Griffey Jr., Five Hall of Famers Headline 2015 MLB Draft Club Representatives

Five Hall of Famers, four Most Valuable Players, one World Series-winning manager, 23 All-Stars and two former number one overall selections are among the baseball legends scheduled to represent the 30 Clubs at Major League Baseball's 2015 Draft, it was announced today.

Ken Griffey Jr., the number one overall selection in the 1987 MLB Draft and the 1997 American League Most Valuable Player, will join Hall of Famers Andre Dawson (1987 NL MVP), Reggie Jackson (1973 AL MVP), Tommy Lasorda, Mike Schmidt (1980-81, 1986 NL MVP) and Tony Perez in headlining an outstanding group of baseball personnel that is scheduled to attend the 2015 Draft on Monday, June 8^th at MLB Network's Studio 42 in Secaucus, New Jersey.

Joining Griffey as former top overall selections at this year's 50^th Anniversary celebration of the Draft is Baltimore Orioles representative B.J. Surhoff, who was selected by the Milwaukee Brewers with the number one pick in the 1985 Draft.

Other former All-Stars who will represent the Clubs are (alphabetically): Rick Aguilera (MIN), Bob Boone (WSH), Johnny Damon (KC), Ryan Dempster (CHI), Gary DiSarcina (LAA), Steve Finley (SD), Ryan Franklin (STL), Ralph Garr (ATL), Luis Gonzalez (ARI), J.J. Putz (ARI), Ben Sheets (MIL), Lee Smith (SF), Mario Soto (CIN), Robby Thompson (CLE), Alan Trammell (DET), Tim Wakefield (BOS) and Jack Wilson (PIT). (A complete list of the Club representatives who are scheduled to attend the 2015 MLB Draft accompanies this press release.)

Amateur players who will attend MLB's 2015 Draft will be forthcoming.

The Draft will begin live on MLB Network and MLB.com on Monday, June 8^th at 7:00 p.m. (ET). Prior to the start of the Draft, MLB Network will air a Draft preview show, also simulcast on MLB.com, at 6:00 p.m. (ET).

The selection order of the Draft is determined by the reverse order of finish at the close of the previous championship season. The Arizona Diamondbacks will have the first overall selection of the 2015 Draft, marking the second time in Club history that they hold the top selection. The D-backs also held the first overall pick in 2005, when they selected All-Star outfielder Justin Upton. Ten Clubs - the Houston Astros (2^nd and 5^th), the Colorado Rockies (3^rd and 27^th), the Atlanta Braves (14^th and 28^th), the New York Yankees (16^th and 30^th), the San Francisco Giants (18^th and 31^st), the Pittsburgh Pirates (19^th and 32^nd), the Kansas City Royals (21^st and 33^rd), the Detroit Tigers (22^nd and 34^th), the Los Angeles Dodgers (24 ^th and 35^th) and the Baltimore Orioles (25^th and 36^th) - have two selections in the first round. The Braves have a Major League-high five selections within the first 75 picks during the opening day of the Draft.

The Draft will have 40 rounds, and a Club may pass on its selection in any round and not forfeit its right to participate in other rounds. The 2015 Draft will span three days as it has since 2009. For day one on June 8^th, MLB Network and MLB.com will provide live pick-by-pick coverage during the first round, Competitive Balance Round A, the second round and Competitive Balance Round B. For the first time, a flexible time interval will be used during round one. The intervals between selections during round one will last between three-and-a-half to four-and-a-half minutes. There will be one-minute intervals between selections during Competitive Balance Round A, the second round and Competitive Balance Round B. The Draft will resume at 1:00 p.m. (ET) on Tuesday, June 9^th, when selections will be made for rounds 3-10, with one minute intervals between selections. Day three of the Draft on Wednesday, June 10^th will begin at 12:00 p.m. (ET), featuring picks in rounds 11-40, with no time delay between selections.

Beginning with the Draft preview show at 6:00 p.m. ET, MLB Network's live coverage will feature news, analysis, interviews with Club front office personnel and representatives, footage from Club draft rooms, and features and interviews with prospects and newly drafted players. MLB Network's Greg Amsinger, Peter Gammons, Dan O'Dowd, Harold Reynolds and MLB.com's Jonathan Mayo will anchor the live coverage with contributions from MLB Network's Scott Braun, Darryl Hamilton, Al Leiter, Pedro Martinez, Dan Plesac, Bill Ripken, Sam Ryan, John Smoltz, Tom Verducci and Matt Yallof, as well as Jim Callis of MLB.com and John Manuel of Baseball America. As part of the 50^th Anniversary celebration, MLB Network will air a feature on Rick Monday during the Draft preview show. Monday was the first overall selection in the inaugural MLB Draft in 1965, which ironically was also held on June 8^th.

MLB.com will begin its exclusive live programming of the Draft's final two days with a live draft show from its New York studios at 12:30 p.m. (ET) on June 9^th, followed by a live pick-by-pick stream and draft and scouting expert commentary from Mayo and Callis. It also will provide Draft Tracker, a live interactive application that includes a searchable database of more than 1,500 draft-eligible players with statistics, scouting reports and video highlights. On Twitter, the official Draft Twitter account, @MLBDraft, will provide up-to-the-moment updates and commentary while @MLBDraftTracker will tweet all picks as they are made.

The MLB Network Radio channel on SiriusXM will also offer live MLB Draft coverage to listeners nationwide. SiriusXM's Grant Paulsen and former MLB general managers Jim Duquette and Jim Bowden will host Monday, June 8^th starting at 6:00 pm ET and will provide live pick by pick analysis throughout the first round on Sirius channel 209, XM channel 89 and on the SiriusXM App.

The 2015 MLB Draft is supported by T-Mobile, the official wireless telecommunications sponsor of Major League Baseball, and The Topps Company, the exclusive trading card licensee of Major League Baseball.