But in Josh's case, I knew he wanted to come here. In other cases, neither the coach nor the player can ever be sure. That's because there is no single deadline for when drafted players have to sign professional contracts. Major league organizations lose their rights to drafted players when they attend their first college class of the year. Because the first day of class varies across the nation, from mid-August to late September, signing deadlines also vary.
Players can also put off going to class to stretch things out even more.
That's why college coaches, as well as many other people in the game, would love for Major League Baseball to adopt a universal signing deadline, such as Aug.1. It almost happened in 1992. The commissioner's office established a signing deadline, which would have been Aug. 15, as part of a larger plan to reform the draft. Because it was implemented unilaterally, though, the union blocked the rules changes. It was able to do that because draft picks are used as compensation for free agency, and anything related to free agency has to be collectively bargained, then-arbitrator George Nicolau ruled.