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On June 12, Major League Baseball will host its 53rd annual Rule 4 draft, better known as the first-year player draft. The Mets, who lost to the San Francisco Giants in the National League Wild Card Game, ended the regular season with an 87-75 record, and will make the 20th overall selection.
Draft-eligible players come from a variety of backgrounds. The following players residing in the United States and its territories are eligible to be drafted:
- All college juniors and seniors
- College freshmen and sophomores at four-year programs who are at least 21 years of age at the time of the draft
- All junior college players, regardless of age
- High school seniors
All draftees, with a handful of exceptions, must be signed by July 15. Players that do not sign with teams by the deadline are eligible to be selected in the following year's draft, provided they still meet the criteria listed above. Any team that fails to sign its first- or second-round selection is to be provided a compensation pick, which comes one slot later in the following year's draft than the pick the team used on the unsigned player. Any team that fails to sign its third-round pick gets a compensation pick after round three but before round four in the following year's draft. From the fourth round onward, no compensation is awarded for failing to sign a draft pick.
How much teams can spend on signing draftees is capped by their bonus pool, a sum of money decided upon by Major League Baseball based on the team's draft position, the league's recommended draft slot bonus per round, and other factors. In the latest Collective Bargaining Agreement, Major League Baseball has compressed the values between slots at the top of the draft. The slot value for the first ten rounds of the draft have decreased anywhere from .1% to 7.7%.
| Round | Overall Pick | Slot Value |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 20 | $2,994,500 |
| 2 | 59 | $1,094,700 |
| 3 | 97 | $553,200 |
| 4 | 127 | $413,100 |
| 5 | 157 | $307,800 |
| 6 | 187 | $237,600 |
| 7 | 217 | $186,200 |
| 8 | 247 | $153,400 |
| 9 | 277 | $139.700 |
| 10 | 307 | $132.300 |
All in all, scouts have not been enamored of the 2017 draft class. College pitching is considered by most to be the strength of this draft class, but there are no major talents included in the group, but rather solid performers.