Yankees Should Feel Cheated by Shortened MLB Draft

It was confirmed on Friday that Major League Baseball elected to trim this year's draft to five rounds in light of the coronavirus pandemic. A 10-round event was negotiated by the players' union, but both sides were unable to reach an agreement.

The chain reaction will obviously affect over 1,000 prospects that had previously expected to hear their name called. Now, they'll either sign as undrafted free agents for as much as $20,000 or be forced to wait until next year.

As far as teams are concerned, this decision will severely impact the New York Yankees.

The Yankees won't even have five selections to work with. By signing Gerrit Cole this offseason, the club surrendered its second- and fifth-round picks in the 2020 Draft. That leaves New York with the No. 28 overall pick, as well as one selection in the third and fourth rounds.

The Pinstripes have every right to feel cheated by this settlement from MLB. It was always expected that wining the Cole sweepstakes would come at a cost, but New York didn't sign on for this.

This isn't to say that the Yanks forfeiting two of their five picks in the Draft would have interfered with their incentive to sign Cole. You don't pass on nabbing arguably the best pitcher in the sport in favor of adding a few more prospects to your farm system. That's not what's being discussed here.

The fact of the matter is that the league's decision to shorten the draft has put the Yankees at a significant disadvantage. No other club can say that.