The Arizona Diamondbacks are a Major League Baseball franchise based in Phoenix, Arizona. The Diamondbacks compete in the National League West division. Officially known as the "First-Year Player Draft", the Rule 4 Draft is Major League Baseball's primary mechanism for assigning amateur baseball players from high schools, colleges, and other amateur baseball clubs to its teams. The draft order is determined based on the previous season's standings, with the team possessing the worst record receiving the first pick. In addition, teams which lost free agents in the previous off-season may be awarded compensatory or supplementary picks. Since the franchise first participated in the draft in 1996, the Diamondbacks have selected 27 players in the first round. The First-Year Player Draft is unrelated to the 1997 expansion draft in which the Diamondbacks filled their roster.
Of the 27 players picked in the first round by the Diamondbacks, 14 have been pitchers, the most of any position; 10 of these have been right-handed, while 4 have been left-handed. Five players taken in the first round have been shortstops; additionally, two players have been selected at each of first base, third base, catcher, and the outfield. No second baseman has been selected in the first round by the Diamondbacks. The Diamondbacks have drafted 16 players out of college, and 10 out of high school. Arizona has drafted seven players out of high schools or colleges in the state of California, with two being taken from each of Florida, Georgia, and their home state of Arizona.
The Diamondbacks' 2003 selection—Carlos Quentin, who was then playing with the Chicago White Sox—won the 2008 Silver Slugger Award as one of the three best offensive outfielders in the American League. The franchise has held the first-overall pick once, in 2005, when they selected Justin Upton. The Diamondbacks have received twelve compensatory picks, including nine selections made in the supplemental round of the draft since the franchise's first draft in 1996. These additional picks are provided when a team loses a particularly valuable free agent in the previous off-season, or, more recently, if a team fails to sign a draft pick from the previous year. The Diamondbacks have failed to sign one pick—2010 selection Barret Loux—for which they received the 7th overall pick in the 2011 draft.