List of first overall Major League Baseball draft picks
The First-Year Player Draft, also known as the Rule 4 Draft, is Major League Baseball's (MLB) primary mechanism for assigning amateur baseball players from high schools, colleges, and other amateur baseball clubs to its teams. Unlike most professional sports, MLB does not permit the trading of draft picks,[1] so the draft order is solely determined by the previous season's standings; the team that possesses the worst record receives the first pick.[2] If two teams have identical records, the team with the worse record in the previous season will receive the higher pick.[2] In addition, teams that lost free agents in the previous off-season may be awarded "compensatory" picks.[2] The first draft took place in 1965; it was introduced to prevent richer teams from negotiating wealthier contracts with top-level prospects and therefore, monopolizing the player market.[3] Originally, three drafts were held each year. The first draft took place in June and involved high-school graduates and college seniors who had just finished their seasons. The second draft took place in January for high school and college players who had graduated in December. The third draft took place in August and was for players who participated in American amateur summer leagues.[4] The August draft was eliminated after two years, and the January draft lasted until 1986.[5]
In 1965, Rick Monday became MLB's first draft pick after being selected by the Kansas City Athletics. Dansby Swanson is the most recent first overall pick; he was drafted by the Arizona Diamondbacks in 2015. Overall, 23 of the 50 picks have participated in the All-Star Game, and three (Bob Horner, Darryl Strawberry, and Bryce Harper) have won the Rookie of the Year Award. Twenty-five of the fifty picks have been drafted from high schools, one has been drafted out of the Independent American Association, and the others were drafted from universities. To date, Arizona State University and Vanderbilt University are the only schools from which multiple number-one overall draft picks have been chosen. No first overall pick was inducted into the Major League Baseball Hall of Fame until 2016, when Ken Griffey, Jr. was inducted with a record 99.3% of votes cast.[6]
In the 49 drafts that have taken place through 2013, 22 of the 30 MLB franchises have had the first pick at least once. The Toronto Blue Jays, St. Louis Cardinals, Los Angeles Dodgers, San Francisco Giants, Cleveland Indians, Cincinnati Reds, Boston Red Sox, and Colorado Rockies have never had the first pick. The Montreal Expos never had the first pick, but the Nationals have had it twice. The Oakland Athletics have never had the first pick, but the Kansas City Athletics had the very first pick in MLB Draft history. The New York Mets, San Diego Padres have each had the first pick 5 times, and the Astros, Seattle Mariners, Pittsburgh Pirates, and Tampa Bay Rays have each had the first pick four times.
Contents
Key
 |
Member of the National Baseball Hall of Fame |
|---|---|
| * | All-Star |
| ៛ | Rookie of the Year and All-Star |
| # | Retired without playing a game in MLB |
| ° | Player did not sign |
| italics | Active player |
Draft
By Franchise
| Franchise | Total Picks | Most Recent Year |
|---|---|---|
| Arizona Diamondbacks | 2 | 2015 |
| Atlanta Braves | 2 | 1990 |
| Baltimore Orioles | 1 | 1989 |
| Boston Red Sox | 0 | — |
| Chicago Cubs | 1 | 1982 |
| Chicago White Sox | 2 | 1977 |
| Cincinnati Reds | 0 | — |
| Cleveland Indians | 0 | — |
| Colorado Rockies | 0 | — |
| Detroit Tigers | 1 | 1997 |
| Houston Astros | 5 | 2014 |
| Kansas City Royals | 1 | 2006 |
| Los Angeles Dodgers | 0 | — |
| Los Angeles Angels | 2 | 1995 |
| Miami Marlins | 1 | 2000 |
| Milwaukee Brewers | 1 | 1985 |
| Minnesota Twins | 2 | 2001 |
| New York Mets | 5 | 1994 |
| New York Yankees | 2 | 1991 |
| Oakland Athletics | 1 | 1965 |
| Philadelphia Phillies | 1 | 1998 |
| Pittsburgh Pirates | 4 | 2011 |
| San Diego Padres | 5 | 2004 |
| San Francisco Giants | 0 | — |
| Seattle Mariners | 4 | 1993 |
| St. Louis Cardinals | 0 | — |
| Tampa Bay Rays | 4 | 2008 |
| Texas Rangers | 2 | 1973 |
| Toronto Blue Jays | 0 | — |
| Washington Nationals | 2 | 2010 |
Footnotes
a Goodwin chose to attend university instead of signing with the Chicago White Sox, and re-entered the draft once he graduated in 1975.[7]
b Wilson has not officially retired, but last played in the Golden Baseball League before being released in June 2008.[8]
c Hochevar played college baseball for the University of Tennessee, and was originally drafted by the Los Angeles Dodgers in 2005, but did not agree a contract. He re-entered the draft in 2006 after spending the previous year with the independent Fort Worth Cats.
References
- General
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- Specific
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