\u2019ll know it\u2019s a straight 95, or it\u2019s 92 but it\u2019s got great rising action, or great arm angle or whatever things that are going to correlate better to success,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Metrics have also changed what is prioritized in the minor leagues when it comes to pitcher development.<\/p>\n \u201cPeople didn\u2019t think you could teach philosophy and now it\u2019s become extremely clear that you can,\u201d Petriello said. \u201cFor years and years and years it was, \u2018Find the guy who throws really hard.\u2019 Maybe you can teach him to pitch, maybe you could teach him a curveball, maybe you could teach him to throw strikes.\u201d<\/p>\n Petriello points to Toronto\u2019s Shane Bieber as a relevant example.<\/p>\n \u201c(He) was the first guy I can remember where it was, \u2018We\u2019re going to find a guy who we know can pitch, he can throw strikes, he\u2019s got good breaking stuff, but he doesn\u2019t throw as hard. We\u2019re gonna teach him to throw hard, whether that\u2019s strength training, nutrition, mechanics, whatever.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n Not only are the quality of pitches being altered, but also the quantity.<\/p>\n \u201cI think there’s a lot more caution with workloads as opposed to weeding guys out based off of durability and a larger sample size,\u201d Ottavino said. \u201cEspecially on the pitching side, I pitched (a) full season at every level, was encouraged to go deep in the games, and take on a big workload and now you just don’t see it as much.\u201d<\/p>\n Major investment<\/p>\n Teams traditionally were hesitant to call up their top prospects, whether it was not wanting to rush a player or intentionally keeping them in the minor leagues to manipulate their service time for an extra year of contract control. Now top players are not only being called up faster but are also getting extended earlier.<\/p>\n Many players in the past few years have earned multi-year extensions within their first couple years of service, with some deals eclipsing $100 million. This year alone, three prospects \u2013 Seattle\u2019s Colt Emerson, and Milwaukee\u2019s Cooper Pratt and Luis Lara \u2013 signed multi-year extensions with zero days of MLB service time.<\/p>\n \u201cThere’s so much more opportunities for young players coming up the big league level,\u201d Plesac said. \u201cParticularly now if you’re 19, 20, 21 years old, teams aren’t afraid to lock those guys up to multi-year deals. There’s a risk in doing that, but more and more, the data shows that teams are more than likely right in the guys that they lock up long term.\u201d<\/p>\n Because players must reach six full years of MLB service time before becoming eligible for free agency, signing early extensions gives them security for those pre-free agency years while allowing them to hit the open market at a favorable age. Players get paid more than they normally would before reaching six years of service while the team gets a discount on those first couple peak performance seasons.<\/p>\n It is for this reason that players generally do not sign these lucrative contracts until their age 25-30 season block, when they reach six years of service. San Diego\u2019s Fernando Tatis Jr. and Kansas City\u2019s Bobby Witt Jr. are notable exceptions, both signing for more than $25 million per year at age 22 and 23, respectively.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cIf you look at most of the position players who\u2019ve gotten these big contracts, I can\u2019t think of that many who totally busted,\u201d Petriello said. \u201cScott Kingery maybe, but (Ronald) Acu\u00f1a, that\u2019s been phenomenal, Ozzie Albies has worked out really well.\u201d<\/p>\n Albies signed a seven-year, $35 million contract with the Braves in 2019. The average annual value looks shockingly low now, but that is what makes these contracts mutually beneficial.<\/p>\n \u201cIf your computations are right and you like the physical tools of the player, you like the mental makeup, you like the intangibles that he brings, if that player turns out to be the player you hope that he is, it’s a great deal for a young player and teams also reap the benefit,\u201d Plesac said regarding Albies\u2019 extension. \u201cIt’s a very team-friendly contract now, but (Albies) also has security and independence for the rest of his life by locking him up.\u201d<\/p>\n Albies is far from the only player whose early extension has aged well for his team. Corbin Carroll\u2019s eight-year, $111 million deal with the Diamondbacks is another example along with Jacob Wilson\u2019s seven-year, $70 million extension. There\u2019s a reason Wilson and players like him are seeing these offers now.<\/p>\n \u201cA lot of it comes with our player agreement coming up that has to do with spending your revenue money, so that’s part of why you see a lot of contracts on the back end of a CBA,\u201d Jack Wilson said.<\/p>\n The potential future<\/p>\n The current collective bargaining agreement expires Dec. 1, and some language in one of MLB\u2019s newest proposals could support why more younger players are getting extended. On June 25, the league accepted the MLB Players Association’s request to reduce the service time mandate from six years to five, allowing players to become eligible for free-agent contracts a year earlier.<\/p>\n The league also suggested implementing a cap on contract length that would max out free agent agreements at five years, a sharp decline from the 10-, 12-, 15-year mega-contracts to which fans have become accustomed. Teams traditionally have lengthened free-agent contracts to lower yearly payments, but in doing so they end up spending a premium for players past their prime.<\/p>\n This proposal would not only cap the years a player can sign for, but also the amount. Players signing for a new organization would be allowed a first-year salary of 15% of the proposed salary cap, 16% for players resigning with the same organization. This means a contract starting in 2027 would pay a maximum of $202 million guaranteed over five years, or $265 million over six years for a player resigning with the same team.<\/p>\n These numbers are a fraction of what veterans have been making over the past decade. The 20 richest free agent contracts based on total value all exceed $200 million total, with just one of them, Kyle Tucker\u2019s $240 million deal with the Dodgers, being under the five-year threshold for future deals.<\/p>\n Another aspect of these negotiations that could have major implications on the league\u2019s youth movement would end one of baseball\u2019s longest traditions: allowing high school prospects to enter the draft.<\/p>\n \u201cI’m a player that was drafted out of high school, so the first thing I see is to eliminate that opportunity for high school kids,\u201d said 13-year MLB veteran Jeremy Guthrie, who was originally drafted in 1997 out of Ashland High School in Oregon. \u201cThat would be a big change that would be hard for me to accept.\u201d<\/p>\n If passed, the minimum draft age would rise from 18 to 20, requiring the top prospects to spend two years in college before entering the MLB Draft and beginning their pro careers.<\/p>\n \u201cWe all love Konnor Griffin and Kevin McGonigle and Colt Emerson,\u201d Jack Wilson said. \u201cThose were high school guys just a couple drafts ago, and that would be gone, those guys would not be in the big leagues right now.<\/p>\n \u201cI think that is what makes baseball great, is to have these phenoms go out and play with men, and they’re 21, 22 years old.\u201d<\/p>\n The proposal would also have serious financial repercussions for players, who would no longer reach free agency at an optimal age.<\/p>\n \u201cInstead of signing a high school kid that’s 18, say he makes the big leagues at 20, 21 years old, he’ll be a free agent at 26, 27,\u201d Plesac said. \u201cYou eliminate the high school phase of the draft, and now you’re drafting a college kid that’s 21. Let’s say two years in the minor leagues, all of a sudden that player is 23, 24 when he makes it to the big leagues, isn’t a free age until he’s 30 or 31. When you start getting that age 30 and 31, that’s getting old in today’s baseball age.\u201d<\/p>\n Former players were split on whether the proposal would help or hurt MLB.<\/p>\n \u201cI hope it doesn’t happen, I don’t think it should, I don’t think it will,\u201d Jack Wilson said.<\/p>\n Lowrie’s answer was more nuanced.<\/p>\n \u201cIf we were to create baseball today, you\u2019re probably following what the NFL and the NBA do, but there’s a lot of history, there\u2019s a lot of precedent of having high school kids get drafted,\u201d he said. \u201cI would love to hear some of the logic and maybe some of their projections of (how) Major League Baseball thinks it affects the game long term, but in a vacuum, if you were gonna start the game today, I think that proposal makes sense.\u201d<\/p>\n MLB cites college baseball\u2019s advancement as the root of the potential change.<\/p>\n \u201cExpanded scholarships, NIL opportunities, revenue sharing and significant investments in facilities and player development have made college baseball an increasingly important pathway that is producing Major League-ready talent at an accelerated rate,\u201d the league said in a June 18 statement. \u201cToday’s top programs provide players with resources, competition and national exposure that were unimaginable a decade ago. By creating a Draft system centered around college-aged players and making most college players eligible one year earlier, more players will benefit from both a college education and an elite development environment while reaching professional baseball \u2013 and ultimately the Major Leagues \u2013 more quickly.\u201d<\/p>\n Wilson, who has held various amateur coaching roles at USA Baseball and was an assistant at Grand Canyon University for one season, disagreed.<\/p>\n \u201cI think the development would be better (going straight into a MLB organization) for a high school kid,\u201d he said. \u201cCollege coaches are great and there’s a lot of great college coaches, but you go into a system, you have eight, nine pitching coaches because you have a coach for every level. You have a rover, you have your head of infield guy, you have your big league infield guy, there’s so many people that can help you develop in an organization.\u201d<\/p>\n The latest No. 1 overall pick, Roch Cholowsky, said playing in college made him the player he is today.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s different for everybody. I thought the best thing for me was to go to college,\u201d he said at the 2026 MLB Draft Combine. \u201cCollege baseball is an unbelievable sport. Schools are starting to put a lot more money and time into it. I got to play three years of unbelievable baseball at UCLA. I got to learn a lot and still grow up.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Cholowsky is excited to learn from the White Sox\u2019 specialized coaches to which Wilson made reference.<\/p>\n \u201cI’m excited to learn around new hitting coaches,\u201d he said. \u201cI love dissecting swings and learning how to hit even more. The guys that are doing it at the highest level are the best, obviously, so we just pick their brains and learn from them.\u201d<\/p>\n Cholowsky and the White Sox are hopeful that he will add his name to the growing list of fast-tracked prospects.<\/p>\n \u201cThat’s the goal,\u201d he said. \u201cI haven’t played pro ball, never played pro ball, never been in it, so that’s a new game for me. I’m just excited to get in there, learn and see how fast I get (to the major leagues).\u201d<\/p>\n This <a target=”_blank” href=”https:\/\/cronkitenews.azpbs.org\/2026\/08\/11\/mlb-prospects-instant-impact\/”>article<\/a> first appeared on <a target=”_blank” href=”https:\/\/cronkitenews.azpbs.org”>Cronkite News<\/a> and is republished here under a <a target=”_blank” href=”https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-nd\/4.0\/”>Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License<\/a>.<img src=”https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/cronkitenews.azpbs.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/favicon1.png?resize=85%2C85&ssl=1″ style=”width:1em;height:1em;margin-left:10px;”><\/p>\n <img id=”republication-tracker-tool-source” src=”https:\/\/cronkitenews.azpbs.org\/?republication-pixel=true&post=105619″ style=”width:1px;height:1px;”><script> PARSELY = { autotrack: false, onload: function() { PARSELY.beacon.trackPageView({ url: “https:\/\/cronkitenews.azpbs.org\/2026\/08\/11\/mlb-prospects-instant-impact\/”, urlref: window.location.href }); } } <\/script> <script id=”parsely-cfg” src=”\/\/cdn.parsely.com\/keys\/cronkitenews.azpbs.org\/p.js”><\/script><\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tCanonical Tag:<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tCopy Tag\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tArticle Content:<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tYouth movement: Why top MLB prospects are making an instant impact<\/p>\n Matthew Badger, Cronkite News PHOENIX \u2013 Grand Canyon University product Jacob Wilson only needed 72 minor league games to prove he was a major league talent. Drafted sixth overall on July 9, 2023, Wilson debuted for the Athletics just over a calendar year later on July 19, 2024.<\/p>\n This rapid ascension was unheard of decades ago. Now it\u2019s commonplace for top prospects. According to Baseball America, 84 players debuted in the major leagues within two years of being drafted from 2023-2025. The decade prior, 2013-2022, 126 players reached the major leagues within two seasons.<\/p>\n Nine of the top 15 picks in Wilson\u2019s coveted 2023 MLB Draft class fall into this category, including first overall selection Paul Skenes of the Pirates, who instantly became one of the game\u2019s best pitchers. Other notables include No. 4 pick Wyatt Langford, who made the Rangers\u2019 Opening Day roster in 2024 after playing just 44 minor league games, and No. 11 pick Nolan Schanuel, who debuted for the Angels in his same draft year just 40 days after being selected.\u00a0<\/p>\n Young players taking over the game is nothing new. Baseball\u2019s storied history gives us many examples, from Joe DiMaggio to Alex Rodriguez to Bryce Harper, but MLB\u2019s current youth movement stands out in many respects.<\/p>\n Technological breakthroughs<\/p>\n Former players agree one of the main differences between them and players now is how far technology has advanced, not just in the depth of information it provides but also in its accessibility and ability to influence development.<\/p>\n \u201cYou can go on YouTube and learn about a swing, learn how to throw a pitch, there\u2019s just so much more that they have at their fingertips that we didn’t have,\u201d three-time All-Star pitcher Dan Plesac said.<\/p>\n Plesac\u2019s career started in the late ’80s and extended into the early 2000s, before YouTube, StatCast or any other modern analytics resources were created. While these technologies might seem mundane now, they are not overlooked by former players.<\/p>\n \u201cWe were always trying to hit the ball hard, but we had no way to objectively measure it,\u201d 2018 All-Star infielder Jed Lowrie said. \u201cNow, we have objective ways to measure that.\u201d<\/p>\n Today\u2019s players have access to these technologies from a young age. Hitters can examine their bat speed or launch angle to determine how to improve their swing. Pitchers can adjust their arm angle or stride length to make a certain pitch harder to hit. They can even increase velocity.<\/p>\n These technologies not only benefit the players, but the organizations for which they play. Teams use these advancements to evaluate future talent and make more informed personnel decisions within the organization.<\/p>\n \u201cIt’s more teams specifically drafting the guy they like to put in their system,\u201d said Jacob Wilson\u2019s father Jack, who played a 12-year MLB career. \u201cNot just the best player, but the best player for them to be successful in how they like to play baseball.\u201d<\/p>\n Such was the case for Jacob Wilson.<\/p>\n \u201cThe A’s wanted more of a contact approach, so they get a guy like Jacob who’s a contact guy,\u201d his father said.<\/p>\n Every team has a different profile for players they want, but what they share is an enhanced ability to evaluate players successfully. New technology offers teams a deeper understanding of performance and allows them to project forward.<\/p>\n \u201cBetter information leads to better selection of players who are likely to succeed,\u201d MLB.com analytics expert Mike Petriello said.<\/p>\n \u201cYou can look at a guy\u2019s bat path and say, \u2018Well, this guy might be crushing low-level pitching but he\u2019s going to get eaten alive by a major league fastball.\u2019 Maybe that guy doesn\u2019t get the chance now that he might have because you can say, \u2018Well, it\u2019s a lower probability he\u2019s going to succeed.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n New technologies have also led to deeper understanding of analytics, which has transformed development for pitchers.<\/p>\n \u201cIt’s a lot more things now that are measurable that they can compare to a major league player,\u201d said former pitcher Adam Ottavino, who played for five teams across his 15-year MLB career. \u201cIt’s a lot easier and more convincing to say, \u2018Yeah, this guy’s ready, and this is the X, Y, Z reasons why.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n Petriello agreed.<\/p>\n \u201cBack in the day, you would say, \u2018Well, this guy throws 95 (mph), that\u2019s pretty good.\u2019 Now you\u2019ll know it\u2019s a straight 95, or it\u2019s 92 but it\u2019s got great rising action, or great arm angle or whatever things that are going to correlate better to success,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Metrics have also changed what is prioritized in the minor leagues when it comes to pitcher development.<\/p>\n \u201cPeople didn\u2019t think you could teach philosophy and now it\u2019s become extremely clear that you can,\u201d Petriello said. \u201cFor years and years and years it was, \u2018Find the guy who throws really hard.\u2019 Maybe you can teach him to pitch, maybe you could teach him a curveball, maybe you could teach him to throw strikes.\u201d<\/p>\n Petriello points to Toronto\u2019s Shane Bieber as a relevant example.<\/p>\n \u201c(He) was the first guy I can remember where it was, \u2018We\u2019re going to find a guy who we know can pitch, he can throw strikes, he\u2019s got good breaking stuff, but he doesn\u2019t throw as hard. We\u2019re gonna teach him to throw hard, whether that\u2019s strength training, nutrition, mechanics, whatever.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n Not only are the quality of pitches being altered, but also the quantity.<\/p>\n \u201cI think there’s a lot more caution with workloads as opposed to weeding guys out based off of durability and a larger sample size,\u201d Ottavino said. \u201cEspecially on the pitching side, I pitched (a) full season at every level, was encouraged to go deep in the games, and take on a big workload and now you just don’t see it as much.\u201d<\/p>\n Major investment<\/p>\n Teams traditionally were hesitant to call up their top prospects, whether it was not wanting to rush a player or intentionally keeping them in the minor leagues to manipulate their service time for an extra year of contract control. Now top players are not only being called up faster but are also getting extended earlier.<\/p>\n Many players in the past few years have earned multi-year extensions within their first couple years of service, with some deals eclipsing $100 million. This year alone, three prospects \u2013 Seattle\u2019s Colt Emerson, and Milwaukee\u2019s Cooper Pratt and Luis Lara \u2013 signed multi-year extensions with zero days of MLB service time.<\/p>\n \u201cThere’s so much more opportunities for young players coming up the big league level,\u201d Plesac said. \u201cParticularly now if you’re 19, 20, 21 years old, teams aren’t afraid to lock those guys up to multi-year deals. There’s a risk in doing that, but more and more, the data shows that teams are more than likely right in the guys that they lock up long term.\u201d<\/p>\n Because players must reach six full years of MLB service time before becoming eligible for free agency, signing early extensions gives them security for those pre-free agency years while allowing them to hit the open market at a favorable age. Players get paid more than they normally would before reaching six years of service while the team gets a discount on those first couple peak performance seasons.<\/p>\n It is for this reason that players generally do not sign these lucrative contracts until their age 25-30 season block, when they reach six years of service. San Diego\u2019s Fernando Tatis Jr. and Kansas City\u2019s Bobby Witt Jr. are notable exceptions, both signing for more than $25 million per year at age 22 and 23, respectively.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cIf you look at most of the position players who\u2019ve gotten these big contracts, I can\u2019t think of that many who totally busted,\u201d Petriello said. \u201cScott Kingery maybe, but (Ronald) Acu\u00f1a, that\u2019s been phenomenal, Ozzie Albies has worked out really well.\u201d<\/p>\n Albies signed a seven-year, $35 million contract with the Braves in 2019. The average annual value looks shockingly low now, but that is what makes these contracts mutually beneficial.<\/p>\n \u201cIf your computations are right and you like the physical tools of the player, you like the mental makeup, you like the intangibles that he brings, if that player turns out to be the player you hope that he is, it’s a great deal for a young player and teams also reap the benefit,\u201d Plesac said regarding Albies\u2019 extension. \u201cIt’s a very team-friendly contract now, but (Albies) also has security and independence for the rest of his life by locking him up.\u201d<\/p>\n Albies is far from the only player whose early extension has aged well for his team. Corbin Carroll\u2019s eight-year, $111 million deal with the Diamondbacks is another example along with Jacob Wilson\u2019s seven-year, $70 million extension. There\u2019s a reason Wilson and players like him are seeing these offers now.<\/p>\n \u201cA lot of it comes with our player agreement coming up that has to do with spending your revenue money, so that’s part of why you see a lot of contracts on the back end of a CBA,\u201d Jack Wilson said.<\/p>\n The potential future<\/p>\n The current collective bargaining agreement expires Dec. 1, and some language in one of MLB\u2019s newest proposals could support why more younger players are getting extended. On June 25, the league accepted the MLB Players Association’s request to reduce the service time mandate from six years to five, allowing players to become eligible for free-agent contracts a year earlier.<\/p>\n The league also suggested implementing a cap on contract length that would max out free agent agreements at five years, a sharp decline from the 10-, 12-, 15-year mega-contracts to which fans have become accustomed. Teams traditionally have lengthened free-agent contracts to lower yearly payments, but in doing so they end up spending a premium for players past their prime.<\/p>\n This proposal would not only cap the years a player can sign for, but also the amount. Players signing for a new organization would be allowed a first-year salary of 15% of the proposed salary cap, 16% for players resigning with the same organization. This means a contract starting in 2027 would pay a maximum of $202 million guaranteed over five years, or $265 million over six years for a player resigning with the same team.<\/p>\n These numbers are a fraction of what veterans have been making over the past decade. The 20 richest free agent contracts based on total value all exceed $200 million total, with just one of them, Kyle Tucker\u2019s $240 million deal with the Dodgers, being under the five-year threshold for future deals.<\/p>\n Another aspect of these negotiations that could have major implications on the league\u2019s youth movement would end one of baseball\u2019s longest traditions: allowing high school prospects to enter the draft.<\/p>\n \u201cI’m a player that was drafted out of high school, so the first thing I see is to eliminate that opportunity for high school kids,\u201d said 13-year MLB veteran Jeremy Guthrie, who was originally drafted in 1997 out of Ashland High School in Oregon. \u201cThat would be a big change that would be hard for me to accept.\u201d<\/p>\n If passed, the minimum draft age would rise from 18 to 20, requiring the top prospects to spend two years in college before entering the MLB Draft and beginning their pro careers.<\/p>\n \u201cWe all love Konnor Griffin and Kevin McGonigle and Colt Emerson,\u201d Jack Wilson said. \u201cThose were high school guys just a couple drafts ago, and that would be gone, those guys would not be in the big leagues right now.<\/p>\n \u201cI think that is what makes baseball great, is to have these phenoms go out and play with men, and they’re 21, 22 years old.\u201d<\/p>\n The proposal would also have serious financial repercussions for players, who would no longer reach free agency at an optimal age.<\/p>\n \u201cInstead of signing a high school kid that’s 18, say he makes the big leagues at 20, 21 years old, he’ll be a free agent at 26, 27,\u201d Plesac said. \u201cYou eliminate the high school phase of the draft, and now you’re drafting a college kid that’s 21. Let’s say two years in the minor leagues, all of a sudden that player is 23, 24 when he makes it to the big leagues, isn’t a free age until he’s 30 or 31. When you start getting that age 30 and 31, that’s getting old in today’s baseball age.\u201d<\/p>\n Former players were split on whether the proposal would help or hurt MLB.<\/p>\n \u201cI hope it doesn’t happen, I don’t think it should, I don’t think it will,\u201d Jack Wilson said.<\/p>\n Lowrie’s answer was more nuanced.<\/p>\n \u201cIf we were to create baseball today, you\u2019re probably following what the NFL and the NBA do, but there’s a lot of history, there\u2019s a lot of precedent of having high school kids get drafted,\u201d he said. \u201cI would love to hear some of the logic and maybe some of their projections of (how) Major League Baseball thinks it affects the game long term, but in a vacuum, if you were gonna start the game today, I think that proposal makes sense.\u201d<\/p>\n MLB cites college baseball\u2019s advancement as the root of the potential change.<\/p>\n \u201cExpanded scholarships, NIL opportunities, revenue sharing and significant investments in facilities and player development have made college baseball an increasingly important pathway that is producing Major League-ready talent at an accelerated rate,\u201d the league said in a June 18 statement. \u201cToday’s top programs provide players with resources, competition and national exposure that were unimaginable a decade ago. By creating a Draft system centered around college-aged players and making most college players eligible one year earlier, more players will benefit from both a college education and an elite development environment while reaching professional baseball \u2013 and ultimately the Major Leagues \u2013 more quickly.\u201d<\/p>\n Wilson, who has held various amateur coaching roles at USA Baseball and was an assistant at Grand Canyon University for one season, disagreed.<\/p>\n \u201cI think the development would be better (going straight into a MLB organization) for a high school kid,\u201d he said. \u201cCollege coaches are great and there’s a lot of great college coaches, but you go into a system, you have eight, nine pitching coaches because you have a coach for every level. You have a rover, you have your head of infield guy, you have your big league infield guy, there’s so many people that can help you develop in an organization.\u201d<\/p>\n The latest No. 1 overall pick, Roch Cholowsky, said playing in college made him the player he is today.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s different for everybody. I thought the best thing for me was to go to college,\u201d he said at the 2026 MLB Draft Combine. \u201cCollege baseball is an unbelievable sport. Schools are starting to put a lot more money and time into it. I got to play three years of unbelievable baseball at UCLA. I got to learn a lot and still grow up.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Cholowsky is excited to learn from the White Sox\u2019 specialized coaches to which Wilson made reference.<\/p>\n \u201cI’m excited to learn around new hitting coaches,\u201d he said. \u201cI love dissecting swings and learning how to hit even more. The guys that are doing it at the highest level are the best, obviously, so we just pick their brains and learn from them.\u201d<\/p>\n Cholowsky and the White Sox are hopeful that he will add his name to the growing list of fast-tracked prospects.<\/p>\n \u201cThat’s the goal,\u201d he said. \u201cI haven’t played pro ball, never played pro ball, never been in it, so that’s a new game for me. I’m just excited to get in there, learn and see how fast I get (to the major leagues).\u201d<\/p>\n This article first appeared on Cronkite News and is republished here under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tCopy Content\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tTracking snippet:<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tCopy Snippet\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"by Matthew Badger, Cronkite News August 11, 2026 PHOENIX \u2013 Grand Canyon University product Jacob Wilson only needed…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":851648,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[558],"tags":[592,64,63,4034,422216,591,85],"class_list":["post-851647","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-mlb","tag-arizona-diamondbacks","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-baseball","tag-baseball-analytics","tag-mlb","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/851647","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=851647"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/851647\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/851648"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=851647"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=851647"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=851647"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/service-time-chart.png\")
(Graphic by Matthew Badger\/Cronkite News)<\/p>\n
\nAugust 11, 2026<\/p>\n