The MLB Draft League is a baseball league that began play in 2021. 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; after a break for the draft, play resumes for the season's remaining games with paid professional players who have exhausted their amateur eligibility.
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. In 2021, each team in the league played a regular season, with an All-Star Break taking place around the MLB draft. The season was expanded to 80 games per team beginning in 2022.
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.
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.
Teams TeamCityStadiumCapacityTenureAberdeen IronBirdsAberdeen, MarylandRipken Stadium 6,3002026–presentMahoning Valley ScrappersNiles, Ohio7 17 Credit Union Field at Eastwood6,0002021–presentState College SpikesUniversity Park, PennsylvaniaLubrano Park5,5702021–presentTrenton ThunderTrenton, New JerseyTrenton Thunder Ballpark6,4402021–presentWest Virginia Black Bears Granville, West VirginiaKendrick Family Ballpark3,5002021–presentWilliamsport CrosscuttersWilliamsport, PennsylvaniaJourney Bank Ballpark 2,3662021–present
Champions Team# of ChampionshipsYear(s)West Virginia Black Bears 32022, 2023, 2025Williamsport Crosscutters22024, 2026Trenton Thunder 12021
Championship games +YearChampionRunner-upScoreRef2026Williamsport CrosscuttersAberdeen Ironbirds5–32025West Virginia Black BearsState College Spikes12–52024Williamsport CrosscuttersTrenton Thunder5–42023West Virginia Black BearsTrenton Thunder9–42022West Virginia Black BearsWilliamsport Crosscutters10–62021Not held
Owners +TeamOwner(s)PrincipalYear acquiredAberdeen IronBirdsAttain Sports and Entertainment (majority), Ripken family (minority)Greg Baroni (CEO) (majority); Cal Ripken Jr. and Billy Ripken (minority)2024Mahoning Valley ScrappersHWS GroupMichael SavitState College SpikesState College Professional Baseball LPChuck Greenberg2006Trenton ThunderDiamond Baseball HoldingsPat Battle, Peter B. Freund2026West Virginia Black BearsRich Baseball OperationsBob Rich, Jr.2014Williamsport CrosscuttersTrinity Sports HoldingsPeter B. Freund2014
References
External links Official website