2021 Major League Baseball draft

2021 Major League Baseball draft
General information
Date(s)July 11–13, 2021
LocationBellco Theatre
Denver, Colorado
Network(s)MLB Network
ESPN (first round)
Overview
612 total selections in 20 rounds
First selectionHenry Davis
Pittsburgh Pirates
First round selections36
← 2020
2022 →

The 2021 Major League Baseball draft took place on July 11–13, 2021. In conjunction with the 2021 Major League Baseball All-Star Game, the draft was held in Denver.[1] The draft assigned amateur baseball players to MLB teams. The draft order was set based on the reverse order of the 2020 MLB season standings.[2] In addition, compensation picks were distributed for players who did not sign from the 2020 MLB Draft and for teams who lost qualifying free agents.[3] On March 26, 2020, MLB and the MLBPA reached a deal that included the option to halve the draft to 20 rounds due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[4] MLB ultimately opted to shorten the draft to 20 rounds.[5] In total, 612 college and high school players were drafted.[6]

The Pittsburgh Pirates, who had the worst record of the 2020 season, selected Henry Davis with the first overall pick in the draft.[7] As punishment for their role in the sign stealing scandal, the Houston Astros forfeited both their first- and second-round picks in the draft.[8]

On April 2, 2021, MLB announced that the 2021 MLB All-Star Game, along with the draft, was being relocated from Atlanta in protest of the Georgia State Legislature's passage of the controversial Election Integrity Act of 2021; three days later, Denver was announced as the new host city.[9][10]

Chase Silseth made his MLB debut for the Los Angeles Angels on May 13, 2022, making him the first player from the 2021 draft to make his major league debut.

  1. ^ Anderson, R.J. (June 17, 2021). "MLB Prospect Watch: One 2021 MLB Draft prospect worth watching on each NCAA Men's College World Series team". CBSSports.com. Retrieved June 19, 2021.
  2. ^ Callis, Jim (October 12, 2020). "Here's the 2021 MLB Draft order". MLB.com. Retrieved October 13, 2020.
  3. ^ "MLB's New Free Agent Compensation Rules Are Incredibly Complicated, So Let's Break Them Down". Sports Illustrated. November 7, 2017.
  4. ^ Baer, Bill (March 26, 2020). "MLB, MLBPA reach agreement on service time, pay, draft". NBC Sports. Retrieved July 27, 2020.
  5. ^ Sharkley-Gotlieb, Simon (April 2, 2021). "Report: 2021 MLB Draft will be 20 rounds long". theScore. Retrieved April 3, 2021.
  6. ^ "2021 Draft Tracker". MLB Draft Tracker. MLB Advanced Media. Retrieved July 14, 2021.
  7. ^ Schoenfield, David (July 11, 2021). "Pittsburgh Pirates draft Louisville catcher Henry Davis with No. 1 pick; Jack Leiter goes to Texas Rangers at No. 2". ESPN. Retrieved July 13, 2021.
  8. ^ Davis, Bradford William (January 13, 2020). "Manager A.J. Hinch, GM Jeff Luhnow get one-year suspensions for Astros' sign-stealing; Carlos Beltran not punished". New York Daily News. Retrieved July 27, 2020.
  9. ^ Castrovince, Anthony (April 2, 2021). "'21 All-Star Game, Draft moved from Atlanta". MLB.com. Retrieved April 2, 2021.
  10. ^ Harding, Thomas (April 6, 2021). "Rockies to host 2021 All-Star Game". MLB.com. Retrieved July 11, 2021.