June 6-8 are critical dates for every franchise in major league baseball. During that time, big league organizations will stock their teams with players they choose in the first year player draft.

The draft will take place in Seacaucus, New York. Each club will have a representative at the location to convey the picks of the club to the Office of the Commissioner. The teams representatives are usually high profile former players or names known to the baseball public.

Graduating high school seniors, all junior college players, players that have completed their third year of college, and players that have turned 21 years of age within 45 days of the draft are eligible to be drafted. College players that have dropped out of school can apply for the draft by writing the Baseball Commissioner's Office no later than March 20.

Teams have beens sending scouts to high schools and colleges to view and review prospects eligible for the draft. Teams send additional "cross-checker" scouts and other front office personnel to verify and confirm or reject the opinion of the area scout that provided the initial review and recommendation. It is not uncommon for the general manager to check a top prospect prior to the draft.

Not unlike their counterparts in professional football, draft rooms in baseball offices are established with a long list of eligible players.
It is not uncommon for organizations to have differing opinion about players between the scouting department personnel themselves or between the scouting department and other members of the front office organization. The scouting department has the responsibility to present the player evaluations to the club. However, in the end it will be the general manager that takes the ultimate responsibility for the draft.

The Office of the Commissioner has established "slot values" for each round of the draft. Teams are urged and encouraged to follow those figures when signing players. However, many teams do not abide by the slot recommendations and sign the player at a price agreed upon between the player and agent. It is not uncommon for a player to sign at the midnight hour on the last signing day after the player has learned what other drafted players have agreed to in compensation. There are teams that will bypass certain players because of the player's agent's reputation or because the player is deemed as difficult to sign.

In this year's draft, the first round drafting order of the clubs will be as follows:

Pirates

Mariners

Diamondbacks

Orioles

Royals

Nationals

Diamondbacks as compensation for not being able to sign Barret Loux in 2010

Indians

Cubs

Padres as compensation for not signing Karsten Whitson in 2010

Astros

Brewers

Mets

Marlins

Brewers as compensation for not signing 2010 first round pick Dylan Covey

Dodgers

Angels

Athletics

Red Sox as compensation from Tigers for signing Victor Martinez

Rockies

Blue Jays

Cardinals

Nationals as compensation from White Sox for signing Adam Dunn

Rays as compensation from Red Sox for signing Carl Crawford

Padres

Red Sox as compensation from Rangers for signing Adrian Beltre

Reds

Braves

Giants

Twins

Rays as compensation from Yankees for signing Rafael Soriano

Rays

Rangers as compensation from Phillies for signing Cliff Lee

Given the fact teams are compensated with draft choices for losing Class A free agents is a reason many clubs fail to trade their high profile Class A players, opting rather to gain an additional draft selection in June.

It is important to remember that this draft may be the last of its type in professional baseball. It is widely believed that the cost of drafting unproven talent will be a major topic of discussion when the Basic Agreement is negotiated between Major League Baseball and the Players Association. Many want a fixed salary slotting to take place instead of the market driven current pricing structure.
Such a new system might look similar to a teacher salary schedule where a particular individual is paid a set amount for the first year of service. The amount would be determined by draft position of the player according to the the round and place within the round.

This year's draft is extremely deep with talented players at both the collegiate and high school levels. It should be noted that there really isn't a clear top of the draft #1-1 individual that everyone can agree upon such as a Stephen Strasburg or Bryce Harper in recent years.

The players I list below are examples of individuals that may be drafted by your favorite team. Then it's up to the team to sign the players. Note that every team budgets significant dollars for the amateur draft. Organizations have done their homework as to the approximate cost of players in the top few rounds. So, just because your team has not spent a considerable amount on the 40 man roster does not mean the money isn't being set aside for the amateur draft. We'll know in the next few months.

Here are players I think will be the standouts at each position in this year's draft: Please note this is not a complete list. I will have missed many players, but these I believe will be drafted fairly high in June.

CATCHERS- Andrew Susac, Oregon State (currently has broken hamate bone)/ Blake Swihart,HS Rio Rancho, New Mexico (big bat-could go before Susac/Austin Hedges, HS San Juan Capistrano, Cal.(seen as defensive catcher with weaker bat)

FIRST BASEMEN- C.J. Cron, Utah (best of a weak group)/ Ricky Oropesa, USC,/ Aaron Westlake, Vanderbilt

SECOND BASEMEN- Colton Wong, Hawaii (has won MVP in Cape Cod League)/very weak position in draft

THIRD BASEMEN-Anthony Rendon, Rice (many see him as #1 selection but is battling sore shoulder)/ Jason Esposito, Vanderbilt (good defense)
Cory Spangenberg, Indian River State Junior College, Florida (strong hitter, not much at 3B), Matt Dean, The Colony HS Texas
(best high school 3B available)

SHORTSTOPS-Francisco Lindor, Montverde Florida Academy (switch-hitter with big talent but young)/Levi Mitchell, North Carolina
(can play anywhere on the diamond)/ Javier Baez, Arlington Country Day HS Florida (enough power to play 3B)

OUTFIELDERS-Bubba Starling, Gardner Edgerton HS Kansas, (might want to play football at Nebraska. Awesome potential as hitter)
George Springer, Connecticut (has slipped on some boards because of tough beginning to season)/ Mikie Mahtook, LSU (having a great year at the plate)/Josh Bell, Jesuit College Prep Texas (can play anywhere in outfield. switch-hitter)/ Jackie Bradley, South Carolina (may not have any outstanding tool)/Brian Goodwin, Miami Dade Junior College, (left-handed power hitter)

LEFT-HANDED PITCHERS-Danny Hultzen, Virginia (this is the guy I think Pittsburgh takes. Complete pitcher.)/ Jed Bradley, Georgia Tech (complete pitcher with full repertoire ready to go)/ Matt Purke, Texas Christian (scouts are backing off a bit due to hand and shoulder issues) Daniel Norris, Science Hill HS Tenn. (best high school lefty) /Tyler Anderson, Oregon (has had a great season and appears to be moving up)

RIGHT-HANDED PITCHERS- Gerrit Cole, UCLA (may have best repertoire of any pitcher in draft-could go first)/ Trevor Bauer, UCLA
(does not want clubs messing with his quirky delivery mess with his delivery-Lincecum?) Sonny Gray, Vanderbilt (almost a finished product.)/Dylan Bundy, Owasso HS Oklahoma (solid high school pitcher with full repertoire and 90's fastball.)/

There are numerous other RHP. To name a few: Jose Fernandez, Taylor Guerrieri, Archie Bradley, Taylor Jungmannn, Matt Barnes, Anthony Meo,.

There really is no sense predicting the outcome of the draft. Pitching is rich and plentiful while middle infield position players are scarce. There are few power hitting first basemen available. Outfielders have a mix of speed and power.

Teams may rate players much higher or lower than those who write and talk about the draft in the media. I have watched video after video and I still don't know who I'd take first. I think it would be Hultzen followed by Bauer.

Here's some sobering information. In the 2008 draft Tampa Bay took Tim Beckham first overall. Pedro Alvarez, Eric Hosmer, Brian Matusz, and Buster Posey followed. At 6? Kyle Skipworth by Florida.

In 2007 Josh Vitters went 3rd to the Cubs. Daniel Moskos 4th to the Pirates. Ross Detwiller 6th to Washington. And Seattle?
Phillippe Aumont went 11th.

In 2006 Greg Reynolds was drafted 2nd by the Rockies just ahead of Evan Longoria by the Rays. The Pirates took Brad Lincoln 4th ahead of Brandon Morrow by the Mariners. Clayton Kershaw went 7th in that draft followed by Drew Stubbs. At 9th? The Orioles took 3B Bill Rowell. And of course, we all know that Tim Lincecum went 10th to the Giants. Yikes!

No sure things folks. You pay your money and you take your chance. Your team may or may not pay the money. They may or may not take their chance. But very recently teams like Kansas City and Tampa have been using the draft to build their teams unlike the decisions they used to make to draft a player they could sign reasonably. Times have changed.

Enjoy the draft and hope your team knocks it out of the park. If not, the scouting director and many of his folks will be on the hot seat for years to come. That's the lasting impact of the draft.

Follow me on Twitter @BerniePleskoff