MLB Draft League
Collegiate summer baseball league
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The MLB Draft League is a baseball league that began play in 2021.[3] Created by Major League Baseball (MLB) and Prep Baseball Report (PBR), the league operates a split-season format of 80 games with a hybrid amateur–professional structure: for the first half of the season, the league operates as an amateur collegiate summer baseball league to serve as a showcase for top draft-eligible prospects leading up to each July's MLB draft;[3] after a break for the draft, play resumes for the season's remaining games with paid professional players who have exhausted their amateur eligibility.[4]
Independent (partial)
| |
| Classification | Collegiate summer (partial) Independent (partial) |
|---|---|
| Sport | Baseball |
| Founded | 2021 |
| Director | Sean Campbell[1] |
| No. of teams | 6 |
| Country | United States |
| Most recent champion | West Virginia Black Bears (2025) |
| Most titles | West Virginia Black Bears (3) |
| Streaming partner | AWRE Sports[2] |
| Official website | mlbdraftleague.com |
History
The league's founding six teams were formerly members of Minor League Baseball's New York–Penn League, Eastern League, and Carolina League before MLB's reorganization of the minors for 2021.[5][6] In 2021, each team in the league played a 68-game regular season, with an All-Star Break taking place around the MLB draft.[7] The season was expanded to 80 games per team beginning in 2022.[8]
In 2024, MLB announced that the league would be expanded by two teams in the near future and that it would extend its support for the league through 2030.[9]
In August 2025, it was announced that Attain Sports and Entertainment, the owners of the Frederick Keys and numerous Baltimore Orioles minor league affiliates, would move the current Keys team to High-A, while the Aberdeen Ironbirds, the then-current High-A affiliate of the Orioles would move to the MLB Draft League in 2026.[10]
Teams
| Team | City | Stadium | Capacity | Tenure |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aberdeen IronBirds | Aberdeen, Maryland | Ripken Stadium | 6,300 | 2026–present |
| Mahoning Valley Scrappers | Niles, Ohio | 7 17 Credit Union Field at Eastwood | 6,000 | 2021–present |
| State College Spikes | University Park, Pennsylvania | Lubrano Park | 5,570 | 2021–present |
| Trenton Thunder | Trenton, New Jersey | Trenton Thunder Ballpark | 6,440 | 2021–present |
| West Virginia Black Bears | Granville, West Virginia | Kendrick Family Ballpark | 3,500 | 2021–present |
| Williamsport Crosscutters | Williamsport, Pennsylvania | Journey Bank Ballpark | 2,366 | 2021–present |
Champions
| Team | # of Championships | Year(s) |
|---|---|---|
| West Virginia Black Bears | 3 | 2022, 2023, 2025 |
| Williamsport Crosscutters | 1 | 2024 |
| Trenton Thunder | 1 | 2021[a] |
Championship games
Owners
| Team | Owner(s) | Principal | Year acquired |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aberdeen IronBirds | Attain Sports and Entertainment (majority), Ripken family (minority)[16] | Greg Baroni (CEO) (majority); Cal Ripken Jr. and Billy Ripken (minority) | 2024 |
| Mahoning Valley Scrappers | HWS Group[17] | Michael Savit | |
| State College Spikes | State College Professional Baseball LP[18] | Chuck Greenberg | 2006[19] |
| Trenton Thunder | Garden State Baseball, LP[20] | Joe Plumeri, Joseph Finley, Joseph Caruso | 1999[21] |
| West Virginia Black Bears | Rich Baseball Operations[22] | Bob Rich, Jr. | 2014 |
| Williamsport Crosscutters | Trinity Sports Holdings[23] | Peter B. Freund | 2014 |