The 2001 Major League Baseball draft, was held on June 5 and 6.

First round selections

Supplemental First Round selections

Compensation Picks

Background

On June 1, 2001, Rolando Viera, a

Cuba Cuba, officially the Republic of Cuba, is an island country, comprising the island of Cuba (largest island), Isla de la Juventud, and List of islands of Cuba, 4,195 islands, islets and cays surrounding the main island. It is located where the ...

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

pitcher who had recently left Cuba, attempted to

enjoin An injunction is an equitable remedy in the form of a special court order compelling a party to do or refrain from doing certain acts. It was developed by the English courts of equity but its origins go back to Roman law and the equitable ...

Major League Baseball from including him in the 2001 draft so that he could instead sign as a

free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player or manager who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under a contract at present ...

. Viera, represented by attorney Alan Gura and agent Joe Kehoskie, claimed that the MLB draft was discriminatory because it had different signing rules for Cubans than for other foreign players. On June 4, federal judge James D. Whittemore ruled that whatever financial loss Viera suffered from being subject to the draft did not satisfy the federal injunction requirement of

irreparable harm An irreparable injury is, in equity (law), equity, "the type of harm which no monetary compensation can cure or put conditions back the way they were." The irreparable injury rule It has traditionally been a requirement of Equity (law), equity tha ...

. Viera was picked by the

Boston Red Sox The Boston Red Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Boston. The Red Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League East, East Division. Founded in as one of the Ameri ...

that same week in the seventh round of the draft. The Minnesota Twins selected St. Paul, MN native Joe Mauer with the number one pick in the 2001 draft. The 18-year-old Mauer, a catcher from Cretin-Derham Hall High School in St. Paul, became the seventh Minnesotan to be selected in the first round and the first to be chosen number one overall. The back-stop was a member of the USA Junior National Team and won a gold medal at the world tournament in Taiwan in 1999. He was also a High School football standout as a quarterback and signed a letter of intent to play football at Florida State University before being drafted. Right-handed pitcher Mark Prior of the University of Southern California was selected by the Chicago Cubs with the second overall pick in the draft. Prior, who was previously selected in the supplemental first round of the 1998 draft by the Yankees, was the first college player chosen in the 2001 draft. Prior won numerous National Player of the Year awards after going 15–1 with a 1.69 ERA and 202 strikeouts to lead the Trojans to a College World Series berth in his junior year.

Other notable players

* Kelly Shoppach, 2nd round, 48th overall by the

* J. J. Hardy, 2nd round, 56th overall by the

Milwaukee Brewers The Milwaukee Brewers are an American professional baseball team based in Milwaukee. The Brewers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Central Di ...

* Brandon League, 2nd round, 59th overall by the

Toronto Blue Jays The Toronto Blue Jays are a Canadian professional baseball team based in Toronto. The Blue Jays compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League East, East Division. Since 1989, the team has p ...

* Dan Haren, 2nd round, 72nd overall by the St. Louis Cardinals * Ryan Theriot, 3rd round, 78th overall by the

Chicago Cubs The Chicago Cubs are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The Cubs compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Central Division. Th ...

* Scott Hairston, 3rd round, 98th overall by the

Arizona Diamondbacks The Arizona Diamondbacks are an American professional baseball team based in Phoenix, Arizona. The Diamondbacks compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West Division. The franchise was established ...

* Ricky Nolasco, 4th round, 108th overall by the

* Jeff Keppinger, 4th round, 114th overall by the

Pittsburgh Pirates The Pittsburgh Pirates are an American professional baseball team based in Pittsburgh. The Pirates compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Central ...

* Josh Barfield, 4th round, 120th overall by the

San Diego Padres The San Diego Padres are an American professional baseball team based in San Diego. The Padres compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League West, West Division. ...

* Kyle Davies, 4th round, 135th overall by the

Atlanta Braves The Atlanta Braves are an American professional baseball team based in the Atlanta metropolitan area. The Braves compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Eas ...

* Brendan Harris, 5th round, 138th overall by the

* Ryan Howard, 5th round, 140th overall by the

Philadelphia Phillies The Philadelphia Phillies are an American professional baseball team based in Philadelphia. The Phillies compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) East Division. Since 2004, the team's home stadium has ...

* C.J. Wilson, 5th round, 141st overall by the Texas Rangers * Jim Johnson, 5th round, 143rd overall by the

Baltimore Orioles The Baltimore Orioles (also known as the O's) are an American professional baseball team based in Baltimore. The Orioles compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East Division. As one of the America ...

* Ryan Raburn, 5th round, 147th overall by the

Detroit Tigers The Detroit Tigers are an American professional baseball team based in Detroit. The Tigers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League Central, Central Division. One of the AL's eight chart ...

* Skip Schumaker, 5th round, 164th overall by the St. Louis Cardinals * Edwin Jackson, 6th round, 190th overall by the

Los Angeles Dodgers The Los Angeles Dodgers are an American professional baseball team based in Los Angeles. The Dodgers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League West, West Div ...

* Chad Tracy, 7th round, 218th overall by the

* Dan Johnson, 7th round, 221st overall by the

Oakland Athletics The Oakland Athletics (frequently referred to as the Oakland A's) were an American Major League Baseball (MLB) team based in Oakland, California from 1968 to 2024. The Athletics were a member club of the American League (AL) American League We ...

* Kevin Youkilis, 8th round, 243rd overall by the

* Luke Scott, 9th round, 277th overall by the

Cleveland Indians The Cleveland Guardians are an American professional baseball team based in Cleveland. The Guardians compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League Central, Central Division. Since , the team ...

* Michael Wood, 10th round, 311th overall by the

* Geovany Soto, 11th round, 318th overall by the

* Dan Uggla, 11th round, 338th overall by the

* Jason Bartlett, 13th round, 390th overall by the

* Chris Young, 16th round, 493rd overall by the

Chicago White Sox The Chicago White Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The White Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League Central, Central Division. The club plays its ...

* Jonny Gomes, 18th round, 529th overall by the Tampa Bay Devil Rays * Zach Duke, 20th round, 604th overall by the

* Jake Mauer, 23rd round, 677th overall by the

Minnesota Twins The Minnesota Twins are an American professional baseball team based in Minneapolis. The Twins compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League Central, Central Division. The team is named afte ...

Matt Albers Matthew James Albers (born January 20, 1983) is an Americans, American former professional baseball pitcher. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Houston Astros, Baltimore Orioles, Boston Red Sox, Arizona Diamondbacks, Cleveland Indi ...

, 23rd round, 686th overall by the

Houston Astros The Houston Astros are an American professional baseball team based in Houston. The Astros compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League West, West Division. They are one of two major leag ...

* Kevin Correia, 23rd round, 704th overall by the St. Louis Cardinals * Charlie Haeger, 25th round, 763rd overall by the

* Manny Parra, 26th round, 778th overall by the

* Nick Blackburn, 29th round, 857th overall by the

* Joey Gathright, 32nd round, 949th overall by the Tampa Bay Devil Rays * Chad Gaudin, 34th round, 1009th overall by the Tampa Bay Devil Rays * Rajai Davis, 38th round, 1134th overall by the

NFL players drafted

* Quan Cosby, 6th round, 179th overall by the Anaheim Angels * Cedric Benson, 12th round, 370th overall by the

* Matt Ware, 21st round, 639th overall by the

Seattle Mariners The Seattle Mariners are an American professional baseball team based in Seattle. The Mariners compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League West, West Division. The team joined the American ...

* Brandon Jones, 28th round, 845th overall by the

New York Yankees The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Am ...

, but did not sign * Brooks Bollinger, 50th round, 1480th overall by the

, but did not sign

External links

Complete draft list from ''The Baseball Cube'' database

References

{{2001 MLB Draft Major League Baseball draft

Draft Draft, the draft, or draught may refer to: Watercraft dimensions * Draft (hull), the distance from waterline to keel of a vessel * Draft (sail), degree of curvature in a sail * Air draft, distance from waterline to the highest point on a v ...

Major League Baseball draft Major League Baseball draft Baseball in New York City Sporting events in New York City