How Long Island will be impacted if MLB makes high school players ineligible for 2028 amateur draft

The night of July 13, 2025, was one of the proudest in the history of the Hauppauge baseball program. But a proposal by Major League Baseball to the MLB Players Association in the ongoing collective bargaining negotiations may prevent those nights from happening again on Long Island starting in 2028.

Hauppauge's Michael Oliveto was drafted in the first round by the Detroit Tigers that night. He later signed for $2.45 million.

MLB is proposing a rule that would make high school players ineligible for the amateur draft, limiting the eligibility pool to college and international prospects.

“I still remember every second of that moment,” Hauppauge baseball coach Josh Gutes said. “It’s crazy that it was over a year ago, because it feels like yesterday … For a kid like Michael, if they’re talented enough to do it, why wouldn’t they have the option to choose to sign or go to college? Why is it being forced upon them? It just doesn’t make much sense.”

If agreed to by the MLBPA, the rule would go into effect starting in 2028, meaning the 2027 draft would be the final one to include high school players. The proposal states that high schoolers would have to wait two years after graduating and must turn 20 years old by Sept. 1 of that year to gain draft eligibility.

Players going into their senior year that are getting attention from MLB scouts, such as Plainedge’s Jaxson Torres and Bellmore JFK’s Derek and Ryan Yormack, will still be draft eligible next year, whether or not the rule is ratified in the CBA. Levittown's Dylan Weinstein, the starting shortstop for St. Dominic’s 2026 CHSAA state championship team, would be among the first class of Long Islanders affected by the rule.

Weinstein, a rising junior, hit .393 with 11 doubles and nine home runs in 37 games last season. He committed to the University of Florida earlier this summer, but getting drafted still remains a goal.

“I definitely don’t like hearing this rule, or the whole idea of it,” Weinstein said. “I don’t think the whole thing is fair. I’ve seen guys get drafted ahead of me, and it’s always been a goal of mine. That would be taking away my ability to achieve one of my biggest goals. I’m definitely hoping that I still have the chance to be drafted. I’m excited to go to Florida, but I really want to keep my options open to fulfill my dreams.”

The rule would eliminate the opportunity for a high school player to earn immediate life-changing money, like Oliveto or Aiden Ruiz, who signed for $3.5 million with the Pittsburgh Pirates after being drafted in the second round out of The Stony Brook School on July 11.

It would also take away general community interest.

When future major leaguers Steven Matz and Marcus Stroman faced off in their legendary 2009 pitcher’s duel at Patchogue-Medford, the game got lots of attention across Long Island, mostly due to their status as potential draft picks. Both were drafted that June.

Pat-Med continued to draw big crowds when Josh Knoth pitched. Knoth was drafted out of high school by the Milwaukee Brewers in the first round in 2023. The proposed rule, however, might lower the stakes for top-tier talent during the their high school careers and make the games less interesting, said Pat-Med baseball coach Anthony Frascogna, who coached both Stroman and Knoth. 

“I think that would be terrible,” Frascogna said. “The number of connections that have been made because we’ve had that kind of exposure from these games, that kind of thing would be hard to replace … I think it’s just another step towards taking the competitiveness out of the games, where these guys might not be putting it all out there for their high school teams for the chance to get to the top level.”