With that pesky NFL draft over and out of the way, it's time to focus on Major League Baseball's draft. While draftees from the MLB draft don't have the immediate impact of draftees from the NFL, or almost any other sport for that matter, it is just as important for a team when building the future success of an organization.

We'll start with the easiest question: When? This year's draft will start on Tuesday, June 7^th and continue through Wednesday, June 8^th.

The MLB draft isn't televised. You don't see people share their mock drafts online for months, and in some extreme cases, years, before the draft actually takes place. In fact, you just don't see the same pre-draft hoop-la that envelopes the incredibly popular NFL draft. Even the NBA draft draws more national, widespread interest. You can listen to the MLB draft on the internet via MLB.com. An event that has been free of charge in previous years, be sure you have already signed up for your username and password before draft day, with more and more people tuning in each an every year.

There is no walking to the podium by Commissioner Bud Selig to announce the next pick. All picks are made through one big conference call, and the picks for the most part are made one right after the other. More delays take place due to phone connection errors than teams actually taking their time to decide whom they are going to select. This requires scouting departments to be extremely organized on draft day, and if you speak to most scouting directors you will learn that for the most part they will follow their value chart in order. Meaning, when a team is indeed on the clock, they're not sitting there trying to decide whether to take Joe College third baseman or Fred High School pitcher. They just take the guy that is next on their list.

And this is where you hear about "the best player available." Since it does take drafted players so long to turn into big-leaguers, if they even make it that far, you don't see teams addressing immediate needs in the draft. For instance, if the best player on the board, when say, the Rangers pick, is a third baseman, and the Rangers find themselves particularly deep at the position, they are unlikely to pass on such a player just because that player is perceived to be blocked. You may see teams opt for a pitcher over a hitter or vice-versa, but that is pretty much the only way a team may choose for need over value.

The draft is 50 rounds long. Typically, the first day of the draft completes the first 20 rounds, with day two covering rounds 21 through 50. Teams can opt to stop selecting at any time, but once they stop selecting players they cannot change their mind and start picking again. 2005 marks the first year in which the picks will not alternate between teams from the two different leagues. Instead, the raw draft order is determined solely on the reverse standings of how the teams finished the year before. The Arizona Diamondbacks hold the dubious honor of selecting first this year. In the event of two teams finishing with the same record the previous year, tie-breakers are awarded to the team that finished with the worse record from the year before.

So, who is eligible to be drafted? Any high school senior, or as we found out a few years ago with Landon Powell and Jeremy Bonderman, any 18-year old player that has reached his GED requirements. All players that attend junior and community colleges are eligible at all times. Four-year college seniors, juniors, or sophomores that turn 21 within 45 days of the draft, are also eligible.

Before we move onto the actual draft order it should be noted that draft picks cannot be traded. The only way teams are changed hands from team to team is through the free agent compensation process, in which teams can lose their picks by signing type A and B free agents.

Onto the raw draft order, follow by the supplemental picks and picks that have changed hands due to the free agent compensation process.

Raw draft order:

1. Arizona Diamondbacks

2. Kansas City Royals

3. Seattle Mariners

4. Washington Nationals

5. Milwaukee Brewers

6. Toronto Blue Jays

7. Colorado Rockies

8. Tampa Bay Devil Rays

9. New York Mets

10. Detroit Tigers

11. Pittsburgh Pirates

12. Cincinnati Reds

13. Baltimore Orioles

14. Cleveland Indians

15. Chicago White Sox

16. Florida Marlins

17. Philadelphia Phillies

18. San Diego Padres

19. Texas Rangers

20. Chicago Cubs

21. Oakland Athletics

22. San Francisco Giants

23. Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim

24. Houston Astros

25. Minnesota Twins

26. Los Angeles Dodgers

27. Atlanta Braves

28. Boston Red Sox

29. New York Yankees

30. St. Louis Cardinals

Changes to the draft order in the first round:

17. Yankees (from Phillies for Type B (free agent) Jon Lieber)
22. Marlins (from Giants for Type A Armando Benitez)

23. Red Sox (from Angels for Type A Orlando Cabrera)

26. Red Sox (from Dodgers for Type A Derek Lowe)

28. Cardinals (from Red Sox for Type A Edgar Renteria)

29. Marlins (from Yankees for Type A Carl Pavano)

Supplemental first round picks:

31. Diamondbacks (for Type A Richie Sexson)

32. Rockies (for Type A Vinny Castilla)

33. Indians (for Type A Omar Vizquel)

34. Marlins (for Benitez)

35. Padres (for Type A David Wells)

36. Athletics (for Type A Damian Miller)

37. Angels (for Type A Troy Percival)

38. Astros (for Type A Carlos Beltran)

39. Twins (for Type A Corey Koskie)

40. Dodgers (for Type A Adrian Beltre)

41. Braves (for Type A Jaret Wright)

42. Red Sox (for Type A Pedro Martinez)

43. Cardinals (for Renteria)

44. Marlins (for Pavano)

45. Red Sox (for Cabrera)

46. Cardinals (for Type A Mike Matheny)

47. Red Sox (for Lowe)

48. Orioles (for failure to sign Wade Townsend)

49. Angels (for failure to sign Jered Weaver, he could still sign with the Angels)

50. Diamondbacks (for failure to sign Stephen Drew, he could still sign with the D-Backs)

Changes to the draft order in the second round:

53. Dodgers (from Mariners for Beltre)

54. Rockies (from Nationals for Castilla)

55. Athletics (from Brewers for Miller)

56. Twins (from Blue Jays for Koskie)

59. Red Sox (from Mets for Martinez)

60. Angels (from Tigers for Percival)

65. Yankees (from White Sox for Type B Orlando Hernandez)

72. Cardinals (from Giants for Matheny)

78. Padres (from Red Sox for Wells)

79. Braves (from Yankees for Wright)

Supplemental second round picks:

81. Marlins (for Type C Mike Redmond, signed with Twins)

82. Twins (for Type C Henry Blanco, signed with Cubs)

Changes to the draft order in the third round:

85. Diamondbacks (from Mariners for Sexson)

86. Twins (from Nationals for Type B Cristian Guzman)

91. Astros (from Mets for Beltran)

104. Indians (from Giants for Vizquel)
110. Cubs (from Red Sox for Type B Matt Clement)

What players will be selected where? Well, a Virginia prep shortstop is widely considered the best player available for the 2005 draft, so based on pure talent the Diamondbacks may choose to take him first overall. However, there are some rumors that the Diamondbacks may want a pitcher more than a hitter, given the strength of hitters in their farm system. Nebraska third baseman Alex Gordon is the best draft-eligible from the college ranks, and in my mind has the raw power to be another legitimate candidate to be drafted first overall. Cameron Maybin, a prep outfielder, also could be considered for the first overall pick given his unreal athletic potential. The talent available in the draft definitely favors positional prospects, particularly the talent at the top, a welcome change from recent years in which pitchers have dominated the early picks. While there is nice pitching depth, there isn't that one can't-miss staff ace. Wichita State's Mike Pelfrey and Tennessee's Luke Hochevar are the best pitchers available.

While the draft was set up to give the worst teams the best chance to select and sign the best amateur players available, sometimes it doesn't always work that way. Signability plays a huge part on where players are selected. Some teams may not want to spend the pre-determined slot amount of their respective pick, and other teams choose not to negotiate with players that are advised by certain agents. We saw this last year when the Padres chose prep shortstop Matt Bush even when there were several other more talented players on the board. They ended up signing Bush for significantly less than most thought they would spend on the number one overall pick. The Pirates in 2002 passed on B.J. Upton, who was universally believed to be the best player available, to select college pitcher Bryan Bullington, feeling they had a better chance signing the college player for the money they were willing to spend with the first overall selection. The Diamondbacks haven't been particularly frugal in past years, but they still haven't signed their first round pick from a year ago, Stephen Drew. On top of that, not only do they have the first overall selection in each and every round, they have also received two extra, early compensatory selections, one being the first pick of the supplemental round after round one, and the other being the third pick in the third round. All of those factors may play a big part into their first overall selection.

When we get closer to the draft, I will feel more comfortable conducting a mock draft. Since draft coverage is hard to come by, I encourage you to check back to Perfect Game USA regularly to check out columns like these and the popular Hot Sheet that is updated often. Perfect Game's partnership with Baseball America formulates the Prospects Plus publication, the finest way to get the most detailed information on the best prospects, not only for this years draft, but for year's to come. Baseball America is one of, if not the finest place overall to follow the draft. Major League Baseball's website has done an outstanding job in recent years providing detailed draft coverage, including scouting reports and video clips of some of the best and brightest players available. And of course I couldn't mention all of these without mentioning my own work over at Brewerfan.net.

So, now that I have brought you up to speed on the basics, it's time for you to get up to speed on the details, the players that are poised to be the stars of tomorrow.