MLB draft starts today....

and some of these folks will be playing at Dodd in the next couple of months. This from today's New York Times:

June 6, 2010, 6:28 pm MLB Network Expands Coverage of Draft


By RICHARD SANDOMIR

"A year ago, the MLB Network carried its first amateur draft, in which Stephen Strasburg was the No. 1 overall pick by the Washington Nationals. For its second go-round with the draft Monday, the network has made a few changes.

An hourlong pregame show will start at 6 p.m. Eastern, followed by the draft at 7, with the first pick at 7:15. The Nationals are expected to take Bryce Harper, a 17-year-old catcher from the College of Southern Nevada, with that pick.

Also, in addition to the first round, the compensation round has been added to the broadcast.

Tony Petitti, the network’s president, said the draft was a distinctive event even if the N.F.L. and N.B.A. drafts were bigger attractions. Those drafts are aided by the renown of college players benefiting from major television exposure.

Petitti added that the amateur draft was what a network devoted full-time to a single sport should be showing. “We’re trying to be a wraparound network and bring fans a little something different,” he said.

Coverage of the draft, which will be carried from Studio 42 at the network’s headquarters in Secaucus, N.J., will include greater use of the team executives and former players than it did last year. Some draftees are expected to be in the studio. Cameras will provide remote coverage of 22 teams’ war rooms, Petitti said.

In the first round, Commissioner Bud Selig will announce the picks, but team representatives will announce the selections in the compensation round. Those team representatives are expected to include Jim Rice for the Red Sox, Billy Williams for the Chicago Cubs, Roy White for the Yankees and Roberto Alomar for the Blue Jays.

The network will follow Monday’s draft with Strasburg’s first major league start Tuesday night against Pittsburgh at 7 p.m. Nationals Park. Bob Costas, Jim Kaat and John Smoltz will call the game."

I suspect Steve Hamel of the Connecticut Tigers Den will have some insight into the draft this week also.