MLB Reportedly Considering Adding Pre-Draft Combine: Latest Details and Reaction

The NFL Scouting Combine is a marquee event in the pre-draft process for some of the nation’s top prospects. It looks like MLB may be following suit. 

Jeff Passan of Yahoo Sports noted Friday, per sources, that “Baseball is strongly considering a pre-draft combine, to be discussed in upcoming bargaining.”

Passan went into far more detail in this report, but the ultimate hope is that a combine would minimize situations like the one that just unfolded with former No. 1 pick Brady Aiken. The Houston Astros used the first overall selection on the pitcher, but he went unsigned and ultimately had to undergo Tommy John surgery.

It was an unfortunate situation for both the team, which used a valuable top pick on Aiken, and Aiken himself, who will now have to undergo an arduous recovery process. Had more information been available before the draft via a combine, things may have unfolded differently.

Passan noted that how the combine would work will likely cause plenty of debate between teams and the MLB Players Association. It could be a limited event where only the top prospects are invited or a more general thing where players undergo tests, a la the football one.

There are still a number of logistics to work out, including timing and how it would work with the NCAA, but this is at least under consideration at this point.