The Seattle Mariners are supposed to sign switch-hitting shortstop Mairon De La Rosa out of the Dominican Republic when the International Signing Period for 2027 opens up on Jan. 15.

The verbal agreement of nearly $4 million was reported in January of this year and De La Rosa is noted as one of the top international prospects in the Class of 2027.

However, the Mariners may not actually get the chance to sign him, if Major League Baseball has its way.

As reported by Joe Doyle of Over Slot Baseball on Wednesday, MLB presented a new International Draft Proposal to front offices at the general managers meetings in Las Vegas.

And look, this is just a proposal and it's going to be part of the much larger CBA discussion this winter. At this point, we have absolutely no idea what the owners will cave on, no idea what the players will cave on, and no idea what the financial landscape of the sport will look like moving forward.

These are all just proposals, but this one would have a significant impact if accepted.

The CBA runs out on Dec. 1 at 8:59 p.m. PT and at that point, we're expected to enter a lockout. That lockout will last until a new CBA is ratified, but it appears that baseball could enter a long hibernation before that happens.

If there's no new CBA signed by the Jan. 15 signing period, then the international signing period figures to be delayed or canceled, which means the Mariners can't agree to terms with De La Rosa or anyone they've got a pre-arrangement with.

As noted by Doyle, MLB wants to see 12-round international draft where the picks are hard-slotted financially. That means there are no more "pre-arranged" deals and that the international draft money pool is known in advance by each team.

This draft would also raise the draft eligibility age by a year. Players would have to be 18 by a certain date to be eligible for the draft, as opposed to 17 by a certain date to be signed, which is what the system is now.

There are, obviously, finer points to this. The trading of picks and how feasible that is is part of the discussion and proposal, but we're going to focus more on the nuts-and-bolts right now.

The first draft would happen in the fall of 2027 or early in 2028. The Mariners will not have gotten to sign De La Rosa, and likely won't have access to him in the draft when it arises. So, it would be a big loss for a Mariners team that has done quite well on the international circuit, signing the likes of Julio Rodriguez, Lazaro Montes and Michael Arroyo, just as examples.

Uniquely, if the International Draft and age restrictions are accepted, De La Rosa wouldn’t be eligible until a fall of 2028 draft because of his date of birth. That means that nobody would have the ability to draft him in fall of 2027 or early in 2028. He wouldn't be eligible until the second draft in this case.

Remember this: If the owners are proposing it, they see a cost benefit to them. Perhaps the draft slot values will be lower than the money they are spending currently, But also assuredly, by delaying players getting to affiliated ball by a year, they are presumably pushing back their big league arrivals by a year, which pushes back free agency by a year, and therefore reduces free agent dollars in the future.

The players, of course, will hate anything that hampers their earnings.

On the positive side, a draft system could reduce some of the corruption we see in Latin American scouting and player development.