Dan ODowd will be on the desk for MLB Networks live coverage of the first round of the MLB Draft tonight (starts at 6 p.m. ET), his fourth consecutive year providing insight and analysis for the network during the event.

O'Dowd, now a regular analyst for the network, is in his fourth decade of involvement with the MLB Draft, though. ODowds front-office career started with the Orioles, and in 1988 he moved to Cleveland to become the director of player development, then was promoted to a sistant GM in 1993. In 1999, he was named general manager of the Colorado Rockies, and he held that post for 15 years.

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So when we wanted insight Alex Gordon Jersey into the draft, ODowd was an easy choice. Our conversation covered a wide variety of topics, from what the MLB Draft can be in the future, to mistakes he (and other GMs) made in the past and what he learned from those, to the player whoimpre ses him the most in this years draft.

The conversation has been edited for clarity and length.

SPORTING NEWS: Its pretty obvious you love this stuff, being involved with the draft.

ODOWD: Oh, I love it. The draft is my favorite time of the year for me. I think its the most important time of the year in the game of baseball. I think its the most singular important day in the calendar year for every organization. Ive always felt that way, and this jobs been great because I get a chance to talk about so many different players, from a different point of view completely. I love it. Its my favorite day of the year. Its a Hunter Dozier Jersey long day. They might have to put a catheter on me to get me through the six hours they put me on the desk without letting me go to the bathroom.

SN: Thats interesting. How long have you had that opinion, that the draft is the most important day for a baseball franchise? When did that form in your mind?

ODOWD: Through those Cleveland years, when we had a couple bad drafts. You dont realize it at the time. It really, really haunted my Colorado tenure. We mi sed on some guys up top. Its just amazing the hole that creates within your organization. Where you get impact is the top end of the draft. You can get good players throughout the draft, but the impact comes from the top end. You know, Ryan, it took me forever in this job to be comfortable in really understanding why I was doing the job, and yet the longer I did it, the more I realized how much more I had to learn about the job. And I still feel that way, to this day. And one of the areas, for me, that I still have so much to learn in is scouting, in particular, and then development on top Abraham Almonte Jersey of that.

SN: When you were in Cleveland and then early on with the Rockies, before MLB Network started, did you ever sit there and think, This draft should be televised, too, like the NFL and NBA.

ODOWD: No doubt. I didnt think it should just be televised. I thought it should turn into a national event. Now, back in my early days with the Indians, Baseball America was the bible of prospect ranking, and now its gone to an extent beyond my wildest imagination. Now, honestly, we live in a game right now where a GM can actually help his resume by having a terrible major-league product on the field, but if their analytical rankings of the prospects within their system is recognized as one of the better in the game, he actually improves his resume by doing that. Years ago, that never would have happened. So the draft itself and the development proce s has taken on such a life of its own. I mean, I wish wed televise the first two days of the draft. I wish wed do it similar to the way the NFL does it, and how the NBA does it. I think our sport has gained that type of traction and were ready for the next step in the exposure of this part. I wish there were no games played that day, and I wish the draft was the total focus of the industry on this particular day. To me, personally, its that important. Its more important than any game going on at all.

SN Kelvin Herrera Jersey : Is that realistic? Do you see a time when there are no games happening and the MLB Draft takes center stage for the sport?

ODOWD: Yes. I actually dont feel like there is a doubt it will take on that type of spectacle. You can see it being done at the College World Series, turn it into an event. You open it up to fans, so you could have basically a thousand people at your draft year in an year out. You can do some really, really cool things with your draft because, if prospects have now gotten to the point where you dont want to sign a major-league free agent and give up the chance to take a shot at an impact guy in the draft, and its now held within our industry at a very high level, the importance of this is held at a high level.

SN: Anytime we do something on draft mi ses, the All-Stars who could have worn a different uniform, our readers eat that up. They love it. Does that make GMs like yourself lose sleep when you think about it?

ODOWD: Sure, absolutely. I think the only way you can get better is, I used to call it, doing an autopsy on your decisions. Now, you cant do an autopsy Martin Maldonado Jersey on the draft the year after the draft. Youve got to wait three years and then begin to look back. But, objectively, some of the things I learned were not to worry about need, to pick the best player available because you cant predict the future in the game of baseball. No. 2 is that the most difficult position to project on is high school pitching, and we mi sed on three high school pitchers in Madison Bumgarner, Clayton Kershaw and Cole Hamels. ...Might have been more problematic because of where we played, a little skittish based upon the venue. But also, its difficult to project on high school arms, in particular, and left-handers can sometimes be a little more of an enigma, too. I mean, youre just constantly learning. Every organization has a set of what I call separators, and Im going to try and talk about that on air a lot on Monday night. Those are the things that guide you in the decisions you make.

SN: Give me some examples.

ODOWD: For me personally, I liked hit over power. I didnt Ryan O Hearn Jersey like to gamble on power. I liked to take guys who can hit, and I felt power would come based upon physical strength projection and learning to leverage. I liked taking strike-throwers over great arms who couldnt throw strikes. I like pitchers over the mound who had an internal clock of balance, rhythm and timing. I loved athleticism at every single position. I like catchers that are 5-10 to 6-2; I didnt like catchers bigger than that because, one, they didnt have sustained heal