Major League Baseball announced today that 23 of the top amateur draft-eligible players will be featured during the broadcast of the 2020 MLB Draft presented by T-Mobile. MLB Network and ESPN will each produce live coverage of the Draft’s opening night on Wednesday, June 10th, marking the first time that multiple networks will provide live primetime coverage of the MLB Draft. In addition, ESPN Deportes will exclusively televise day one of the 2020 MLB Draft in Spanish from 7:00-10:30 p.m. (ET) on June 10th. Beginning at 7:00 p.m. (ET), the coverage by both MLB Network and ESPN will include the first round (selections 1-29) and Competitive Balance Round A (selections 30-37).
The 23 players, who will each be equipped with T-Mobile phones, include 12 of the top 13 Draft prospects as ranked by MLB.com. In addition, the pool of players features 15 players from the college ranks and eight high schoolers. Included in the 23 players are nine pitchers, six outfielders, four infielders, three catchers and one infielder/outfielder. The full list of players to be featured remotely on MLB Network’s and ESPN’s live draft broadcast can be found below.
In addition to the draft-eligible players, a top Baseball Operations representative from each of the 30 Major League Clubs will also appear remotely from their respective locations. A full list of those executives is also below.
Beginning at 5:00 p.m. (ET) on Thursday, June 11th, MLB Network and ESPN2 will televise the second round (beginning with the 38th overall selection) through the fifth round. The five rounds of the 2020 MLB Draft will span 160 total selections. The signing deadline for the 2020 Draft has been moved from July 10th to August 1st. In addition, Clubs may not assign their Competitive Balance Selections in this year’s event.
ESPN2 provided afternoon broadcasts of the 2007 and 2008 MLB Drafts from HP Field House (then known as the Milk House) at The ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex in Orlando, Florida. Each year since its 2009 debut, MLB Network has brought the Draft to fans from its Secaucus, New Jersey studios.
Comprehensive Draft coverage will be available on MLB.com and MLB Pipeline. The MLB Network Radio channel on SiriusXM will also offer live night one MLB Draft coverage to listeners nationwide beginning at 6:00 p.m. (ET), with SiriusXM hosts and former MLB general managers Jim Duquette and Jim Bowden offering analysis alongside SiriusXM’s Grant Paulsen and Mike Ferrin. On day two, June 11th, the MLB Network Radio channel will carry a simulcast of MLB Network’s live draft coverage beginning at 5:00 p.m. (ET). Coverage is available on Sirius channel 209, XM channel 89 and on the SiriusXM app.