Baseball’s annual three-day amateur draft will begin seven weeks from today. The 2017 draft runs from June 12th to 14th this season and it’s safe to assume MLB Network will again broadcast the first day. Based on previous years, the broadcast will cover 75 picks on Day One, stretching from the First Round to Competitive Balance Round B. Here is the full 2017 draft order.

The Yankees will make two selections on Day One — their first (16th overall) and second (54th overall) round picks — and for the third straight year, they will pick in the top 20. They held the 18th pick last year (OF Blake Rutherford) and the 16th pick (RHP James Kaprielian) the year before. Only once in the previous 19 years did the Yankees have a top 20 pick. They used the 17th pick to take SS C.J. Henry in 2005. He was later traded for Bobby Abreu.

At some point soon, perhaps later this week, I’ll begin profiling draft prospects and potential draft targets for the Yankees. I never did profile Rutherford last summer because I didn’t think he’d fall all the way to 18th. It would be cool if something similar happened this year. Here’s the draft profile I wrote about OF Aaron Judge back in 2013. The profiles will look similar again this year. Here are a few draft notes seven weeks out from the main event.

Yankees will have a $6.91M bonus pool

A few weeks back it was reported the Yankees will have a $6.583M bonus pool, but it turns out that’s low. They’ll actually have a $6,912,800 pool this year, according to Jim Callis. More important than the overall bonus pool are the individual slots. Here are New York’s slot values for the 2017 draft:

• First Round (16th overall): $3,458,600
• Second Round (54th): $1,236,000
• Third Round (92nd): $588,700
• Fourth Round (122nd): $433, 100
• Fifth Round (152nd): $323,400
• Sixth Round (182nd): $247, 600
• Seventh Round (212nd): $193,700
• Eighth Round (242nd): $157,200
• Ninth Round (272nd): $141,200
• Tenth Round (302nd): $133,300

As a reminder, if the Yankees fail to sign a player in one of those slots, they lose the associated pool money. If they sign a player below the slot value, they can use the savings elsewhere. The Yankees, like many teams, tend to select college seniors in the sixth through tenth rounds, sign them dirt cheap, then spend the savings on other players. That’s the only way you can give out overslot bonuses now.

MLB and the MLBPA agreed to direct more bonus pool money to the top of the draft as part of the new Collective Bargaining Agreement, which is why the first round slot is so high. Last year the Yankees had a $2,441,600 slot bonus for Rutherford and the 18th pick. Yeah. The money was distributed much more linearly through the top ten rounds. Now it’s top heavy.

Baseball America, MLB.com top draft prospects

In recent weeks both Baseball America (no subs. req’d) and MLB.com released their top draft prospect lists. Baseball America’s list runs 100 players deep at the moment. Eventually that will grow to 500 based on previous years. MLB.com’s list covers 50 players and will eventually expand to 200. As always the MLB.com information is completely free. Scouting reports, video, 20-80 grades, the whole nine. It’s an amazing resource.

The consensus top draft prospect this year is California HS SS/RHP Hunter Greene, who Keith Law recently said has a “chance (to be) a generational talent.” Greene is a legitimate prospect as both a shortstop and a pitcher, though most believe he has more upside on the mound. It’s worth noting a high school right-handed pitcher has never been selected first overall. Greene has a chance to make history this summer. (Don’t miss the Greene vs. Rutherford video above!)

As for potential Yankees targets, I’d start by looking at players from Southern California. That is scouting director Damon Oppenheimer’s wheelhouse. Both high school and college, and if the college guy has had success in the Cape Cod League, that’s a bonus. Rutherford, Kaprielian, LHP Ian Clarkin, RHP Gerrit Cole, RHP Ian Kennedy … all first round picks under Oppenheimer and all SoCal products.

Baseball America’s mock draft v2.0

Last month John Manuel posted his first mock draft of the year, though it only covered the top ten picks, so the Yankees were not included. He had the Twins selecting Greene (as a pitcher) with the No. 1 overall pick. Last week Manuel posted his second mock draft — this time he had the Twins taking Louisville 1B/LHP Brendan McKay — and this one covered the entire first round. He has the Yankees taking California HS 1B/OF Nick Pratto with the 18th overall selection. Here’s the blurb:

Fresh off Blake Rutherford’s strong start, the Yankees could go to the SoCal hitter well again with Pratto, who also has a fallback as a lefthanded pitcher. While the Yankees have had confidence in their ability to draft and develop pitching, the injuries to James Kaprielian and success of homegrown hitters such as Aaron Judge could nudge them back in the hitter direction. Pratto runs well enough to give the outfield corners a shot rather than just being limited to first base.

Even with the draft six weeks away, it’s still a bit too early to start connecting teams to individual players. Lots and lots can and will change between now and draft day. As I said before, Southern California is a safe bet for the Yankees, so I guess that means Pratto fits.

According to Hudson Belinsky, the Yankees will have a $6.583M bonus pool for the 2017 amateur draft based on the league’s proposed numbers. Those figures are not final, though if they do change, it shouldn’t be substantially. A few bucks here and there, basically.

The new Collective Bargaining Agreement has changed the way draft bonus pool money is distributed. The picks at the very top of the draft are closer together — the first and second picks had $9.015M and $7.76M slot values last year, this year it’s $7.4M and $6.85M — and that’s to discourage tanking. Also, more bonus pool money is tied up in the first and second round.

MLB’s thinking is shifting more money to the top two rounds gives teams less flexibility to sign players to overslot bonuses later in the draft. So I guess that’s another concession MLBPA made during CBA talks. This could push some pretty good athletes to college, or even other sports. MLB should be trying to bring them in, not push them out.

Anyway, the overall bonus pool doesn’t mean much in and of itself. The individual slot values are most important. Here is the breakdown for the Yankees, per Belinsky:

• First Round (16th overall): $3,293,600
• Second Round (54th overall): $1,177,000
• Third Round (92nd overall): $560,600
• Fourth Round (122nd overall): $412,400
• Fifth Round (152nd overall): $308,000
• Sixth Round (182nd overall): $235,800
• Seventh Round (212th overall): $184,500
• Eighth Round (242nd overall): $149,700
• Ninth Round (272nd overall): $134,500
• Tenth Round (302nd overall): $126,900

Last year the Yankees used their seventh through tenth round picks on college seniors and signed them for $10,000 each. They saved $648,900 in bonus pool space by doing that, which was redirected to Blake Rutherford. Based on this year’s proposed slot values, doing the same thing would save the team only $555,600. Like I said, the money has been pushed to the top of the draft.

The 16th overall pick came with a $2,660,800 slot last summer — it was $2,543,300 in 2015, when the Yankees took James Kaprielian with the 16th pick — so this year’s slot is an increase of more than $630,000 from last year’s draft. But again, that’s not because the team has more money to spend. That money was taken from the later rounds. Sucks for the late rounders.

One bit of good news: slot value for every pick after the tenth round is now $125,000, up from $100,000. Anything over $125,000 given to one of those players counts against the bonus pool. Two years ago the Yankees gave 11th rounder Josh Rogers a $485,000 bonus, so $385,000 counted against the bonus pool.

The redistribution of money means the Yankees and every other team will have to be a little more creative when it comes to saving bonus pool space for overslot bonuses. The owners keep trying to push bonuses down and they have more and more success with each new CBA, it seems.

Last week, both Jose Bautista and Mark Trumbo signed new contracts with their former teams, the Blue Jays and Orioles. That’s a shame. I was hoping those two would leave the AL East. They combined to hit nine home runs against the Yankees last season.

Anyway, Bautista and Trumbo were the last two remaining qualified free agents, so now that they’ve signed, the first round draft order is set. The Yankees moved up one spot this winter and will pick 16th overall in the 2017 draft this June. They moved up when the Rockies forfeited the 11th overall pick to sign Ian Desmond.

The Yankees have a top 18 pick for the third straight season. That hasn’t happened since 1990-93, when they had a top 13 pick in four straight drafts, including the No. 1 pick in 1991 (Brien Taylor). New York selected James Kaprielian with the No. 16 pick two years ago and Blake Rutherford with the No. 18 pick last year.

There have been countless studies (like this one) that have shown once you get outside the top ten selections, the difference in expected value of a draft pick isn’t enormous within the top two rounds or so. But still, that 16th overall pick is juuust high enough to get a kid like Rutherford, who slips due to bonus demands.

The full draft order is right here. It’s worth noting the 14 Competitive Balance picks can be traded during the regular season, so the draft order isn’t truly final. Those 14 picks could still move around. Otherwise the rest of the draft order is set.

With the regular season over, the 2017 amateur draft order is now finalized. The Twins, for the third time in their history, hold the top overall pick. They lost 103 games this year. No other team lost more than 94. Yikes. This is the third time Minnesota has the first overall selection, joining 1983 (Tim Belcher) and 2001 (Joe Mauer).

The Yankees hold the 17th overall pick in next June’s draft. They finished the season with an 84-78 record, same as the Astros, but because the Yankees had the better record in 2015 (87-75 vs. 86-76), the Astros get the 16th pick and the Yankees get the 17th pick. Houston holds the tiebreaker. Womp womp. I guess homefield advantage in the AL Wildcard Game wasn’t worth it after all.

Anyway, this is the third straight year the Yankees hold a pick in the teens; they picked 16th in 2015 (James Kaprielian) and 18th in 2016 (Blake Rutherford). This is the second time in franchise history the Yankees have held the 17th pick. They used that pick to take C.J. Henry back in 2005. That one didn’t work out. At least they turned Henry into Bobby Abreu.

Last year the 17th overall pick came with a $2,504,500 slot value, though that figures to go up. The bonus pool numbers have increased each of the last four years. Of course, that 17th pick is tentative. The draft order will change as qualified free agents change teams. Heck, the Yankees could even give up that pick to sign someone. We’ll see.