The 2011 MLB Draft is just a few hours away and teams are making their final preparations ahead of Monday night's first and second rounds. The draft is a three-day event this year, with two rounds set to take place on the first day and the other 48 set for Tuesday and Wednesday. Like the NFL, baseball has decided to put its first round in prime-time, stretching it out to accommodate all the analysis one can handle.
With time winding down to the start of the MLB Draft, here's a quick primer.
Start time: The 2011 MLB Draft gets underway at 4:00 p.m. PDT, or 7 p.m. on the East Coast. The draft will be coming to you live from the MLB Network studios in New Jersey.
Live coverage: The broadcast can be found on MLB Network, with pre-draft coverage set to begin at 3 p.m. PDT. The crew switches from previews to the real thing at 4 p.m. and will be providing pick-by-pick analysis live as it happens in New Jersey. For those without MLB Network, a live-stream will be available on MLB.com.
Draft order: Monday will be a quick day for the Seattle Mariners. The Pittsburgh Pirates have the No. 1 pick, and will likely snatch UCLA pitcher Gerrit Cole off the board. The Mariners pick second, and have a bevy of options, some of which are detailed here. Monday's order of picks can be found here, including the reasons for compensatory picks, be it failure to sign 2010 MLB Draft picks or the loss of Type A free agents. The draft order is concrete; teams cannot trade picks or players as they can in the NBA and NFL drafts.
Draft coverage: You can find all of our 2011 MLB Draft coverage in this StoryStream. Most 2011 MLB mock drafts have the Mariners taking Anthony Rendon, though the team has done its due-diligence in recent weeks. You'll also hear plenty of buzzwords and snap evaluations, which we covered here.
We'll be tracking the projections and handing out information about the day's events in our 2011 MLB Draft . StoryStream. For a local look at what the Mariners are planning, head over to SB Nation's Lookout Landing.