MLB Draft Signing Deadline Nears With Five Players Unsigned

The signing deadline for players taken in this year's MLB Draft is 5:00pm ET today, and five first-round picks remain unsigned. MLB's "restructured draft system, which gives each team a pool of money to sign their picks, has changed the way players are signed." Also, the signing deadline is "significantly earlier this year." Previously, the deadline had been midnight on Aug. 15, "meaning many players would not begin their playing careers until the following spring" (USA TODAY, 7/13).

P Ty Hensley, the No. 30 overall pick, "will sign" with the Yankees, as he "announced his decision late Thursday night on Twitter." He and his family "will fly to New York on Saturday, where he'll be introduced before the Yankees play the Angels" (OKLAHOMAN, 7/13).