2014 MLB Draft club reps include four Hall of Famers, 29 All-Stars

Four Hall of Famers, four Cy Young Award winners, two Most Valuable Players, one World Series-winning manager and 29 All-Stars are among the baseball legends scheduled to represent the 30 Clubs at Major League Baseball's 2014 Draft, it was announced today.

            Hall of Famers Andre Dawson, Ferguson Jenkins, Tommy Lasorda and Tony Perez headline a decorated group of baseball personnel that is scheduled to attend the 2014 Draft on Thursday, June 5^th at MLB Network's Studio 42 in Secaucus, New Jersey. Jenkins, the 1971 N.L. Cy Young Award winner, and Dawson, the 1987 N.L. Most Valuable Player, will be joined by fellow BBWAA award winners Randy Jones (1976 N.L. Cy Young), Frank Viola (1988 A.L. Cy Young), Chris Carpenter (2005 N.L. Cy Young) and Ivan Rodriguez (1999 A.L. Most Valuable Player). Arizona Diamondbacks executive Roland Hemond, who was the 2011 recipient of the Buck O'Neil Lifetime Achievement Award presented by the National Baseball Hall of Fame, will also be among the scheduled representatives.

            Other former All-Stars who will represent the Clubs are (alphabetically): Bob Boone (WSH), Eric Davis (CIN), Ray Fosse (OAK), Ryan Franklin (STL), Ralph Garr (ATL), Luis Gonzalez (ARI), Bryan Harvey (LAA), Brad Hawpe (COL), Livan Hernandez (WSH), Charlie Hough (LAD), Chet Lemon (DET), Jeffrey Leonard (SF), Derek Lowe (BOS), Gary Matthews (PHI), Carlos May (CWS), Charles Nagy (CLE), Jeff Nelson (NYY), Paul Quantrill (TOR), Jim Sundberg (TEX), Greg Vaughn (MIL), Jack Wilson (PIT) and Willie Wilson (KC). (A complete list of the Club representatives who are scheduled to attend the 2014 MLB First-Year Player Draft accompanies this press release.)

            Amateur players who will attend MLB's 2014 Draft will be announced in the weeks ahead.

The Draft will begin live on MLB Network and MLB.com on Thursday, June 5^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 First-Year Player Draft is determined by the reverse order of finish at the close of the previous championship season. The Houston Astros will have the first overall selection of the 2014 Draft, marking the third consecutive year, and the fifth time in Club history, that they hold the top selection (previous: 1976, 1992, 2012, 2013). It marks the first time ever that a Club has the top pick in a third consecutive year. In addition, the Astros are the third Club in history to hold the top selection at least five times, joining the New York Mets and San Diego Padres (five each). Six Clubs - the Toronto Blue Jays (9^th and 11^th), the Kansas City Royals (17^th and 28^th), the Cincinnati Reds (19^th and 29^th), the Cleveland Indians (21^st and 31^st), the Boston Red Sox (26^th and 33^rd) and the St. Louis Cardinals (27^th and 34^th) - have two selections in the first round. The Indians, Miami Marlins and Royals each have a League-high four selections within the first 68 picks during the opening day of the Draft.

The Draft will once again feature Competitive Balance rounds, which were agreed upon as a part of the 2012-2016 Basic Agreement between MLB and the Major League Baseball Players Association. The Competitive Balance rounds give Clubs with the lowest revenues and in the smallest markets the opportunity to obtain additional draft picks through a lottery, which was held last July. The 10 Clubs with the lowest revenues and the 10 Clubs in the smallest markets were entered into a lottery for the six selections immediately following the first round of the First-Year Player Draft (picks 35-41; excluding pick 36, which Miami holds as compensation for an unsigned 2013 selection). The eligible Clubs that did not receive one of the six selections after the first round, and all other payee Clubs under the Revenue Sharing Plan, were entered into a second lottery for the six picks immediately following the second round of the Draft (picks 69-74).

            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. Like each of the previous five years, the 2014 Draft will span three days. For day one on June 5^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. The intervals between selections will last four and a half minutes during the first round and one minute during Competitive Balance Round A, the second round and Competitive Balance Round B. The Draft will resume at 1:05 p.m. (ET) on both Friday, June 6^th and Saturday, June 7^th via conference call from MLB headquarters in New York City. Friday, June 6^th will cover rounds three through 10, and Saturday, June 7^th will cover rounds 11 through 40. Rounds three through 10 will have one minute between selections, and the remainder of the selections will be made without delays.

Beginning with the Draft preview show, 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, John Hart, Harold Reynolds and MLB.com's Jonathan Mayo will anchor the live coverage with contributions from MLB Network's Cliff Floyd, Dan Plesac, Bill Ripken, Sam Ryan, Tom Verducci, Heidi Watney and Matt Yallof, as well as Jim Callis of MLB.com and John Manuel of Baseball America.

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 6^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 2014 MLB First-Year Player 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. 

2014 FIRST-YEAR PLAYER DRAFT CLUB REPRESENTATIVES

Thursday, June 5^th * 7:00 p.m. (ET) * Draft Preview Show at 6:00 p.m. (ET)

List of club representatives is tentative and subject to change.