2015 MLB Draft Order: Team-by-Team Selection List for This Year's Showcase

While the day-to-day operations of MLB would appear to be solely concentrated on the midseason grind, front offices league-wide are set to take their eye off the short term and focus on long-term prosperity in the 2015 first-year player draft.

The draft runs Monday through Wednesday, with coverage starting at 6 p.m. ET on the MLB Network, per MLB.com.

There's no consensus top pick in this year's draft, and in fact the first five picks or so could follow any number of permutations. This isn't to say the draft lacks talent or won't produce a few gems in due time, but that the top players are scattered across a number of positions—with a concentration of starting pitchers, outfielders and shortstops—and all have their good and bad qualities.

Here's a rundown of the draft order, courtesy of MLB.com:

Pick	Team
Compensation Pick	Team (Free Agent Lost)
Competitive Balance A
1	Arizona Diamondbacks
2	Houston Astros (compensation for not signing 2014 No. 1 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
27	Colorado Rockies (Michael Cuddyer)
28	Atlanta Braves (Ervin Santana)
29	Toronto Blue Jays (Melky Cabrera)
30	New York Yankees (David Robertson)
31	San Francisco Giants (Pablo Sandoval)
32	Pittsburgh Pirates (Russell Martin)
33	Kansas City Royals (James Shields)
34	Detroit Tigers (Max Scherzer)
35	Los Angeles Dodgers (Hanley Ramirez)
36	Baltimore Orioles (Nelson Cruz)
37	Houston Astros (via trade with Marlins)
38	Colorado Rockies
39	St. Louis Cardinals
40	Milwaukee Brewers
41	Atlanta Braves (via trade with Padres)
42	Cleveland Indians

Who Will Go No. 1?

The Arizona Diamondbacks have the honor of making the first pick in this year's draft, and this middling franchise—27-29 this season, .477 winning percentage from 2010-14—can go in any number of directions to boost its future prospects as a franchise.

Vanderbilt shortstop Dansby Swanson has emerged as a potential top pick in a host of recent mock drafts, and for good reason. As of June 6, Swanson is hitting .348, with 14 home runs, 61 RBI and 15 stolen bases in just 253 at-bats. 

He's a plus fielder at an important defensive position and would apparently make a fine person to have around in the clubhouse. According to The Tennessean's Adam Sparks, Texas A&M coach Ron Childress has said Swanson's "a superstar human being... (who is) going to play for a long, long time—not just because of his great talent, but because of his great character."

The SEC Network also notes that his conference has produced a number of top picks in recent years:

Still, there's no guarantee the Diamondbacks take Swanson. You can never have too much good pitching, even for an organization with a farm system that, according to Baseball America's John Manuel, has four right-handed pitchers among its top five prospects.

The D-backs could chase after the raw but electrifying Dillon Tate, a righty starter from UC-Santa Barbara who posted a 8-5 record with a 2.26 ERA and 111 strikeouts in 103.1 innings this season.

Scouts took notice of him this past summer when he took on closing duties for the USA Baseball Collegiate National Team.

Tate boasts a wicked slider and a plus fastball but has just one year of starting pitching experience in college under his belt, and the D-backs do appear to have plenty of righty hurlers in the pipeline. 

This could make Illinois southpaw Tyler Jay a more appealing option for the D-backs should they indeed be targeting pitching right off the bat. The junior pitcher is 5-1 this year with a 0.60 ERA in 60.1 innings pitched out of the bullpen. 

The big knock on Jay is, of course, his lack of starting experience, and some question whether he has the makeup of a full-time starter at the next level, per AZCentral.com's Nick Piecoro:

"

At 6-1, 185 pounds, Jay doesn't have the build of workhorse starting pitcher, and since he hasn't done it, scouts are forced to guess about something they haven't seen. Scouts say there's also effort in his delivery, which some are more willing to overlook than others when projecting his chances to start.

'How does that unfold every five days over the course of a long season?' a scouting director with an American League club said. "I don't know how that will play out.'

"

There is then the rumor mill to consider, and MLB.com's Jonathan Mayo brings this nugget: 

"

This is the rumor that simply won't go away, the one that says the D-backs will cut a deal with [Tyler] Stephenson, save a large chunk of the $8.6-plus million pick value for the No. 1 pick, and use it to aggressively pursue talent in later rounds. Stephenson is considered to be the best all-around catcher in the class and has moved his name up to top 10 consideration, albeit in the latter stages it. He has impressed in private workouts for a number of teams and Arizona did bring him in for one...

"

Tyler Stephenson would indeed be a shock pick at the top of the draft and carries a risk coming out of high school at a position where offense comes at a premium. Still, he would apparently be the pick to make if Arizona is hoping to shore up multiple positions in its sixth-ranked farm system, per Manuel.

However, gut feeling says the mock drafters have this one right, and Swanson will come off the board first with the chance to lock down a spot in Arizona's lineup for years to come with his attractive blend of hitting, fielding and positive attitude.