The Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) has begun accepting applications for the 2027 KBO Rookie Draft, scheduled for September 21, for overseas amateur and professional players, as well as those who have dropped out of school.

The application period runs from today, July 6, to August 7, and candidates can apply through the KBO Rookie Registration System.

Applicants must, in principle, hold South Korean citizenship.

While players who were already eligible for the draft at the time of their high school or university graduation are generally not permitted to apply, they may do so if they meet one of the following four special conditions.

However, those who have previously participated in a KBO draft under the same eligibility criteria are not eligible to apply again.

The four eligible categories are: ▲ Players who attended middle school or higher in Korea and signed with a foreign professional team without passing through the KBO League (provided the contract ended before January 31, 2025); ▲ Players from overseas schools or professional leagues who have never been registered in the Korean professional baseball league; ▲ Players who have a history of being registered as baseball team members with the Korea Baseball Softball Association but dropped out of high school or university; and ▲ Players who were not part of elite baseball programs but have played at least one game in the past year for an independent league or Futures League team recognized by the KBO (provided they are graduates or expected graduates of high school or university).

For players who dropped out of school, they may only apply for the draft after their original expected year of graduation has passed.

If they enlisted in the military before that time, they become eligible two years after their original expected year of graduation.

Players wishing to participate must register on the KBO player registration website (draft.koreabaseball.com), complete the online application, and send the required original documents by mail to the KBO Operations Team.

Only mail postmarked by August 7 will be accepted.

The KBO plans to hold a tryout for players who pass the document review on September 1.

The time and location of the tryout will be announced individually to the successful applicants at a later date.

(Photo: Yonhap News)