Landon King, the No. 3-ranked high school prospect in the Class of 2028, is spending his summer competing against the country's best young baseball players.

Whether he'll get the chance to go pro straight out of high school is now an open question.

King, a San Mateo native and shortstop at St. Francis-Mountain View, is in Cary, North Carolina, for the USA Baseball 18U National Team Development Program, which began Monday, July 27. He's one of 88 players selected for the annual camp, ranked third nationally by Baseball America, and squarely in the crosshairs of a proposed MLB rule change that would bar high schoolers from the draft starting in 2028, the year he graduates.

"I hope it doesn't go through," King told the San Mateo Daily Journal. "I don't think it's a good rule to put in place for a lot of different reasons."

MLB owners announced the proposal on Thursday, June 18, as part of a broader overhaul ahead of the current collective bargaining agreement's expiration in December. Under the plan, domestic draftees would need to be at least 20 years old and two years removed from high school graduation. The draft would shrink from 20 rounds to 12, and the signing bonus pool would drop from $358.7 million to $200 million with hard-slot amounts, according to The Athletic.

The stakes are real. In the 2026 MLB Draft, 13 of 37 first-round picks came out of high school, according to ESPN.

The MLBPA fired back on June 18, calling the owners' proposals damaging to the next generation of players. On Tuesday, July 21, the union made a counter-proposal to preserve draft eligibility for high school and junior college players and maintain the 20-round format.

King said the topic hasn't dominated conversation at the USA Baseball camp. He noted that because the rule hasn't been passed, players aren't too concerned yet, but added that if it does go through, it will change a lot of things for a lot of people there.

The sophomore's numbers back up his ranking. King slashed .344/.454/.522 this spring, earning first-team All-WCAL honors and All-Metro Honorable Mention from the San Francisco Chronicle. On his varsity debut, Feb. 25, 2025, he hit a solo home run in his third at-bat in the Lancers' 5-4 win over Leigh-San Jose.

King played four years for the San Mateo American Little League All-Stars under manager Paul Witten, who also coached him with the West Coast Federals travel team. Witten told the Daily Journal that King is a grinder and the total package, as talented overall as anyone out there.

In 2025, King played for the USA Baseball 15U National Team that won gold at the Pan American Championship in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico. He's also been named to his first Area Code Games roster, selected for the Underclass showcase alongside Serra's Michael Ohman.

Ohman, an incoming sophomore at Serra, said he disagrees with the proposed rule, arguing that if a player is good enough to play in the majors, he should be eligible to get drafted.

King can begin negotiating with colleges on Saturday, August 1, when the NCAA contact period opens for his class. A lockout is expected in December when the CBA expires, and the 2028 draft rules remain unresolved until a new agreement is reached.