The 2011 MLB Draft kicks off Monday afternoon at 4:00pm pacific with the first round airing live on the MLB Network. Bud Selig will announce first round picks while various club representatives will announce compensation round picks. The draft will last three days with days two and three both picking up at 9:00am pacific. The first round will allow five minutes between each pick and the compensation round will allow for one minute between picks.
The San Francisco Giants will be picking No. 29 in the first round and then 49th overall in the compensation round. The Giants have a variety of needs they'd like to address even as the youth movement has spread to their team. The big league club has added a ton of young pitching and a key bat in Buster Posey. While Posey finds himself out with the leg/ankle injury, the team's youth movement continues on offense. They recently called up Brandon Belton and Brandon Crawford to give them some time and 2010 first round pick Gary Brown is putting up huge numbers at A-Plus San Jose.
The Oakland Athletics will be picking No. 18 overall in the first round with no compensation picks. Additionally, Oakland is without its second round pick due to the signing of Tampa Bay Rays relief pitcher Grant Balfour. The A's biggest needs are on offense at this point. They've brought up a lot of young pitching for the starting rotation and the bullpen. It's fairly obvious they need to find some impact bats in the draft at this point. They've got young talent like Michael Choice, Michael Taylor, and Jemile Weeks near the top of the system, but they need to add some significant organizational depth on the offensive side of the ball.
We'll be here for the next three days covering the 2011 MLB Draft for both the San Francisco Giants and Oakland Athletics. For more in-depth discussion about the Giants head to McCovey Chronicles. For more on the A's head over to Athletics Nation. For more general minor league and draft discussion, check out Minor League Ball and Baseball Nation.