MLB.com has always been the first place for First-Year Player Draft fans. While that hasn't changed, a new era in Draft coverage will be ushered in on Thursday.
The Draft joins the television age when ESPN2 airs the first round for the first time on Thursday. The network's coverage will span four hours from The Milk House at Disney's Wide World of Sports Complex in Orlando, Fla.
That, of course, is just the beginning of the Draft coverage, and MLB.com will cover every pick for the remainder of the two-day event. There will be live multimedia coverage on both days -- in Orlando and MLB.com's New York studios -- on BaseballChannel.TV. In addition, fans can get live interactive pick-by-pick results via the exclusive Draft Tracker. With reporting on all 30 teams, plus national stories and analysis, MLB.com is still the one-stop shopping site for all your Draft needs.
ESPN2's broadcast kicks it all off at 2 p.m. ET and will air each club's first-round choice, with a maximum of five minutes between selections. The telecast will continue as the Draft is ongoing until 6 p.m. Each Major League organization is sending representatives to make the selection official on the broadcast. Hall of Famers Robin Roberts (Philadelphia Phillies), Tommy Lasorda (Los Angeles Dodgers) and Dave Winfield (San Diego Padres) are among the big names who will be in Orlando on Thursday.
"Major League Baseball is delighted that ESPN2 will provide live coverage of our Draft," said Commissioner Bud Selig. "I am glad that this agreement will give fans access to see this critical function of an organization's development. This is an idea whose time has come."
Once ESPN2's coverage ends, MLB.com takes over. At 6:15 p.m., BaseballChannel.TV will have every pick of rounds No. 2-5 and beyond if Major League Baseball goes past five rounds on the first day. No round will begin past 8:30 p.m. ET, and BaseballChannel.TV's coverage will end with the conclusion of the first day. Casey Stern hosts the action with analysts Jonathan Mayo from MLB.com and David Rawnsley from Perfect Game USA. As always, every pick of every round can be heard live exclusively on MLB.com
Day 2 coverage starts up at 11:30 a.m. from New York. Mayo and Perfect Game USA's Allan Simpson will be providing regular updates throughout the day during BaseballChannel.TV's regular programming. In addition, Mayo, Simpson and Seth Everett will do a one-hour show from 2-3 p.m. At 6 p.m., Vinny Micucci will host a one-hour show, again with Mayo and Simpson providing in-depth analysis.
While waiting for the big day, do your homework and check out the 2007 Draft section. From a breakdown of Draft prospects by position to a first-person journal from the presumed No. 1 pick to a number of features on first-round possibles to previews on all 30 teams' Draft philosophies, there's everything you'll need to be ready for when the first pick is announced on Thursday.