Chicago White Sox, you were on time.
Following the 2025 MLB Draft Lottery, the White Sox will select No. 1 overall in the 2026 MLB Draft.
Chicago entered the lottery with the best odds of 27.73%, becoming only the second team in lottery history to enter with the best odds and receive the No. 1 pick (Pittsburgh, 2023).
advertise
As part of the collective bargaining agreement (CBA) signed in 2022, the purpose of the lottery is to prevent teams from “getting into trouble” and create competitive balance through competitive imbalance, in which all non-playoff teams are eligible to finish in the top six under special restrictions.
The draw percentages are calculated in reverse order of last season’s standings, with some exceptions. Even though the Colorado Rockies have the worst record in baseball in 2025, they are not eligible for the lottery and can only draft higher than the 10th pick.
According to the rules of the lottery, teams that receive revenue sharing cannot participate in the lottery draft for three consecutive seasons, and teams that pay revenue sharing cannot participate in the lottery draft in consecutive years.
The Rockies are no longer eligible to be revenue recipients having selected the last two draft picks in the lottery; the Washington Nationals and Los Angeles — both of whom paid revenue sharing — had the top two picks in the last draft. The three clubs are unable to draft before the 10th pick and will proceed in reverse order (Colorado, 10th; Washington, 11th; Los Angeles, 12th).
advertise
Despite being able to select before opponents, the bonus pool era of the draft has seen higher picks become more important to slot machine bonuses and the money awarded in club bonus pools.
In the 2025 lottery, three teams – the Kansas City Royals, San Francisco Giants and Tampa Bay Rays – received significant bonus pool gains through lottery selections. Leveraging previous slot bonuses, San Francisco will have more than $3.656 million in its bonus pool; Tampa Bay will add $3.102 million; and Kansas City will add $2.629 million.
The risers are followed by fallers, such as the Minnesota Twins and Arizona Diamondbacks, who dropped one spot in the draft; the Pittsburgh Pirates and Texas Rangers dropped two spots; the Baltimore Orioles, Athletics and Atlanta Braves all dropped three spots; and the St. Louis Cardinals and Miami Marlins dropped five spots. The difference in prize money for each team will result in slot machine prizes being reduced from $383,500 to $1.621 million.
Unofficial 2026 MLB Draft Orders
-
Atlanta Braves (Prospect promotion incentives; Derek Baldwin wins NL Rookie of the Year)
-
New York Mets (10-pick penalty for exceeding second competitive balance tax threshold)
-
Houston Astros (prospect promotion incentives; Hunter Brown finishes in top three in AL Yankees voting)
-
Cleveland Guardians (Competitive Balance A)
-
Kansas City Royals (Competitive Balance A)
-
Arizona Diamondbacks (Competitive Balance A)
-
St. Louis Cardinals (Competitive Balance A)
-
Baltimore Orioles (Competitive Balance A)
-
Pittsburgh Pirates (Competitive Balance A)
-
New York Yankees (10-pick penalty for exceeding second competitive balance tax threshold)
-
Philadelphia Phillies (10-pick penalty for exceeding second competitive balance tax threshold)
-
Colorado Rockies (Competitive Balance A)
-
Colorado Rockies (Second round)
-
Toronto Blue Jays (10-pick penalty for exceeding second competitive balance tax threshold)
-
Los Angeles Dodgers (10-pick penalty for exceeding second competitive balance tax threshold)
advertise
The No. 1 pick in the 2026 MLB Draft class is led by UCLA shortstop Roch Cholowsky, who is viewed as the best amateur draft prospect since Bryce Harper in 2010 and the most complete shortstop prospect since Alex Rodriguez in 1993, and many early expected him to enter the lottery as the No. 1 overall pick and No. 1 overall pick on draft day.
Throughout the spring, you can follow The Sports Tribune’s coverage of the MLB Draft and related prospects through TST’s social media pages.
TST draft team:
