 | |
| 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 |
TheMLB Draft League is a baseball league that began play in 2021.[3] Created byMajor League Baseball (MLB) andPrep Baseball Report (PBR), the league operates a split-season format of 80 games with a hybridamateur–professional structure: for the first half of the season, the league operates as an amateurcollegiate summer baseball league to serve as a showcase for top draft-eligible prospects leading up to each July'sMLB 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]
The league's founding six teams were formerly members ofMinor League Baseball'sNew York–Penn League,Eastern League, andCarolina League beforeMLB's reorganization of the minors for 2021.[5][6] In 2021, each team in the league played a68-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, the owners of theFrederick Keys and numerousBaltimore Orioles minor league affiliates, would move the current Keys team toHigh-A, while theAberdeen Ironbirds, the then-current High-A affiliate of the Orioles would move to the MLB Draft League in 2026.[10]
| Team | City | Stadium | Capacity | Tenure |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aberdeen IronBirds | Aberdeen, Maryland | Ripken Stadium | 6,300 | 2026–present |
| Mahoning Valley Scrappers | Niles, Ohio | Eastwood Field | 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 |
| Team | # of Championships | Year(s) |
|---|---|---|
| West Virginia Black Bears | 3 | 2022, 2023, 2025 |
| Williamsport Crosscutters | 1 | 2024 |
| Trenton Thunder | 1 | 2021[a] |
| Year | Champion | Runner-up | Score | Ref |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | West Virginia Black Bears | State College Spikes | 12–5 | [12] |
| 2024 | Williamsport Crosscutters | Trenton Thunder | 5–4 | [13] |
| 2023 | West Virginia Black Bears | Trenton Thunder | 9–4 | [14] |
| 2022 | West Virginia Black Bears | Williamsport Crosscutters | 10–6 | [15] |
| 2021 | Not held[a] | |||
