Major League Baseball (MLB) is holding its draft lottery this year at its winter meetings in Orlando, Florida, for the fourth season. With a relatively new lottery system, most teams that missed the playoffs last season have a chance to land some top talent in hopes of making their mark in the major leagues sooner rather than later.
In this year’s MLB draft, the teams with the highest odds of winning the No. 1 pick are the Chicago White Sox (27.73%), Minnesota Twins (22.18%) and Pittsburgh Pirates (16.81%). The Baltimore Orioles are ranked fourth, with odds as high as 9.24%, the highest among American League East teams. The Colorado Rockies, despite ultimately being the worst team in baseball, still didn’t qualify as the team could only qualify for the lottery in consecutive years.
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Last year, the Washington Nationals had the No. 1 pick despite having the sixth-worst record in the MLB. They selected shortstop Eli Willetts from Fort Cobb-Broxton High School in Fort Cobb, Oklahoma. He is the third youngest No. 1 pick in MLB draft history.
This year’s winner, though, is the team with the best odds – the White Sox. The Tampa Bay Rays’ chances of landing the second pick also jumped from 3.03% to third, while the Twins dropped one spot to third. The San Francisco Giants and Pittsburgh Pirates will round out the top five.
As for the Yankees, they fell further down the rankings due to overall results and luxury tax penalties. So while they originally had the 25th overall pick, they will drop to the 35th overall pick, according to Baseball America.
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Last year, New York finished in 39th place after falling out of the World Series and experiencing luxury tax violations. They selected shortstop Dax Kilby, a left-handed bat out of Newnan High School in Georgia who played for Clemson and played 18 games in Low-A ball in the Florida State League last season, posting a .353/.457/.441 slash line.
