MLB draft to be held in July for first time next season originally appeared on NBC Sports Chicago
Major League Baseball announced Thursday the 2021 draft will be held in July, a change from the traditional June slot.
The draft will be held July 11-13, during All-Star week in Atlanta.
"We are pleased to make our draft the newest part of 2021 All-Star Week festivities in Atlanta," commissioner Rob Manfred said in a statement. "The All-Star Game is a celebration of baseball, and the draft will highlight the amateur levels of our great game and its future stars.”
Next season will be the first time since the draft's inception in 1965 that it will take place outside the month of June.
Starting next season, the draft will decrease from 40 rounds to a minimum of 20. It dropped from 20 to 5 this season in a cost-saving move due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
MLB made the announcement along with the unveiling of the 2021 All-Star Game logo.
