HawgBeat's 2021 MLB Draft Primer: How to watch, intel on key players

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Taking place later than ever, the 2021 MLB Draft is finally upon us and all eyes in the college baseball world - especially at Arkansas - will be transfixed on Denver the next three days.

Several current and future Razorbacks could be among the 612 players who will hear their name called during the 20-round event, which starts Sunday.

Here’s everything you need to know about the MLB Draft…

Day 1, Round 1 - Sunday, July 11 - 6 p.m. CT (ESPN, MLB Network)

Day 2, Rounds 2-10 - Monday, July 12 - noon CT (MLB.com)

Day 3, Rounds 11-20 - Tuesday, July 13 - 11 a.m. CT (MLB.com)

Usually a 40-round event, this year’s MLB Draft was cut in half as a cost-savings measure in response to the pandemic. That is still much longer than last year’s five-round draft.

The MLB Draft is not as straight forward as its counterparts in the NFL and NBA. In addition to making selections based on merit, teams have to consider each player’s “signability” - how likely he is to sign a professional contract.

High school and junior college prospects can choose to honor their commitments and college players, assuming they have remaining eligibility, can return to school if they don’t receive their desired signing bonus.

In 2012, a new wrinkle was introduced to the draft: slot values and bonus pools. Each pick in the top 10 rounds is assigned a recommended signing bonus amount - or slot value - with teams being allowed to spend up to the combined value of their top-10 round picks’ slot values - or bonus pool.

Players selected in the 11th round and beyond can receive signing bonuses up to $125,000 before it factors into the equation, with the difference counting toward the bonus pool.

Exceeding the bonus pool by up to 5 percent results in a 75 percent tax on the overage. Anything more than that leads to the forfeiture of future draft picks, but that has never happened.

If a team does not sign a player taken in the first 10 rounds, it loses that pick’s slot value from its bonus pool. That is why it’s rare for teams not to sign their early draftees, especially those with seven-figure slot values.

Last year, all 160 draftees in the five-round draft ultimately signed. Two years ago, only two of the 317 players taken in the top 10 rounds didn’t sign. Seventh-round pick Brandon Sproat honored his commitment to Florida, while 10th-round pick Wyatt Hendrie - a JUCO draftee - ended up at San Diego State.

~SS Jalen Battles

~RHP Ryan Costeiu

~OF Christian Franklin

~1B/OF Matt Goodheart

~RHP Kevin Kopps

~LHP Caden Monke

~C Casey Opitz

~1B/OF Brady Slavens

~LHP Patrick Wicklander

~OF Braylon Bishop - Texarkana (Ark.)

~OF Gabe D’Arcy - San Juan Capistrano (Calif.) JSerra Catholic - SCOUTING REPORT

~INF Kendall Diggs - Olathe (Kan.) St. Thomas Aquinas

~LHP/OF Drew Gray - Belleville (Ill.) East/IMG Academy

~RHP Nick Moten - Town and Country (Mo.) Westminster Christian Academy

~SS Max Muncy - Camarillo (Calif.) Thousand Oaks

~LHP Hagen Smith - Bullard (Texas) - STORY/SCOUTING REPORT

~C Max Soliz Jr. - Madison (Ala.) Bob Jones - SCOUTING REPORT

~2B Peyton Stovall - Haughton (La.) - STORY/SCOUTING REPORT

~RHP Vincent Trapani - Eau Claire (Wisc.) Memorial - STORY/SCOUTING REPORT

~RHP Brady Tygart - Hernando (Miss.) Lewisburg

~SS Drake Varnado - IMG Academy (Port Neches, Texas)

~OF Jordan Viars - Frisco (Texas) Reedy

Here is a rundown of things HawgBeat is hearing from sources and reading from draft experts, followed by a table that includes where Arkansas players and signees are ranked in various prospect lists…