MLB All-Star week schedule of events

Dodger Stadium is hosting the All-Star Game for the first time in 42 years, which means the next week or so in Los Angeles will be busy even though the Dodgers are playing on the road.

There’s ancillary stuff in and around Los Angeles, like Play Ball Park at LA Live and the Los Angeles Convention Center from Saturday through Tuesday, and All-Star Oceanfront at Santa Monica Pier from Friday to Sunday, but let’s look at the big-ticket baseball events, which begin in earnest over the weekend.

MLB Futures Game

Saturday, July 16
4 p.m. PT, Peacock

A gathering of top prospects from around baseball are split into National League and American League teams in a seven-inning game. Three premium Dodgers prospects will be on hand at Dodger Stadium — Miguel Vargas, Diego Cartaya, and pitcher Bobby Miller.

Mike Scioscia and Jimmy Rollins are managers for the Futures Game, and the coaching staffs are littered with several other former Dodgers, including Adrián Beltré, Shawn Green, Eric Davis, Ken Landreaux, Edwin Jackson, and Dan Haren.

Seems like a lost opportunity for a sport looking to market itself to put its national showcase of top prospects on a premium streaming network, all while a full major league schedule is being played, rather than utilize Wednesday’s off day after the All-Star Game to give the minor leaguers a night, and more eyeballs, to themselves.

MLB Draft

Rounds 1-2: Sunday, July 17, 4 p.m. (ESPN, MLB Network)
Rounds 3-10: Monday, July 18, 11 a.m. (MLB.com)
Rounds 11-20: Tuesday, July 19, 11 a.m. (MLB.com)

One of the most confounding things in MLB is how the powers that be decided to put the draft during All-Star week, making it extremely difficult for fans to follow multiple tentpole events that are now bunched together, and also managing to frustrate both MLB front offices and college baseball.

The first day of the draft, on Sunday, will be held at XBox Live in Los Angeles, encompassing every pick through the end of the second round. The Dodgers only pick once on Sunday, with their first-round pick dropping ten slots, to No. 40 overall for being in the highest tier of competitive balance tax last season, and forfeiting their second-round pick by signing Freddie Freeman as a free agent.

The Dodgers’ draft bonus pool, which includes the recommended slot values of every pick through the first 10 rounds, is $4.2 million.

All-Star press conference

Monday, July 18
11 a.m.

Managers Brian Snitker and Dusty Baker will reveal the starting pitchers for each league, as well as the lineups for Tuesday’s game. I haven’t seen particular television time blocked off for this, but would bet money it’s covered live by MLB Network, and at the very least will be streamed on MLB.com.

Home Run Derby

Monday, July 18
5 p.m., ESPN

The single-elimination bracket will feature eight players, with the bracket officially revealed this Thursday at 4 p.m. PT on ESPN. So far the only confirmed participant is Pete Alonso, who won the last two Home Run Derbies.

Other possibilities include Giancarlo Stanton, who played high school baseball locally at Notre Dame in Sherman Oaks, and possibly Dodgers catcher Will Smith, who per his own requirement would need to be added to the All-Star team first. Stanton is a veteran of three Home Run Derbies, winning in 2016.

MLB All-Star Game

Tuesday, July 19
4:30 p.m., Fox

The 92nd edition of the midsummer classic is back at Dodger Stadium for the first time since 1980. It’s the fourth time the Dodgers have hosted the All-Star Game, including 1949 at Ebbets Field in Brooklyn and 1959 at the Los Angeles Coliseum.

Four Dodgers made the National League All-Star team announced Sunday, including starters Mookie Betts and Trea Turner.

With Joe Davis moving into the No. 1 MLB slot for Fox, his first MLB All-Star Game call will come from his usual announcers’ booth.

“The World Series, of course, is the thing. But pretty quickly after that I started to think about the All-Star Game, being able to introduce the players, when your voice goes to the stadium for introductions, and I’m introducing the best baseball players in the world,” Davis told me in April. “And the fact that it’s at Dodger Stadium is kind of the cherry on top.”