Results of The Inaugural MLB Draft Lottery

The results of the first-ever MLB Draft lottery are in, and the Pittsburgh Pirates are the “winners” and will be drafting first-overall.

With the three worst records in baseball, the Pirates were tied with the Nationals and the Athletics with a 16.5% chance of getting the first pick. The Nationals came in second, but Oakland fell all the way to 6^th. The Cincinnati Reds, who had a 26.3% chance of getting one of the top two picks, will not pick until 7^th. The Royals also fell to 8^th overall, despite the 5^th-worst record in 2022.

The biggest winners in the lottery were the Minnesota Twins, who finished 13^th in 2022, but now own the number five pick in the upcoming draft.

LSU outfielder Dylan Crews is expected by many to compete for the #1 pick, though Indiana prep outfielder Max Clark and Tennessee Volunteers pitcher Chase Dollander figure to be in the mix, as well.

This will be the Pirates’ second #1 pick in three seasons. In 2021, they drafted catcher Henry Davis out of the University of Louisville. Davis was ranked the #18 prospect in baseball ahead of the 2022 season by Baseball Prospectus, and made it as far as Double-A Altoona this year. He also had a strong Arizona Fall League performance in 2022. A player like Crews, who is expected to move quickly through the minors, could have an ETA within a year or two of Davis.

The Draft will remain at 20 rounds. After the first round, the non-postseason teams will choose in reverse order of winning percentage, as in previous seasons. Clubs that made the playoffs will choose in reverse order of their finish, with revenue-sharing status and reverse order of winning percentage as tiebreakers.

To recap, this is the current draft order:

1. Pittsburgh Pirates
2. Washington Nationals
3. Detroit Tigers
4. Texas Rangers
5. Minnesota Twins
6. Oakland Athletics
7. Cincinnati Reds
8. Kansas City Royals
9. Colorado Rockies
10. Miami Marlins
11. Los Angeles Angels
12. Arizona Diamondbacks
13. Chicago Cubs
14. Boston Red Sox
15. Chicago White Sox
16. San Francisco Giants
17. Baltimore Orioles
18. Milwaukee Brewers
19. Tampa Bay Rays
20. Toronto Blue Jays
21. St. Louis Cardinals
22. Seattle Mariners
23. Cleveland Guardians
24. Atlanta Braves
25. San Diego Padres
26. New York Yankees
27. Philadelphia Phillies
28. Houston Astros
29. Seattle Mariners (compensation pick for Julio Rodríguez being on O.D. roster and winning Rookie of the Year)
30. Seattle Mariners (competitive balance round A)
31. Tampa Bay Rays (competitive balance round A)
32. New York Mets (10-spot penalty for exceeding competitive balance tax threshold by more than $40 million)
33. Milwaukee Brewers (competitive balance round A)
34. Minnesota Twins (competitive balance round A)
35. Miami Marlins (competitive balance round A)
36. Los Angeles Dodgers (10-spot penalty for exceeding competitive balance tax threshold by more than $40 million)
37. Detroit Tigers (competitive balance round A)
38. Cincinnati Reds (competitive balance round A)
39. Oakland Athletics (competitive balance round A)

Second round

40. Washington Nationals
41. Oakland Athletics
42. Pittsburgh Pirates
43. Cincinnati Red
44. Kansas City Royals
45. Detroit Tigers
46. Colorado Rockies
47. Miami Marlins
48. Arizona Diamondbacks (Angels surrendered second-round pick by signing Tyler Anderson)
49. Chicago Cubs
50. Minnesota Twins
51. Boston Red Sox
52. Chicago White Sox
53. San Francisco Giants
54. Baltimore Orioles
55. Milwaukee Brewers
56. Tampa Bay Rays
57. Toronto Blue Jays
58. St. Louis Cardinals
59. New York Mets
60. Seattle Mariners
61. Cleveland Guardians
62. Atlanta Braves
63. Los Angeles Dodgers
64. San Diego Padres
65. New York Yankees
66. Philadelphia Phillies
67. Houston Astros
68. Cleveland Guardians (competitive balance round B)
69. Baltimore Orioles (competitive balance round B)
70. Arizona Diamondbacks (competitive balance round B)
71. Colorado Rockies (competitive balance round B)
72. Kansas City Royals (competitive balance round B)
73. Pittsburgh Pirates (competitive balance round B)

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Main Image Credit: From MLB.com