interests of young men in mind. Big surprise - MLB enriching itself at the expense of draftees, both in terms of $ and robbing them of an education.

The 3 year rule for 4 year schools really sets baseball apart from basketball and football as a sport that actually draws student athletes.

Re: your last paragraph, that's exactly what MLB is doing. The announcement is expected today at the earliest, but most likely this week in any event, as to which 120 teams are going to make the cut. MLB has slashed the rookie and Short Season A leagues and partially replaced them with working relationships with independent leagues, and a "MLB Draft League" that is basically an employment scam to avoid paying guys who would otherwise be in Short Season A or rookie ball (by moving the draft, those players are still "amateurs" for 5 more weeks, and therefore they don't need to be paid). They're killing communities that have built themselves around their teams, like those in the Appalachian and New York-Penn Leagues. (The Appy League is keeping all its teams and has converted to a summer collegiate league, but it has yet to be seen whether a second- or third-tier summer collegiate league in Appalachia will be enough to keep those franchises in place.)