They actually get to keep the pick this time!
The Winter Meetings are going on in Dallas, which includes the now-annual tradition of the MLB Draft Lottery. Heading into the Lottery, the two mathematical favorites were the Colorado Rockies and the Miami Marlins. Both teams ended up being unlucky, as the Rockies ended up falling down to the fourth-overall pick and the Marlins slid down all the way to the seventh-overall pick.
Meanwhile, a couple of teams ended up getting pretty lucky when it came to moving up. The St. Louis Cardinals moved up to the fifth-overall pick after entering with the 13th-best odds in the lottery. Also, the Seattle Mariners made a big jump up to the third-overall pick after entering into the Lottery with the 15th-best odds. However, the Washington Nationals only made a modest jump up by three spots but it was enough to go from the fourth-best odds to winning the Lottery and earning the right to draft first overall in next year’s MLB Draft.
The @Nationals have won the #MLBDraft Lottery and will select first in the 2025 MLB Draft. pic.twitter.com/e5VKOqlrrF
— MLB (@MLB) December 10, 2024
This is actually the second year in a row where the Nationals won the Lottery. However, last year they ended up drafting 10th-overall since they were paying into revenue sharing and thus were unable to be in the Lottery for back-to-back seasons. They were eligible this year, though, and the lotto balls bounced their way once again. As a Braves fan, can’t say I’m particularly thrilled with this result since the Nationals aren’t really too far away from getting good again. They’ve got a solid core starting to form and now they’ll have a very good chance at adding another future contributor to that core.
Here’s the draft order for the first round of next year’s MLB Draft. The Atlanta Braves will be drafting 22nd overall.
1. Nationals
2. Angels
3. Mariners
4. Rockies
5. Cardinals
6. Pirates
7. Marlins
8. Blue Jays
9. Reds
10. White Sox
11. Athletics
12. Rangers
13. Giants
14. Rays
15. Red Sox
16. Twins
17. Cubs
18. D-backs
19. Orioles
20. Brewers
21. Astros
22. Braves
23. Royals
24. Tigers
25. Padres
26. Phillies
27. Guardians
28. Mets
29. Yankees
30. Dodgers