Former reliever Wheeler to represent Rays at Draft

ST. PETERSBURG -- Dan Wheeler will represent the Rays at Major League Baseball's 2014 First-Year Player Draft, it was announced Wednesday.

The 2014 Draft will take place on June 5-7, beginning with the Draft preview show on MLB.com and MLB Network on Thursday, June 5, at 6 p.m. ET. Live Draft coverage from MLB Network's Studio 42 begins at 7 p.m., with the top 74 picks being streamed on MLB.com and broadcast on MLB Network. MLB.com's exclusive coverage of the second and third days will begin with a live Draft show at 12:30 p.m. ET on June 6.

MLB.com's coverage includes Draft Central, the Top 100 Draft Prospects list and Draft Tracker, a live interactive application that includes a searchable database of Draft-eligible players. Every selection will be tweeted live from @MLBDraftTracker, and you can also keep up to date by following @MLBDraft. And get into the Draft conversation by tagging your tweets with #mlbdraft.

Wheeler played a combined seven seasons over two different stints with Tampa Bay, both as the Devil Rays and the Rays. In 258 appearances, the right-hander went 13-25 with a 4.32 ERA. He remains the team's career leader with 250 relief appearances. Current Rays reliever Joel Peralta entered Wednesday night's action three appearances shy of Wheeler's mark.

Rays manager Joe Maddon has often cited Wheeler's contribution for helping the franchise to a winning record in 2008, its first season as the Rays. Wheeler's last season in the Major Leagues came in 2012 with the Indians. Now retired, he lives in the Tampa Bay area.

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.

The Rays will have three selections on the first day of the Draft with the Nos. 20, 60 and 72 picks.