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 With Tuesday’s First-Year Player Draft fast approaching (coverage begins 6:00 p.m. EDT on MLB Network), a few changes are in place, and as always, some questions about how the process functions. Here are some details.
The 2009 First-Year Player Draft will expand from two days to three days, with the final two days being conducted via conference call from MLB headquarters in New York City. The first day will consist of the first 111 picks, including Round One, Compensation Round A, Round Two, Round Three and Compensation Round B. There will be four minutes between first round picks and one minute between all other selections. On Wednesday, June 10th, the Draft will resume in the fourth round at 12:00 p.m. (EDT) and will be tentatively scheduled to go through the 30th round. The Draft will conclude on Thursday, June 11th, which is set to cover the 31st-50th rounds, beginning at 11:30 a.m. (EDT). MLB Network will broadcast the selections made in the first round live. Beginning with the compensation round (the 33rd overall pick), MLB.com will air a live video stream from Studio 42 for the remainder of the day's selections. MLB Tonight also will provide coverage and analysis as the Draft continues to unfold. Beginning the following day, MLB.com will offer live programming of the Draft's final two days. The selection order of the First-Year Player Draft is determined by the reverse order of finish at the close of the previous championship season. The Washington Nationals will have the first selection of the 2009 Draft. Compensation picks have been assigned to Clubs whose Type A or Type B free agents signed with other Clubs and/or to Clubs who did not sign a player who was chosen in the first three rounds of the 2008 First-Year Player Draft. Five clubs will have a pair of first round choices: the Nationals (first and 10th); the Seattle Mariners (second and 27th); the Colorado Rockies (11th and 32nd); the Arizona Diamondbacks (16th and 17th); and the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim (24th and 25th). The Draft will have 50 rounds and will conclude after all 30 teams have passed on a selection or after the final selection of the 50th round, whichever comes first. Who will be the first pick? It seems a safe bet that San Diego State pitching phenom Stephen Strasburg will be selected by the Nationals. The question is, will he be signed? Strasburg is represented by Scott Boras who is reportedly looking for a 6-year deal in the neighborhood of $25M-$50M. The Nationals are under pressure to make the signing due to serious pitching staff weakness, but also due to the fact that the club failed to sign their first pick last year in pitcher Aaron Crow. Select Read More to see the 20 players that went straight into the majors after being signed, as well as the fastest from their Draft class to reach MLB (2002-2006)
| PLAYERS GOING DIRECTLY TO THE MAJOR LEAGUES (20) | | | | DRAFT YEAR | PLAYER, POSITION, SCHOOL | SELECTING CLUB (PICK) | | June 1967 (S) | Mike Adamson, RHP, University of South Carolina | Baltimore (1) | | June 1969 (R) | Steve Dunning, RHP, Stanford University | Cleveland (2) | | June 1971 (S) | Pete Broberg, RHP, Dartmouth College | Washington (1) | | | Rob Ellis, INF, Michigan State University | Milwaukee (1) | | | Burt Hooton, RHP, University of Texas | Chicago (NL) (2) | | June 1972 (R) | Dave Roberts, INF, University of Oregon | San Diego (1) | | January 1973 (S) | Dick Ruthven, RHP, Fresno State University | Philadelphia (1) | | June 1973 (R) | David Clyde, LHP, Westchester HS, Houston, TX | Texas (1) | | | Dave Winfield, OF, University of Minnesota | San Diego (4) | | | Eddie Bane, LHP, Arizona State University | Minnesota (11) | | June 1978 (R) | Tim Conroy, RHP, Gateway HS, Monroeville, PA | Oakland (20) | | | Bob Horner, INF, Arizona State University | Atlanta (1) | | | Brian Milner, C, Southwest HS, Ft. Worth, TX | Toronto (7) | | | Mike Morgan, RHP, Valley HS, Las Vegas, NV | Oakland (4) | | June 1985 (R) | Pete Incaviglia, OF, Oklahoma State University | Montreal (8) | | June 1988 (R) | Jim Abbott, LHP, University of Michigan | California (8) | | June 1989 (R) | John Olerud, INF, Washington State University | Toronto (79) | | June 1993 (R) | Darren Dreifort, RHP, Wichita State University | Los Angeles (2) | | June 1995 (R) | Ariel Prieto, RHP, Fajardo University (Cuba) | Oakland (5) | | June 2000 (R) | Xavier Nady, INF, University of California | San Diego (49) | | | | (R) Regular Phase; (S) Secondary Phase |
| FASTEST FROM THEIR DRAFT CLASS TO REACH THE MAJOR LEAGUES, 2002-06 | | | | YEAR | PLAYER | ML DEBUT | | 2001 | Mark Prior, RHP, CHI (NL) | May 22, 2002 | | 2002 | Kevin Correia, RHP, SF | July 10, 2003 | | | Khalil Greene, SS, SD | Sept. 3, 2003 | | 2003 | Ryan Wagner, RHP, CIN | July 19, 2003 | | | Chad Cordero, RHP, MON | Aug. 30, 2003 | | | Rickie Weeks, 2B, MIL | Sept. 15, 2003 | | 2004 | Huston Street, RHP, OAK | Apr. 6, 2005 | | | Cla Meredith, RHP, BOS | May 8, 2005 | | 2005 | Joey Devine, RHP, ATL | Aug. 20, 2005 | | | Ryan Zimmerman, 3B, WSH | Sept. 1, 2005 | | | Craig Hansen, RHP, BOS | Sept. 19, 2005 | | 2006 | Andrew Miller, LHP, DET | Aug. 30, 2006 | | | Joe Smith, RHP, NYM | Apr. 2, 2007 | | | Brandon Morrow, RHP, SEA | Apr. 3, 2007 | | 2007 | Ross Detwiler, LHP, WSH | Sept. 7, 2007 | | | Eddie Kunz, RHP, NYM | Aug. 3, 2008 | | | David Price, LHP, TB | Sept. 14, 2008 | | 2008 | Conor Gillaspie, 3B, SF | Sept. 9, 2008 | | | Ryan Perry, RHP, DET | Apr. 8, 2009 | | | | Bold indicates player reaching the Major Leagues in the same year as being drafted. |
Source: Major League Baseball
 Maury Brown is the Founder and President of the Business of Sports Network, which includes The Biz of Baseball, The Biz of Football, The Biz of Basketball and The Biz of Hockey. He is contributor to Baseball Prospectus, and is available as a freelance writer. Brown's full bio is here. He looks forward to your comments via email and can be contacted through the Business of Sports Network.
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