Braves 2020 MLB Draft: Draft order

There’s a lot to cover regarding this year’s MLB Draft, and starting with today’s post, we here at SportsTalkATL will begin a series of columns to do just that. From now until Draft Day — the 2020 MLB Draft will be from June 10-12 — we plan to publish numerous write-ups detailing this year’s event, diving into not only the draft itself but also potential Braves’ draftees. We kick off this Braves 2020 MLB Draft series with an overview of June’s draft order…

First Round Draft Order

Here is the first-round order for the 2020 draft. The draft order is set in reverse order of 2019’s regular-season standings:

1. Detroit Tigers
2. Baltimore Orioles
3. Miami Marlins
4. Kansas City Royals
5. Toronto Blue Jays
6. Seattle Mariners
7. Pittsburgh Pirates
8. San Diego Padres
9. Colorado Rockies
10. Los Angeles Angels
11. Chicago White Sox
12. Cincinnati Reds
13. San Francisco Giants
14. Texas Rangers
15. Philadelphia Phillies
16. Chicago Cubs
17. Boston Red Sox
18. Arizona Diamondbacks
19. New York Mets
20. Milwaukee Brewers
21. St. Louis Cardinals
22. Washington Nationals
23. Cleveland Indians
24. Tampa Bay Rays
25. Atlanta Braves
26. Oakland Athletics
27. Minnesota Twins
28. New York Yankees
29. Los Angeles Dodgers
30. Houston Astros

A few notes

• This year’s draft is at a new date and location as MLB announced back in December that the event will take place in Omaha, Nebraska, immediately before the College Baseball World Series (which is set to begin on June 13). No longer will there be a draft during the middle of the NCAA World Series… it’s about time!
• Also changing is the draft’s layout. The first day of the event will shrink from two rounds to just one. The second day will feature rounds 2-10, and the third will include rounds 11-40. 
• For the second time in three years, the Tigers will be picking first in the draft.
• Because of their sign-stealing scandal, the Astros will NOT get a first or second-round pick in either of the 2020 or 2021 drafts. The team’s picks would’ve been rather low anyways, though, according to FanGraphs, those four total picks are worth roughly $25-30 million in net present value (not counting the $5 million fine handed down by commissioner Rob Manfred).
• Because every team signed their first-round picks in 2019, there will be no extra picks in the opening round in 2020. When a team fails to sign their first-rounder, they receive a compensation pick the next year, one slot later. For example: in 2018, the Braves failed to sign their 8th pick, pitcher Carter Stewart. Therefore, in 2019 the Braves were granted a compensation pick, allowing them two picks in the first round (pick Nos. 9 and 21). This year it’s as simple as reversing the 2019 standings based on overall record. 
• Because they signed both reliever Will Smith and outfielder Marcell Ozuna (two free agents that received qualifying offers from their respective teams) this offseason, the Braves will not have a third-round pick (they received a pick for losing Josh Donaldson to the Twins). 

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In the coming months, the slot values for the 2020 MLB Draft will be released. These values are assigned to each pick in the Draft and are there to limit the signing bonuses handed out by teams. Once they are released, I will provide an update to the draft order above, listing each team’s allotted bonus pool. 

To give you a ballpark figure, the 25th overall pick (the Braves’ pick in 2020) in 2019 had a slot value of $5.979 million. The Braves’ bonus pool will certainly be more than that in 2020, given the values increase every year (by roughly 4% from 2018 to 2019). It’s probably safe to say that the Braves will have anywhere from $6.2 to $6.5 million to spend on their first-round pick, which will undoubtedly be a crucial one, considering they are without their third-highest selection.