2015 MLB Draft: Order, dates, times, streaming and TV schedules, eligibility, and more

It’s popularly called the amateur draft, but properly called the Rule 4 draft or the Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft. Each year in June, MLB conducts a draft of players from colleges, universities, high schools, and other amateur clubs around North America. This year's draft will be held from June 8-10, 2015, by conference call, with the first round televised beginning at 7 p.m. (ET) on the MLB Network, and broadcast over the Internet on MLB.com.

MLB first held a draft in 1965, and has held one every year since. It is the only draft among major sports that is held during the playing season, and its 40 rounds makes it easily the largest. By contrast, the National Football League and the National Hockey League have drafts of seven rounds, while the National Basketball Association holds a draft of just two rounds.

MLB Draft at a glance

First round coverage

Date: June 8
Time: 7 p.m.
TV: MLB Network
Streaming: MLB.com

First round draft order

1. Arizona Diamondbacks

2. Houston Astros (for not signing 2014 pick Brady Aiken)

3. Colorado Rockies

4. Texas Rangers

5. Houston Astros

6. Minnesota Twins

7. Boston Red Sox

8. Chicago White Sox

9. Chicago Cubs

10. Philadelphia Phillies

11. Cincinnati Reds

12. Miami Marlins

13. Tampa Bay Rays

14. Atlanta Braves

15. Milwaukee Brewers

16. New York Yankees

17. Cleveland Indians

18. San Francisco Giants

19. Pittsburgh Pirates

20. Oakland Athletics

21. Kansas City Royals

22. Detroit Tigers

23. St. Louis Cardinals

24. Los Angeles Dodgers

25. Baltimore Orioles

26. Los Angeles Angels

Compensation picks

27. Colorado Rockies (for losing Michael Cuddyer)

28. Atlanta Braves (for losing Ervin Santana)

29. Toronto Blue Jays (for losing Melky Cabrera)

30. New York Yankees (for losing David Robertson)

31. San Francisco Giants (for losing Pablo Sandoval)

32. Pittsburgh Pirates (for losing Russell Martin)

33. Kansas City Royals (for losing James Shields)

34. Detroit Tigers (for losing Max Scherzer)

35. Los Angeles Dodgers (for losing Hanley Ramirez)

36. Baltimore Orioles (for losing Nelson Cruz)

Rules

Eligibility to be drafted

A player is eligible for selection if the player is a resident of the United States or Canada and the player has never before signed a major league or minor league contract. Residents of Puerto Rico and other territories of the United States are eligible for the draft. Foreign born players who enroll in a high school or college in the United States are also eligible. Other players can sign with any team under MLB's international guidelines.

Other rules

Teams will make selections in each round of the draft, based on the reverse order of finish in the previous season, with a few exceptions. The exceptions to the order of selection are:

-- A team that fails to sign its first or second round selection from the previous year is given a compensation pick that is one slot lower the next season

-- A team that makes a qualifying offer to a free agent player who signs with another team as a free agent is awarded a compensation pick between the first and second rounds. 

-- A team that signs one of these qualified free agent players will lose its highest available pick, with the first 10 selections in the first round being protected.

-- There are two "competitive balance" rounds, consisting of six selections each, held after the first and second rounds, consisting of six selections each. Picks awarded to teams based on market size and club revenues.

-- Teams may not trade their draft picks, with the exception of the competitive balance round selections.