1996 Major League Baseball draft

1996 Major League Baseball draft
General information
Date(s)June 4–5, 1996
Overview
First selectionKris Benson
Pittsburgh Pirates
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The 1996 Major League Baseball draft was an annual choosing of high school and college baseball players that was held on June 4 and 5, 1996. A total of 1740 players were drafted over the course of 100 rounds.

This is the only draft to last 100 rounds.[citation needed] The last player taken was outfielder Aron Amundson, drafted by the New York Yankees in the 100th round.[1]

This draft is also notable because a record four first-round draft picks were not offered contracts by the teams that drafted them and subsequently became free agents. Under Major League Baseball's Collective Bargaining Agreement, the teams had been required to offer a written contract within fifteen days of the draft, but that rule had been ignored for decades prior to this draft. Agent Scott Boras challenged the White Sox on their lack of an offered contract for Bobby Seay and filed grievances on behalf of John Patterson and Matt White. Travis Lee's advisers followed suit.[2][3]

  1. ^ "1996 Baseball Draft". Baseball Almanac. Retrieved September 1, 2024.
  2. ^ Buchanan, Zach (April 16, 2020). "Travis Lee's 1996 draft saga and how an amateur's true value was briefly exposed". The Athletic. Retrieved September 1, 2024.
  3. ^ Lingo, Will (July 25, 2014). "Top 10 MLB Draft Holdouts Of All-Time". Baseball America. Retrieved September 1, 2024.