1988 Major League Baseball draft
The 1988 Major League Baseball draft took place June 1–3, 1988, in New York City. The draft saw the San Diego Padres select Andy Benes first overall.
First round selections
The following are the first round picks in the 1988 Major League Baseball draft.| Pick | Player | Team | Position | Hometown/School |
| 1 | Andy Benes | San Diego Padres | RHP | Evansville |
| 2 | Mark Lewis | Cleveland Indians | SS | Hamilton High School |
| 3 | Steve Avery | Atlanta Braves | LHP | Kennedy High School |
| 4 | Gregg Olson | Baltimore Orioles | RHP | Auburn |
| 5 | Bill Bene | Los Angeles Dodgers | RHP | Cal State Los Angeles |
| 6 | Monty Fariss | Texas Rangers | SS | Oklahoma State |
| 7 | Willie Ansley | Houston Astros | OF | Plainview High School |
| 8 | Jim Abbott | California Angels | LHP | Michigan |
| 9 | Ty Griffin | Chicago Cubs | 2B | Georgia Tech |
| 10 | Robin Ventura | Chicago White Sox | 3B | Oklahoma State |
| 11 | Pat Combs | Philadelphia Phillies | LHP | Baylor |
| 12 | Tom Fischer | Boston Red Sox | LHP | Wisconsin |
| 13 | Austin Manahan | Pittsburgh Pirates | SS | Horizon High School |
| 14 | Tino Martinez | Seattle Mariners | 1B | Tampa |
| 15 | Royce Clayton | San Francisco Giants | SS | St. Bernard High School |
| 16 | Stan Royer | Oakland Athletics | C | Eastern Illinois |
| 17 | Charles Nagy | Cleveland Indians | RHP | UConn |
| 18 | Hugh Walker | Kansas City Royals | OF | Jacksonville High School |
| 19 | Dave Wainhouse | Montreal Expos | RHP | Washington State |
| 20 | Johnny Ard | Minnesota Twins | RHP | Manatee CC |
| 21 | Dave Proctor | New York Mets | RHP | Allen County CC |
| 22 | John Ericks | St. Louis Cardinals | RHP | Illinois |
| 23 | Brad DuVall | St. Louis Cardinals | RHP | Virginia Tech |
| 24 | Alex Fernandez | Milwaukee Brewers | RHP | Monsignor Edward Pace High School |
| 25 | Ed Sprague | Toronto Blue Jays | 3B | Stanford |
| 26 | Rico Brogna | Detroit Tigers | 1B | Watertown High School |
Supplemental first round selections
| 27 | Jeff Mutis | Cleveland Indians | LHP | Lafayette |
| 28 | Ricky Gutiérrez | Baltimore Orioles | SS | American Senior High School |
| 29 | Ted Wood | San Francisco Giants | OF | New Orleans |
| 30 | Brian Jordan | St. Louis Cardinals | OF | Richmond |
Other notable players
- Arthur Rhodes†, 2nd round, 34th overall by the Baltimore Orioles
- Bob Hamelin, 2nd round, 48th overall by the Kansas City Royals
- Darren Oliver, 3rd round, 63rd overall by the Texas Rangers
- Scott Servais, 3rd round, 64th overall by the Houston Astros
- Marquis Grissom†, 3rd round, 76th overall by the Montreal Expos
- David Weathers, 3rd round, 82nd overall by the Toronto Blue Jays
- Luis Gonzalez†, 4th round, 90th overall by the Houston Astros
- Turk Wendell, 5th round, 112th overall by the Atlanta Braves
- Mickey Morandini†, 5th round, 120th overall by the Philadelphia Phillies
- John Valentin, 5th round, 121st overall by the Boston Red Sox
- Pat Listach, 5th round, 133rd overall by the Milwaukee Brewers
- Eric Karros, 6th round, 140th overall by the Los Angeles Dodgers
- Gary DiSarcina, 6th round, 143rd overall by the California Angels
- Rheal Cormier, 6th round, 158th overall by the St. Louis Cardinals
- Greg McMichael, 7th round, 163rd overall by the Cleveland Indians
- Jim Edmonds†, 7th round, 169th overall by the California Angels
- Mark Wohlers†, 8th round, 190th overall by the Atlanta Braves
- Tim Naehring, 8th round, 199th overall by the Boston Red Sox
- Tim Wakefield†, 8th round, 200th overall by the Pittsburgh Pirates
- Mark Clark, 9th round, 236th overall by the St. Louis Cardinals
- Pete Rose Jr., 12th round, 295th overall by the Baltimore Orioles
- Scott Hatteberg, 12th round, 302nd overall by the Philadelphia Phillies, but did not sign
- Paul Byrd†, 13th round, 332nd overall by the Cincinnati Reds, but did not sign
- Kenny Lofton†, 17th round, 428th overall by the Houston Astros
- Darren Lewis, 18th round, 463rd overall by the Oakland Athletics
- John Flaherty, 25th round, 641st overall by the Boston Red Sox
- Joey Hamilton, 28th round, 711th overall by the Baltimore Orioles, but did not sign
- Scott Taylor, 28th round, 719th overall by the Boston Red Sox
- Woody Williams†, 28th round, 732nd overall by the Toronto Blue Jays
- Russ Davis, 29th round, 755th overall by the New York Yankees
- Jeff Frye, 30th round, 765th overall by the Texas Rangers
- Damion Easley†, 30th round, 767th overall by the California Angels
- Deion Sanders, 30th round, 781st overall by the New York Yankees
- Mike Matheny, 31st round, 810th overall by the Toronto Blue Jays, but did not sign
- Aaron Sele†, 37th round, 961st overall by the Minnesota Twins, but did not sign
- Marvin Benard, 39th round, 1003rd overall by the Chicago White Sox, but did not sign
- Orlando Palmeiro, 43rd round, 1114th overall by the New York Yankees, but did not sign
- Scott Erickson†, 44th round, 1140th overall by the Toronto Blue Jays, but did not sign
- Fernando Viña†, 51st round, 1266th overall by the New York Yankees, but did not sign
- Mike Piazza‡, 62nd round, 1390th overall by the Los Angeles Dodgers
‡ Hall of Famer
NFL players drafted
- Rodney Peete, 14th round, 359th overall by the Oakland Athletics, but did not sign
- Todd Marinovich, 43rd round, 1101st overall by the California Angels, but did not sign
- Hart Lee Dykes, 54th round, 1300th overall by the Chicago White Sox, but did not sign