Major League Baseball's First-Year Player Draft took another step forward as a live prime-time event on Monday night. The first overall pick, Carlos Correa of Puerto Rico, was present when the Houston Astros selected him. "This is nice," Selig said. "When you think how this has evolved, we've come a long way in a very short period of time. I'm enjoying tonight as you can probably already tell." Including Correa, five prospects selected in the first-round attended Monday night's event. "Their excitement was just terrific -- all of these kids," Selig said. "By the time I got to them and they came over, boy, I could still hear their hearts pumping, I'll tell you that. They were nervous. It's great. The kids I met today are really great young men and I'm glad they came. That adds a dimension." While five players was significant, Selig made it clear that he would prefer a crowd of them. "I hope we can work on that," he said. "The more people we can have here, the better I like it. Five is a good start, but we need to do better than that."

Major League Baseball held the 2012 First-Year Player Draft on Monday night in New Jersey. The Houston Astros held the first overall pick in the three-day event, running through Wednesday. First Round
1. Houston Astros - Carlos Correa, SS, Puerto Rico
2. Minnesota Twins - Byron Buxton, OF, Appling County HS (GA)
3. Seattle Mariners - Mike Zunino, C, Florida
4. Baltimore Orioles - Kevin Gausman, RHP, LSU
5. Kansas City Royals - Kyle Zimmer, RHP, San Francisco
6. Chicago Cubs - Albert Almora, OF, Mater Academy (FL)
7. San Diego Padres - Max Fried, LHP, Harvard-Westlake HS (CA)
8. Pittsburgh Pirates - Mark Appel, RHP, Stanford
9. Miami Marlins - Andrew Heaney, LHP, Oklahoma State
10. Colorado Rockies - David Dahl, OF, Oak Mountain HS (AL)
11. Oakland Athletics - Addison Russell, SS, Pace HS (FL)
12. New York Mets - Gavin Cecchini, SS, Barbe HS (LA)
13. Chicago White Sox - Courtney Hawkins, OF, Carroll HS (TX)
14. Cincinnati Reds - Nick Travieso, RHP, Archbishop McCarthy HS (FL)
15. Cleveland Indians - Tyler Naquin, OF, Texas A&M
16. Washington Nationals - Lucas Giolito, RHP, Harvard-Westlake HS (CA)
17. Toronto Blue Jays - D.J. Davis, OF, Stone Mountain HS (MS)
18. Los Angeles Dodgers - Corey Seager, SS, Northwest Cabarrus HS (NC)
19. St. Louis Cardinals (Pujols, Angels) - Michael Wacha, RHP, Texas A&M
20. San Francisco Giants - Chris Stratton, RHP, Mississippi State
21. Atlanta Braves - Lucas Sims, RHP, Brookwood HS (GA)
22. Toronto Blue Jays (Beede, Unsigned) - Marcus Stroman, RHP, Duke
23. St. Louis Cardinals - James Ramsey, OF, Florida State
24. Boston Red Sox - Deven Marrero, SS, Arizona State
25. Tampa Bay Rays - Richie Shaffer, 3B, Clemson
26. Arizona Diamondbacks - Stryker Trahan, C, Acadiana HS (LA)
27. Milwaukee Brewers (Fielder, Tigers) - Clint Coulter, C, Union HS (WA)
28. Milwaukee Brewers - Victor Roache, OF, Georgia Southern
29. Texas Rangers - Lewis Brinson, OF, Coral Springs HS (FL)
30. New York Yankees - Ty Hensley, RHP, Edmond Santa Fe HS (OK)
31. Boston Red Sox (Papelbon, Phillies) - Brian Johnson, LHP, Florida

Carlos Correa, a 6-foot-4-inch, 190-pound shortstop from the Puerto Rico Baseball Academy, is drawing comparisons to Alex Rodriguez. “Yeah, you’d hate to ever say anything (like that),” Dale Sveum said when a reporter mentioned Rodriguez. “But I mean I played with A-Rod when he was 19 and it was kind of a lot of the same actions, the same body, the power. It was impressive. They told me to start working him away. He starts throwing it in the seats in right field with the 20 mph wind.”