Tomorrow is the first day of the 2009 Major League Baseball First Year Player Draft. An exciting time for baseball fans of all ages. This year's first round will be televised on the MLB network with much more fanfare than in previous years, and for us hard core baseball fans, it's about time. The Braves pick 7th, and should have their pick of any number of talented high school and college arms to choose from.
Here is a look back in links at Talking Chop's coverage of last year's draft:
We had four selections among the top-100 picks. This year we only have two (#7 and #87), our second round pick being forfeited to the Dodgers for the signing of Derek Lowe.
Recapping the Braves 2008 Draft: Day 1: The first day saw us take three high-upside high school arms with the first three picks. We also began another trend by selecting three JuCo players.
Recapping the Braves 2008 Draft: Day 2, Part 1: Lots of JuCo players from the drafts 7th through 15th rounds.
Recapping the Braves 2008 Draft: Day 2, Part 2: At picks 16 through 30 we took fliers on some top young kids from the south who had fallen from the first few rounds, and who we were ultimately unable to sign.
Recapping the Braves 2008 Draft: Day 2, Part 3: We ended up signing just one player from our picks 31 to 50, but keep an eye on this list. If history is any guide, the Braves like to reselect players they've selected in the past who didn't sign. (Craig Kimbrel was first selected by the Braves in the 2007 draft, but didn't sign, and Adam Milligan was selected in both 2006, 2007, and finally signed after being selected in 2008.).
The draft starts tomorrow night at 6pm ET with round one being simulcast on the MLB network and MLB.com. Beginning with the 33rd pick only the MLB.com coverage will be broadcast. The first day concludes with the end of the third round. Day 2, June 10th beginning at noon, will include the 4th through 30th rounds, and day 3, June 11th beginning at 11:30am, will finish out the draft with rounds 31 through 50. We'll have open threads for each day for you to discuss the picks, and I will have recaps of every selection later that day.