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The MLB Draft is later in the calendar than ever, moved to coincide with the All-Star break. About a month later than we’ve been used to seemingly forever, the first round has finally arrived.
Two television networks will provide coverage of the first round on Sunday, beginning at 4 p.m. PT on ESPN and MLB Network, as well as online streaming on the ESPN app and MLB.com. The first day of coverage includes the first round — with the Dodgers picking last at No. 29 overall — plus the compensatory round (only one pick, to the Reds, for last year’s National League Cy Young Award winner signing elsewhere) and competitive balance round A (six picks).
The block set aside for the draft runs until 7:30 p.m. PT, and there are four minutes in between every first-round selection, to give you an idea of when the Dodgers will make their pick.
On Sunday, ESPN’s draft coverage will be anchored by Karl Ravech along with analyst Kiley McDaniel. Eduardo Perez, Kyle Peterson, and Chris Burke will also be a part of the broadcast, while Jeff Passan and Jessica Mendoza will provide reports from the draft site in Colorado.
MLB Network’s coverage of the first round includes Greg Amsinger, Lauren Gardner, Dan O’Dowd, and Harold Reynolds, plus analysis from Carlos Collazo of Baseball America, and Jim Callis and Jonathan Mayo of MLB Pipeline, as well as Vanderbilt head coach Tim Corbin.
Several former players are among team representatives on site in Denver for the first round of the draft. Andre Ethier will represent the Dodgers.
Sunday brings us only the first round, but the draft still has two more days, with differing rules. The full schedule:
Sunday, 4 p.m. PT: Round 1 (ESPN, ESPN app, MLB Network, MLB.com)
Four minutes between picks 1-29
Two minutes between picks 30-36
Monday, 10 a.m.: Round 2 (MLB Network, MLB.com), Rounds 3-10 (MLB.com)
One minute in between picks
Tuesday, 9 a.m.: Rounds 11-20 (MLB.com)
No time between picks
MLB’s coverage on Monday has host Scott Braun with Callis and Mayo, with Tuesday’s online-only coverage having Callis and Mayo.
In the six previous years of the Andrew Friedman-led front office, the Dodgers had 10 first-round picks, counting compensatory selections. They’ve taken five pitchers and five position players with those picks. Two are current lineup regulars — Gavin Lux (No. 20 overall in 2016) and Will Smith (No. 32, 2016) — and another, Walker Buehler (No. 24, 2015), is the team’s ace.
The Dodgers have only picked 29th overall one other time in the draft. It was last year, when they selected right-handed pitcher Bobby Miller out of Louisville, who is currently pitching for High-A Great Lakes.
This year, the 29th overall pick has a recommended slot value of $2,424,600, part of the Dodgers’ total draft bonus pool just over $4.6 million.