Draft order of MLB 2019: the Orioles are on the clock and here's what you need to know

Last Sunday, the 2018 baseball season officially ended when the Boston Red Sox defeated the Los Angeles Dodgers in five World Series games. It's the fourth Boston championship in the last 15 years.

The Red Sox have won 108 regular season games this year and earned the best record in baseball. After celebrating another title, the Baltimore Orioles will continue to prepare for the 2019 amateur draft. The O have lost 115 games this season and are the first overall selection in the June draft. It is an important moment for their reconstruction.

Here is the order of the first round for the 2019 amateur project. Do not forget that it is the reverse of the ranking, the record of last year having served as break of 39; equality.

2019 Draft MLB decision

1. Baltimore Orioles
2. Kansas City Royals
3. Chicago White Sox
4. Miami Marlins
5. Detroit Tigers
6. San Diego Padres
7. Cincinnati Reds
8. Texas Rangers
9. Atlanta Braves (Compensation for Not Signing Choice # 8 of 2018, Carter Stewart)
10. San Francisco Giants
11. Toronto Blue Jays
12. New York Mets
13. Minnesota Twins
14. Philadelphia Phillies
15. Los Angeles Angels
16. Arizona Diamondbacks
17. Washington Nationals
18. Pirates of Pittsburgh
19. St. Louis Cardinals
20. Seattle Mariners
21. Atlanta Braves
22. Tampa Bay Rays
23. Colorado Rockies
24. Cleveland Indians
25. Los Angeles Dodgers
26. Arizona Diamondbacks (compensation for not signing Matt McLain, # 25 choice in 2018)
27. Chicago Cubs
28. Milwaukee Brewers
29. Oakland Athletics
30. New York Yankees
31. Los Angeles Dodgers (compensation for failing to sign 2018 No. 30 J.T. Ginn)
32. Houston Astros
33. Boston Red Sox

Now, here are some things to know about the first choice and the 2019 project in general.

It's the second time that O has the first choice

The Orioles occupy the first selection of the repêchage for the second time in the history of the franchise. They used choice No. 1 of the 1989 project on the highly respected right-wing Ben McDonald of the UML. McDonald joined the big leagues shortly after the draft and pleaded for the O from 1989 to 1995 before finishing his career with the Brewers. He retired with an ERA of 3.91 and 20.9 WAR in 1,291 1/3 career in nine seasons.

This is the first time that the Orioles have been ranked in the top five since the series of six consecutive top-five picks in 2012. Here are these six consecutive top-five picks:

The injuries sabotaged Hobgood, who played just six games over the A-class ball and never pitched over the Double-A. He's been out of baseball since 2015. Otherwise, those six top-five picks have grown into five big leagues, including a superstar in Machado. The O's will hope for a similar impact of the No. 1 selection in 2019.

Three teams have an additional first round pick

As a general rule, teams that fail to sign a first-round pick receive a compensation choice one place later the following year. The Braves recruited Stewart, a righthander at a Florida high school, with choice number 8 last year and did not sign it after seeing something he did not like at all. They receive choice # 9 this year as compensation.

In the cases of D-Backs and McLain, a shortstop of California high schools, and Dodgers and Ginn, a rightful high school student in Mississippi, the parties simply could not accept the terms of the contract. The two youngsters then headed to UCLA and the state of Mississippi, respectively, and the clubs received a selection of compensation projects this year. These compensation choices are the reason why there will be 33 first-round picks next year, while there are 30 MLB teams.

The draft directive is not totally definitive

The repechage selections will be won and lost through the independent agent compensation. The choices of the first round are however protected. The teams are keeping those now. They will drop second, third, and fourth places, as well as any other rounds chosen, when they sign a qualified free agent, but they will keep their first round. The winning and lost autonomous agent compensation choices are now tied to the size of the contract and the status of the team's payroll. It's complicated.

In addition, the MLB annually offers 14 additional selections of competitive equilibria to the restricted market teams. These choices are awarded through a lottery. The first eight come before the second round and the last six after the second round. These 14 competitive balance choices will be distributed in November. It is important to note that these 14 choices can be exchanged. These are the only negotiable choices of the MLB.

Who could go No. 1?

In a preliminary super-model in June, MLB.com's Jonathan Mayo projected short-shot Bobby Witt Jr. at Texas High School as the # 1 choice for the 2019 project. His father, Bobby Sr., played for seven teams, mostly Rangers, during a 16-year career in the big leagues, which lasted from 1986 to 2001. Mayo says that Witt Jr. has "a potential of five tools with the ability to stay at short term in the long term ". Of course, it is still very early and the temporary landscape will change once the high school and high school season begins in a few months.