Draft Preview

June 3, 2002

Like the traditional draft-and-follow attending a junior college, the baseball draft also provides an opportunity for fifth-year college seniors to sign before the draft.

Players who were drafted a year ago (as fourth-year juniors) may sign only with the team that drafted them. Those who weren't drafted in 2001 are free to sign with any major league club. In both cases, the player must have signed before the start of the May 28 closed period--unless his college team is still playing, in which case he is given a grace period up to 72 hours to sign.

If a player's college season is still not complete by June 4--the first day of the draft--he will relinquish his right to sign and simply go back into the existing draft pool. With the Division I college season extended by an extra week this year, meaning more teams will still be alive on the date of the draft, that has impacted more fifth-year seniors than normal.

Here's a list of fifth-year seniors signed to date: