PHILADELPHIA, PA – AUGUST 29: The Phillies logo at section 108 seat 32 is shown at Citizens Bank Park on August 29, 2017 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Rain cancelled the game against the Atlanta Braves and is rescheduled as a doubleheader tomorrow. (Photo by Corey Perrine/Getty Images)
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Major League Baseball’s draft could undergo one of the most significant changes in its history if a proposal to eliminate high school players from the event becomes reality.
While the idea remains in the discussion stage as part of Major League Baseball’s proposal for a new collective bargaining agreement (CBA) with the players’ union, it has already sparked debate throughout the sport among executives, scouts and player development officials.
And few would feel the impact more directly than amateur scouting directors, whose departments spend years evaluating prep talent around the world. For organizations that have built successful farm systems by identifying high school prospects, the proposal would fundamentally reshape the scouting process.
And Philadelphia Phillies amateur scouting director Brian Barber appeared to push back on the idea, breaking ranks with MLB higher ups as they attempt to push numerous changes into a new CBA.
“Brian Barber said he wouldn’t be excited about the current proposal of eliminating high schoolers from the MLB Draft, even though he acknowledged nothing is set in stone yet,” Crossing Broad’s Luke Arcaini reported.
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Barber expanded on why the proposal concerns him, suggesting it would dramatically alter the profession itself.
“It would totally change the landscape of what scouting is all about,” Barber said, per Grace Del Pizzo of OnPattison.
That perspective carries weight, given Barber’s reputation as one of baseball’s respected scouting executives and the fact that MLB executives generally want to appear united as the owners negotiate numerous changes with the players union.
Since joining the Phillies, Barber has overseen multiple drafts that have helped strengthen one of the organization’s top-ranked farm systems, often targeting high-upside prep talent alongside polished college players. While MLB has not finalized any changes, Barber’s comments highlighted the uncertainty surrounding a proposal that would remove an entire class of prospects from draft boards.
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Barber has frequently discussed the extensive work that goes into each draft, emphasizing how much collaboration occurs before selections are made.
“And we meet for about 10 days leading up to the draft,” he told The Philadelphia Inquirer’s Scott Lauber earlier this year. “And obviously we had talked about those players a lot before then, but you start to get down into every deep weed that you can try to talk about on those players and all the other players that are on the board at the time. It’s a first step. But it’s a very satisfying first step to see the realization of those guys getting to the big leagues.”
Those remarks underscore why eliminating high school prospects could represent more than a procedural adjustment. For scouting departments like Philadelphia’s, it would require rethinking years of evaluation methods, resource allocation and long-term player development strategies.
Nothing has been finalized regarding the proposal, and Barber himself acknowledged that discussions remain fluid. Still, his willingness to publicly question the idea makes him a rare MLB executive to voice skepticism about a potential change to the CBA.