How many picks are in the MLB Draft? Rounds, formats and prospect pool, explained

The MLB draft is known for being the biggest draft in all of sports. Teams have to fill spots on a lot of teams, not just one. Where the NFL draft is about finding players to be on the NFL squad, the baseball draft is about finding prospects to put in the minor leagues.

As a result, there are a ton of rounds, 20 to be exact. This is 13 more than the next closest draft (the NFL has seven). The MLB draft is a long process with a ton of players that ultimately don't pan out.

Over three days, 20 rounds are completed and 616 total picks (roughly, that was the number from 2022) are made with compensatory picks and more.

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MLB Draft format and more to know

The MLB Draft follows the standard draft format. The team that earned the first pick makes their selection, followed by whichever team earned the second pick and so on and so forth.

Henry Davis is a former MLB Draft prospect

This year, the Pittsburgh Pirates will pick first, so they can choose anyone they want from the entire prospect pool. The prospect pool consists of the following:

• International players
• College players
• High school players

Some prospects are so good that teams will draft them right out of high school. Sometimes, teams will even take a flier on a 17th-round prospect out of high school to see if he will forego college to join their ranks.

For example, Paul Skenes is the best pitching prospect in a long time and he is in college. Walker Jenkins is a top-10 prospect out of high school. There are a lot of prospects from a lot of places in the draft.