It’s definitely the least of the major sports drafts when compared to the NFL or the NBA, but the 2011 Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft has been garnering more attention than ever, a sign that even baseball fans are wanting to know as much as possible about the future of their team.
This year, Pittsburgh Pirates fans have to be excited gaining the No. 1 overall selection and sitting around .500 at the major league level, a sign that things might finally be getting better. The Kansas City Royals sit at No. 5 and then have to wait until No. 65, so the pressure is on Dayton Moore to deliver a sure thing with that first selection. Then again, there’s not nearly as much pressure as years past given the current state of the farm system.
This year, the MLB Network will playing the first round in its entirety, kicking things off on Monday at 6:00pm ET with a live preview, followed by the entire first round and sandwich round between rounds 1 and 2 for all compensation selections. Tuesday continues the coverage online at MLB.com for a live stream of rounds 2-30. Rounds 31-50 wrap up on Wednesday, again starting at noon with the live stream from MLB.com.
Also make sure to check out MLB Bonus Baby for more MLB Draft coverage.