OKLAHOMA OPENING
Oklahoma Training Track at Saratoga Race Course to open to essential personnel on June 4
The New York Racing Association, Inc. (NYRA) today announced that the Oklahoma Training Track at Saratoga Race Course will open for training on Thursday, June 4. The barn area at Oklahoma will open to horsemen beginning Tuesday, June 2.
The Oklahoma Training Track and Whitney Viewing Stand will be closed to owners and the public. Access will be restricted to essential personnel duly licensed by NYRA and the New York State Gaming Commission (NYSGC). On March 16, 2020, Governor Andrew M. Cuomo said that horse racing would be able to resume on June 1 in the state of New York. During that press conference, Cuomo explained that fans would not be allowed to be in attendance, as the tracks began to open up. In consultation with the NYSGC and state and local public health officials, NYRA has implemented a comprehensive set of health and safety protocols designed to protect and mitigate risk for employees, horsemen, backstretch workers and the Saratoga community. All personnel working at the Oklahoma Training Track must test neg
ative for COVID-19 or test positive for the antibodies for COVID-19. This applies to both local personnel as well as those arriving from other regions. All personnel licensed and approved to be on the property will be required to complete a daily health screening and temperature check conducted by trained EMTs. Face masks or coverings and adherence to strict social distancing measures will be mandatory at all times. Masks and personal protective equipment will be provided. The opening of the Oklahoma Training Track was delayed from its traditional mid-April timeline due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The summer meet at Saratoga Race Course is scheduled to begin on Thursday, July 16 and run through Labor Day, Monday, September 7. For more information about Saratoga Race Course, visit NYRA.com/ Saratoga.
Detroit picks first, followed by Baltimore, Miami and Kansas City.
Houston was stripped of its first- and second-round selections as part of MLB penalties for using a video camera to steal catcher’s signs. Boston lost its second-round selection for improper use of video.
Baseball’s draft was long held by conference call at the commissioner’s office in New York. The draft was moved to Lake Buena Vista, Florida, for 2007 and 2008.
Residents of the United
States, Canada and Puerto Rico are subject to the draft.
As part of the agreement with the union, slot values to determine signing bonus pools will remain at 2019 levels and players passed over in the draft are limited to signing bonuses of $20,000 or less. That might cause more high school players to go to college. And because of the NCAA’s limit of 11.7 baseball scholarships, the change may lead to more prospects attending junior college.
All but six of last year’s sixth-round picks signed for $200,000 or more. Chicago Cubs catcher/first baseman Ethan Hearn had the highest bonus of the round at $950,000, deciding to sign rather than attend Mississippi State. San Francisco signed right-hander John McDonald, selected 326th on the 11th round, for $797,500, and Arizona gave left-hander Avery Short, picked 362nd on the 12th round, $922,500.
Among 1,082 players who were in a big league game last year after coming through the draft, 180 were first-round picks and 589 were selected during the first five rounds, according to the commissioner’s office. There were 204 from rounds six to 10, 102 from rounds 11-15 and 63 from rounds 16-20. Just 74 were from rounds 21-30 and only 50 from rounds 31-50.
Once unlimited, the draft was cut to 50 rounds in 1998 and to 40 rounds in 2012.
Signing bonus pools started in 2012 and limit the amount of money teams can spend. Each slot in the first 10 rounds is a signed a value — the range last year was $8,415,300 down to $142,200 — and each team’s values are added to a form a pool.
Signing bonuses in the first 10 rounds count against the pool along with the amounts above $125,000 of players selected after the 10th round or who were bypassed in the draft and then signed.