2022 Mets Draft: An introduction to Major League Baseball’s draft

On Sunday, July 17, Major League Baseball will host its 57th annual Rule 4 draft, better known as the first-year player draft. The Mets will be making two selections in the first round of the 2022 MLB Draft, making the 11th overall selection as compensation for failing to sign Kumar Rocker in the 2021 draft and the 14th overall selection as a consequence of their 77-85 record in 2021.

As compensation for Noah Syndergaard signing with the Los Angeles Angels, the Mets will receive the 75th overall selection in the free-agent compensation round. Had he signed with a major league club before the draft, the Mets would have received a compensation pick for the loss of free agent Michael Conforto, as well.

In order to be eligible to be selected in the 2022 MLB Draft, a player must meet the criteria applicable to them:

• Be a resident of, or have attended an educational institution in, the United States, Canada, or a U.S. territory such as Puerto Rico. Players from other countries are not subject to the draft, and can be signed by any team unless they have attended an educational institution in the aforementioned areas.
• Have never signed a major or minor league contract.
• High school players are eligible only after graduation, and if they have not attended college.
• Players at four-year colleges and universities are eligible three years after first enrolling in such an institution, or after their 21st birthdays (whichever occurs first).
• Junior and community college players are eligible to be drafted at any time.

Following the COVID-19 shortened 2020 MLB Draft, Major League Baseball and the MLBPA agreed that the draft would last 20 rounds, with additional compensatory pick rounds sandwiched between the first and second rounds, the second and third rounds, and the fourth and fifth rounds. Each selection made in the first ten rounds of the draft is assigned a monetary value by Major League Baseball. The sum of these values, collectively known as the bonus pool, cannot be exceeded without a penalty. Exceeding the bonus pool threshold by 0-5% results in a 75% tax on the overage. Exceeding the bonus pool threshold by 5-10% results in a 75% tax on the overage and the forfeiture of a team’s first-round selection in the 2023 MLB Draft. Exceeding the bonus pool by more than 10-15% results in a 100% tax on the overage and the forfeiture of a team’s first and second-round selections in the 2022 MLB Draft. Exceeding the bonus pool by more than 15% results in a 100% tax on the average and the loss of first round picks in the 2023 and 2024 MLB Drafts.

In total, the Mets have a bonus pool valued at $13,955,700, behind only the Diamondbacks’ $15,112,100 and the Orioles’ $16,924,000. The pools for all 30 major league clubs total $279,850,600, up from $265,769,400 in 2021. The Mets’ first pick in the first round, the eleventh overall selection, has an MLB-assigned slot value of $4,778,200. The Mets’ second pick in the first round, the fourteenth overall selection, has an MLB-assigned slot value of $4,241,600.

Draft-eligible players who are passed over and not selected are eligible to sign free agent minor league contacts. Clubs are allowed to sign an unlimited amount of such players for a maximum of $20,000.