ESPN2 to televise MLB’s 2007 First-Year Player Draft

Major
League Baseball’s 2007 First-Year Player Draft will be carried live by ESPN2
from 2:00-6:00 p.m. (EDT) on Thursday, June 7th, marking the first time that
the Draft will be telecast. The Draft will be held at The Milk House at
Disney’s Wide World of Sports Complex in

Orlando,

Florida.

ESPN2 will
air each Club’s first round choice. Clubs will have a maximum of five minutes
to make their picks during the first round. Following the pick-by-pick coverage
of the first round, ESPN2’s telecast will continue as the Draft is ongoing
until 6:00 p.m. (EDT). After the completion of ESPN2’s coverage, the first day
of the Draft will proceed until approximately 8:30 p.m. (EDT). On Friday, June
8th, the Draft will resume at 11:30 a.m. (EDT) and then will continue to its
conclusion.

“Major
League Baseball is delighted that ESPN2 will provide live coverage of our
Draft,” said Baseball Commissioner Allan H. (Bud) Selig. “I am glad
that this agreement will give fans access to see this critical function of an
organization’s development. This is an idea whose time has come.”

The
selection order is determined by the reverse order of finish at the close of
the previous championship season. The Tampa Bay Devil Rays will have the first
selection of the 2007 First-Year Player Draft. The San Francisco Giants will
have three selections in the first round, while the Toronto Blue Jays and the
Texas Rangers will each have two first round choices. Supplementary selections
are given as compensation to those Clubs that lost Type A or B free agents.

The Draft
will have 50 rounds and will conclude after all 30 teams have passed on a
selection or after the final selection of the 50th round, whichever comes
first.

MLB.com,
the official website of Major League Baseball, will offer comprehensive
coverage of the 2007 First-Year Player Draft, highlighted by two days of live
multimedia coverage from

Orlando
on The Baseball Channel and live interactive pick-by-pick results via the
exclusive Draft Caster.