The final draft order has been determined now that all of the free agents that could affect the 2011 draft order have signed. The sandwich round will be 27 picks deep this coming June, the longest it has been since 2007 when the supplemental first round had 34 selections.
Here is the order for the first four rounds of the draft. To determine the pick the slot of any given team after the fourth round, simply add 30 picks for each round.
First Round
1. Pittsburgh Pirates
2. Seattle Mariners
3. Arizona Diamondbacks
4. Baltimore Orioles
5. Kansas City Royals
6. Washington Nationals
7. Arizona Diamondbacks (for unsigned 2010 first-round pick Barret Loux)
8. Cleveland Indians
9. Chicago Cubs
10. San Diego Padres (for unsigned 2010 first-round pick Karsten Whitson)
11. Houston Astros
12. Milwaukee Brewers
13. New York Mets
14. Florida Marlins
15. Milwaukee Brewers (for unsigned 2010 first-round pick Dylan Covey)
16. Los Angeles Dodgers
17. Los Angeles Angels
18. Oakland Athletics
19. Boston Red Sox (from the Tigers for type A free agent Victor Martinez)
20. Colorado Rockies
21. Toronto Blue Jays
22. St. Louis Cardinals
23. Washington Nationals (from the White Sox for type A free agent Adam Dunn)
24. Tampa Bay Rays (from the Red Sox for type A free agent Carl Crawford)
25. San Diego Padres
26. Boston Red Sox (from the Rangers for type A free agent Adrian Beltre)
27. Cincinnati Reds
28. Atlanta Braves
29. San Francisco Giants
30. Minnesota Twins
31. Tampa Bay Rays (from the Yankees for type A free agent Rafael Soriano)
32. Tampa Bay Rays
33. Texas Rangers (from the Phillies for type A free agent Cliff Lee)
Supplemental First Round
34. Washington Nationals (Dunn)
35. Toronto Blue Jays (for type A free agent Scott Downs)
36. Boston Red Sox (Martinez)
37. Texas Rangers (Lee)
38. Tampa Bay Rays (Soriano)
39. Philadelphia Phillies (for type A free agent Jayson Werth)
40. Boston Red Sox (Beltre)
41. Tampa Bay Rays (Crawford)
42. Tampa Bay Rays (for type A free agent Grant Balfour)
43. Arizona Diamondbacks (for type B free agent Adam LaRoche)
44. New York Mets (for type B free agent Pedro Feliciano)
45. Colorado Rockies (for type B free agent Octavio Dotel)
46. Toronto Blue Jays (for type B free agent Kevin Gregg)
47. Chicago White Sox (for type B free agent J.J. Putz)
48. San Diego Padres (for type B free agent Jon Garland)
49. San Francisco Giants (for type B free agent Juan Uribe)
50. Minnesota Twins (for type B free agent Orlando Hudson)
51. New York Yankees (for type B free agent Javier Vazquez)
52. Tampa Bay Rays (for type B free agent Brad Hawpe)
53. Toronto Blue Jays (for type B free agent John Buck)
54. San Diego Padres (for type B free agent Yorvit Torrealba)
55. Minnesota Twins (for type B free agent Jesse Crain)
56. Tampa Bay Rays (for type B free agent Joaquin Benoit)
57. Toronto Blue Jays (for type B free agent Miguel Olivo)
58. San Diego Padres (for type B free agent Kevin Correia)
59. Tampa Bay Rays (for type B free agent Randy Choate)
60. Tampa Bay Rays (for type B free agent Chad Qualls)
Second Round
61. Pittsburgh Pirates
62. Seattle Mariners
63. Arizona Diamondbacks
64. Baltimore Orioles
65. Kansas City Royals
66. Philadelphia Phillies (from Nationals for Werth)
67. Cleveland Indians
68. Chicago Cubs
69. Houston Astros
70. Milwaukee Brewers
71. New York Mets
72. Florida Marlins
73. Los Angeles Dodgers
74. Toronto Blue Jays (from Angels for Downs)
75. Tampa Bay Rays (from Athletics for Balfour)
76. Detroit Tigers
77. Colorado Rockies
78. Toronto Blue Jays
79. St. Louis Cardinals
80. Chicago White Sox
81. Boston Red Sox
82. San Diego Padres
83. Texas Rangers
84. Cincinnati Reds
85. Atlanta Braves
86. San Francisco Giants
87. Minnesota Twins
88. New York Yankees
89. Tampa Bay Rays
90. Philadelphia Phillies
Third Round
91. Pittsburgh Pirates
92. Seattle Mariners
93. Arizona Diamondbacks
94. Baltimore Orioles
95. Kansas City Royals
96. Washington Nationals
97. Cleveland Indians
98. Chicago Cubs
99. Houston Astros
100. Milwaukee Brewers
101. New York Mets
102. Florida Marlins
103. Los Angeles Dodgers
104. Los Angeles Angels
105. Oakland Athletics
106. Detroit Tigers
107. Colorado Rockies
108. Toronto Blue Jays
109. St. Louis Cardinals
110. Chicago White Sox
111. Boston Red Sox
112. San Diego Padres
113. Texas Rangers
114. Cincinnati Reds
115. Atlanta Braves
116. San Francisco Giants
117. Minnesota Twins
118. New York Yankees
119. Tampa Bay Rays
120. Philadelphia Phillies
Supplemental Third Round
121. Seattle Mariners (for unsigned 2010 third-round pick Ryne Stanek)
Fourth Round
122. Pittsburgh Pirates
123. Seattle Mariners
124. Arizona Diamondbacks
125. Baltimore Orioles
126. Kansas City Royals
127. Washington Nationals
128. Cleveland Indians
129. Chicago Cubs
130. Houston Astros
131. Milwaukee Brewers
132. New York Mets
133. Florida Marlins
134. Los Angeles Dodgers
135. Los Angeles Angels
136. Oakland Athletics
137. Detroit Tigers
138. Colorado Rockies
139. Toronto Blue Jays
140. St. Louis Cardinals
141. Chicago White Sox
142. Boston Red Sox
143. San Diego Padres
144. Texas Rangers
145. Cincinnati Reds
146. Atlanta Braves
147. San Francisco Giants
148. Minnesota Twins
149. New York Yankees
150. Tampa Bay Rays
151. Philadelphia Phillies
Rays load up, luck out
Going into the offseason, people recognized that the Tampa Bay Rays may be busy on draft day with the amount of free agents they had about to hit the open market. There is always the arbitration gamble, knowing that a player could accept your offer, and you also have instances in which teams whose first-round pick is protected (or used on a higher-ranked free agent based on the Elias Bureau rankings) sign your premium free agents.
That didn’t occur with the Rays, who had three type A free agents, two of whom signed with their division rivals, and one of whom signed with the A’s to net a second-round pick. That player, Grant Balfour, was considered to be a risky player to offer arbitration to.
And the Rays made sure to get in one last, small blow to the Red Sox by signing type B free agent Felipe Lopez to a minor league deal, meaning the Red Sox will not receive a compensatory pick for him.
All in all the Rays have three first-round picks, seven supplemental first rounders and two second round selections, giving them 10 of the top 60 overall selections. Even if they reach for player considered to be more signable for a handful of those picks, their already loaded farm system stands to have a huge infusion of talent this summer.
And the 2011 draft is considered to be loaded with talent.
Even with the Rays block of the Red Sox getting an additional sandwich pick, Boston will also be busy on draft day with a pair of both first-round and sandwich picks. Other teams that have loaded up on picks include the Padres (two first-round picks, three-sandwich rounders) and the Blue Jays (four sandwich picks along with an additional second-round selection). The Brewers, Diamondbacks and Nationals also have a pair of first-rounders.
Keep in mind that the 2011 draft could be the last one before Major League Baseball institutes hard slotting as part of the next Collective Bargaining Agreement, so this may be the last time we see teams spending as much money as they have on picks. It will be interesting to see how negotiations progress come mid-August, as a handful of players undoubtedly will be looking for as much money as they can, while teams may be able to point to this knowing draft picks may never have it as good.
The thoughts and opinions listed here do not necessarily reflect those of Perfect Game USA. Patrick Ebert is affiliated with both Perfect Game USA and 5 Tool Talk, and can be contacted via email at pebert@5tooltalk.com.