2012 Amateur Draft

The 2012 First Year Player Draft was the forty-eighth Major League Baseball Amateur Draft. It took place from June 4-6, 2012.

The rules governing the draft were altered as the result of the new Collective Bargaining Agreement reached the previous off-season. Among the changes, teams now had a set pool of money from which to pay all signing bonuses to players drafted in the first 10 rounds, with teams higher in the drafting order receiving more money from the pool; bonuses for players drafted later were capped at $100,000. Also, the deadline for signing players was moved up from August 15th to July 13th. Additionally, the draft shrunk from 50 rounds to 40 rounds.

The move in the signing deadline paid immediate dividends, as top pick Carlos Correa signed with the Houston Astros within two days, as did two other first rounders, something that had been unheard of in recent years. Only one first rounder failed to sign by the deadline, and overall spending on top picks dropped from $233.6 million to $203.7 million, an 11% reduction compared to the 2011 draft; the drop on spending on first rounders was even more pronounced, from $89.5 milion to $74.3 million, or 17% less. 10 teams exceeded their bonus pool and were levied a combined $1.5 million in luxury tax penalties, but no team went so far overboard as to lose its top pick in the next year's draft, something that was now possible as a result of the changes. "We think that the system performed well in its initial year," said Rob Manfred, Major League Baseball's executive vice president of economics and league affairs, after the conclusion of the signing period. But critics argued that the drop in spending was more a function of a relatively weak talent pool than because of the new rules.

Draft Order

First Round

Pick	Team	Player	Position	School (Type)	Hometown	Notes
1	Houston Astros	Carlos Correa	SS	Puerto Rican Baseball Academy High School
2	Minnesota Twins	Byron Buxton	OF	Appling County High School (HS)
3	Seattle Mariners	Mike Zunino	C	University of Florida (Col.)
4	Baltimore Orioles	Kevin Gausman	P	Louisiana State University (Col.)
5	Kansas City Royals	Kyle Zimmer	P	University of San Francisco (Col.)
6	Chicago Cubs	Albert Almora	OF	Mater Academy Charter School (HS)
7	San Diego Padres	Max Fried	P	Harvard-Westlake School (HS)
8	Pittsburgh Pirates	Mark Appel	P	Stanford University (Col.)		Did not sign
9	Miami Marlins	Andrew Heaney	P	Oklahoma State University (Col.)
10	Colorado Rockies	David Dahl	OF	Oak Mountain High School (HS)
11	Oakland Athletics	Addison Russell	SS	Pace (FL) High School (HS)
12	New York Mets	Gavin Cecchini	SS	Alfred M. Barbe High School (HS)
13	Chicago White Sox	Courtney Hawkins	OF	Carroll Senior High School (Southlake) (HS)
14	Cincinnati Reds	Nick Travieso	P	Archbishop Edward A. McCarthy High School (HS)
15	Cleveland Indians	Tyler Naquin	OF	Texas A&M University (Col.)
16	Washington Nationals	Lucas Giolito	P	Harvard-Westlake School (HS)
17	Toronto Blue Jays	D.J. Davis	OF	Stone County High School (HS)	Wiggins, MS
18	Los Angeles Dodgers	Corey Seager	3B	Northwest Cabarrus High School (HS)
19	St. Louis Cardinals	Michael Wacha	P	Texas A&M University (Col.)		Compensation from Los Angeles Angels for Albert Pujols
20	San Francisco Giants	Chris Stratton	P	Mississippi State University (Col.)
21	Atlanta Braves	Lucas Sims	P	Brookwood High School (Snellville) (HS)
22	Toronto Blue Jays	Marcus Stroman	P	Duke University (Col.)		Compensation for failure to sign 2011 Pick Tyler Beede
23	St. Louis Cardinals	James Ramsey	OF	Florida State University (Col.)
24	Boston Red Sox	Deven Marrero	SS	Arizona State University (Col.)
25	Tampa Bay Rays	Richie Shaffer	3B	Clemson University (Col.)
26	Arizona Diamondbacks	Stryker Trahan	C	Acadiana High School (HS)
27	Milwaukee Brewers	Clint Coulter	C	Union High School (Camas) (HS)		Compensation from Detroit Tigers for Prince Fielder
28	Milwaukee Brewers	Victor Roache	OF	Georgia Southern University (Col.)
29	Texas Rangers	Lewis Brinson	OF	Coral Springs High School (HS)
30	New York Yankees	Ty Hensley	P	Edmond Santa Fe High School (HS)
31	Boston Red Sox	Brian Johnson	P	University of Florida (Col.)		Compensation from Philadelphia Phillies for Jonathan Papelbon

Supplemental First Round

Pick	Team	Player	Position	School (Type)	Hometown	Notes
32	Minnesota Twins	Jose Berrios	P	Papa Juan XXIII High School (HS)		Compensation for Michael Cuddyer
33	San Diego Padres	Zach Eflin	P	Paul J. Hagerty High School (HS)		Compensation for Heath Bell
34	Oakland Athletics	Daniel Robertson	SS	Upland High School (HS)		Compensation for Josh Willingham
35	New York Mets	Kevin Plawecki	C	Purdue University (Col.)		Compensation for Jose Reyes
36	St. Louis Cardinals	Stephen Piscotty	3B	Stanford University (Col.)		Compensation for Albert Pujols
37	Boston Red Sox	Pat Light	P	Monmouth University (Col.)		Compensation for Jonathan Papelbon
38	Milwaukee Brewers	Mitch Haniger	OF	California State Polytechnic University, San Luis Obispo (Col.)	Santa Clara, CA	Compensation for Prince Fielder
39	Texas Rangers	Joey Gallo	3B	Bishop Gorman High School (HS)		Compensation for C.J. Wilson
40	Philadelphia Phillies	Shane Watson	P	Lakewood (CA) High School (HS)		Compensation for Ryan Madson
41	Houston Astros	Lance McCullers Jr.	P	Jesuit High School (Tampa) (HS)		Compensation for Clint Barmes
42	Minnesota Twins	Luke Bard	P	Georgia Institute of Technology (Col.)		Compensation for Jason Kubel
43	Chicago Cubs	Pierce Johnson	P	Missouri State University (Col.)		Compensation for Aramis Ramirez
44	San Diego Padres	Travis Jankowski	OF	Stony Brook University (Col.)		Compensation for Aaron Harang
45	Pittsburgh Pirates	Barrett Barnes	OF	Texas Tech University (Col.)		Compensation for Ryan Doumit
46	Colorado Rockies	Eddie Butler	P	Radford University (Col.)		Compensation for Mark Ellis
47	Oakland Athletics	Matt Olson	1B	Parkview High School (Lilburn) (HS)		Compensation for David DeJesus
48	Chicago White Sox	Keon Barnum	1B	C. Leon King High School		Compensation for Mark Buehrle
49	Cincinnati Reds	Jesse Winker	OF	Olympia High School (HS)		Compensation for Ramon Hernandez
50	Toronto Blue Jays	Matt Smoral	P	Solon High School		Compensation for Frank Francisco
51	Los Angeles Dodgers	Jesmuel Valentin	SS	Puerto Rican Baseball Academy High School (HS)		Compensation for Rod Barajas
52	St. Louis Cardinals	Patrick Wisdom	3B	Saint Mary's College of California (Col.)		Compensation for Octavio Dotel
53	Texas Rangers	Collin Wiles	P	Blue Valley West High School (HS)		Compensation for Darren Oliver
54	Philadelphia Phillies	Mitch Gueller	P	W. F. West High School (HS)		Compensation for Raul Ibanez
55	San Diego Padres	Walker Weickel	P	Olympia High School		Compensation for failure to sign 2011 Pick Brett Austin
56	Chicago Cubs	Paul Blackburn	P	Heritage High School (HS)		Compensation for Carlos Pena
57	Cincinnati Reds	Jeff Gelalich	OF	University of California, Los Angeles (Col.)		Compensation for Francisco Cordero
58	Toronto Blue Jays	Mitch Nay	3B	Hamilton High School (Chandler) (HS)		Compensation for Jon Rauch
59	St. Louis Cardinals	Steve Bean	C	Rockwall High School		Compensation for Edwin Jackson
60	Toronto Blue Jays	Tyler Gonzales	P	James Madison High School (San Antonio) (HS)		Compensation for Jose Molina

Notes

Paco Rodriguez, a second-round selection by the Los Angeles Dodgers, was the first player selected to reach the major leagues when he made his debut on September 9th. Kevin Gausman was the first player taken in the first round to make his major league debut, on May 23, 2013, a week ahead of Michael Wacha.

Related Sites

• Pre-draft analysis from mlb.com