1996 Major League Baseball draft
The 1996 First-Year Player Draft, Major League Baseball's annual amateur draft of high school and college baseball players, was held on June 4 and 5, 1996. A total of 1740 players were drafted over the course of 100 rounds.
This is the only draft to last 100 rounds. The last player taken was outfielder Aron Amundson, drafted by the New York Yankees in the 100th round.
This draft is also notable because a record four first-round draft picks were not offered contracts by the teams that drafted them and subsequently became free agents.
First round selections
| Pick | Player | Team | Position | School |
| 1 | Kris Benson | Pittsburgh Pirates | P | Clemson University |
| 2 | Travis Lee | Minnesota Twins | 1B | San Diego State University |
| 3 | Braden Looper | St. Louis Cardinals | P | Wichita State University |
| 4 | Billy Koch | Toronto Blue Jays | P | Clemson University |
| 5 | John Patterson | Montreal Expos | P | West Orange Stark HS |
| 6 | Seth Greisinger | Detroit Tigers | P | University of Virginia |
| 7 | Matt White | San Francisco Giants | P | Waynesboro Area HS |
| 8 | Chad Green | Milwaukee Brewers | OF | University of Kentucky |
| 9 | Mark Kotsay | Florida Marlins | OF | Cal State Fullerton University |
| 10 | Eric Chavez | Oakland Athletics | 3B | Mount Carmel HS |
| 11 | Adam Eaton | Philadelphia Phillies | P | Snohomish HS |
| 12 | Bobby Seay | Chicago White Sox | P | Sarasota HS |
| 13 | Rob Stratton | New York Mets | OF | San Marcos HS |
| 14 | Dermal Brown | Kansas City Royals | OF | Marlboro Central HS |
| 15 | Matt Halloran | San Diego Padres | SS | Chancellor HS |
| 16 | Joe Lawrence | Toronto Blue Jays | SS | Barbe HS |
| 17 | Todd Noel | Chicago Cubs | P | North Vermillion HS |
| 18 | R.A. Dickey | Texas Rangers | P | University of Tennessee |
| 19 | Mark Johnson | Houston Astros | P | University of Hawaii |
| 20 | Eric Milton | New York Yankees | P | University of Maryland |
| 21 | Jake Westbrook | Colorado Rockies | P | Madison County HS |
| 22 | Gil Meche | Seattle Mariners | P | Acadiana HS |
| 23 | Damian Rolls | Los Angeles Dodgers | 3B | Schlagle HS |
| 24 | Sam Marsonek | Texas Rangers | P | Jesuit HS |
| 25 | John Oliver | Cincinnati Reds | OF | Lake-Lehman HS |
| 26 | Josh Garrett | Boston Red Sox | P | South Spencer HS |
| 27 | A.J. Zapp | Atlanta Braves | 1B | Center Grove HS |
| 28 | Danny Peoples | Cleveland Indians | 1B | University of Texas |
| 29 | Paul Wilder | Tampa Bay Devil Rays | OF | Cary HS |
| 30 | Nick Bierbrodt | Arizona Diamondbacks | P | Millikan HS |
Supplemental first round selections
Compensation picks
Other notable players
- Jacque Jones, 2nd round, 37th overall by the Minnesota Twins
- Milton Bradley, 2nd round, 40th overall by the Montreal Expos
- Jimmy Rollins, 2nd round, 46th overall by the Philadelphia Phillies
- Chad Durbin, 3rd round, 79th overall by the Kansas City Royals
- Scott Schoeneweis, 3rd round, 85th overall by the California Angels
- Shawn Chacón, 3rd round, 90th overall by the Colorado Rockies
- Alex Cora, 3rd round, 88th overall by the Los Angeles Dodgers
- Nick Johnson, 3rd round, 89th overall by the New York Yankees
- Robert Fick, 5th round, 131st overall by the Detroit Tigers
- Joe Crede, 5th round, 137th overall by the Chicago White Sox
- Brad Penny, 5th round, 155th overall by the Arizona Diamondbacks
- Jeremy Giambi, 6th round, 169th overall by the Kansas City Royals
- Casey Blake, 7th round, 189th overall by the Toronto Blue Jays
- Mark DeRosa, 7th round, 212th overall by the Atlanta Braves
- Willie Bloomquist, 8th round, 237th overall by the Seattle Mariners, but did not sign
- Justin Duchscherer, 8th round, 241st overall by the Boston Red Sox
- Doug Davis, 10th round, 293rd overall by the Texas Rangers
- Shea Hillenbrand, 10th round, 301st overall by the Boston Red Sox
- John McDonald, 12th round, 363rd overall by the Cleveland Indians
- Chad Bradford, 13th round, 377th overall by the Chicago White Sox
- Jamey Carroll, 14th round, 400th overall by the Montreal Expos
- Kevin Gregg, 15th round, 435th overall by the Oakland Athletics
- Josh Towers, 15th round, 441st overall by the Baltimore Orioles
- Mike Gonzalez, 17th round, 486th overall by the Pittsburgh Pirates, but did not sign
- Mark Hendrickson, 19th round, 563rd overall by the Texas Rangers, but did not sign
- Wade Miller, 20th round, 594th overall by the Houston Astros
- Mike MacDougal, 22nd round, 651st overall by the Baltimore Orioles, but did not sign
- Aaron Harang, 22nd round, 661st overall by the Boston Red Sox, but did not sign
- Roy Oswalt, 23rd round, 684th overall by the Houston Astros
- Ted Lilly, 23rd round, 688th overall by the Los Angeles Dodgers
- Joe Beimel, 26th round, 773rd overall by the Texas Rangers, but did not sign
- Kiko Calero, 27th round, 799th overall by the Kansas City Royals
- Willie Harris, 28th round, 816th overall by the Pittsburgh Pirates, but did not sign
- Kyle Lohse, 29th round, 862nd overall by the Chicago Cubs
- Marcus Thames, 30th round, 899th overall by the New York Yankees
- Freddy Sanchez, 30th round, 902nd overall by the Atlanta Braves, but did not sign
- Mike Lamb, 31st round, 907th overall by the Minnesota Twins, but did not sign
- Travis Hafner, 31st round, 923rd overall by the Texas Rangers
- Orlando Hudson, 33rd round, 969th overall by the Toronto Blue Jays, but did not sign
- Matt Guerrier, 33rd round, 979th overall by the Kansas City Royals, but did not sign
- Dan Wheeler, 34th round, 1024th overall by the Tampa Bay Devil Rays
- Jason Michaels, 44th round, 1314th overall by the Tampa Bay Devil Rays, but did not sign
- Chris Capuano, 45th round, 1316th overall by the Pittsburgh Pirates, but did not sign
- Juan Pierre, 48th round, 1406th overall by the Seattle Mariners, but did not sign
- Greg Dobbs, 52nd round, 1492nd overall by the Seattle Mariners, but did not sign
- Rob Mackowiak, 53rd round, 1498th overall by the Pittsburgh Pirates
- Marcus Giles, 53rd round, 1511th overall by the Atlanta Braves
- Jason Jennings, 54th round, 1531st overall by the Arizona Diamondbacks, but did not sign
- David Riske, 56th round, 1559th overall by the Cleveland Indians
- Barry Zito, 59th round, 1587th overall by the Seattle Mariners, but did not sign
- Geoff Duncan, 69th round, 1647th overall by the Florida Marlins
- Travis Phelps, 89th round, 1721st overall by the Tampa Bay Devil Rays
- Clay Condrey, 94th round, 1730th overall by the New York Yankees, but did not sign. Condrey is the lowest drafted player to ever appear in a major league game.
NFL player drafted
- Quincy Carter, 2nd round, 52nd overall by the Chicago Cubs