The Chicago White Sox won the 2026 MLB draft lottery Tuesday and will pick first in next summer’s draft.
The White Sox had the best odds to get the top pick at 27.73% after finishing 60-102 in the 2025 season. They will have the top selection for the first time since taking Harold Baines in 1977.
Tuesday’s draft lottery determined the first six spots of the first round, with the remaining picks being set in inverse order of the teams’ regular-season records.
2026 MLB Draft Order
The White Sox won the MLB draft lottery Tuesday and will pick first in next year’s draft:
Pick, Team1. Chicago White Sox2. Tampa Bay Rays3. Minnesota Twins4. San Francisco Giants5. Pittsburgh Pirates6. Kansas City Royals7. Baltimore Orioles8. Athletics9. Atlanta Braves10. Colorado Rockies11. Washington Nationals12. Los Angeles Angels13. St. Louis Cardinals14. Miami Marlins15. Arizona Diamondbacks16. Texas Rangers17. Houston Astros18. Cincinnati Reds
The Tampa Bay Rays will select at No. 2, and the No. 3 pick went to the Minnesota Twins, who had the second-best odds to win the lottery at 22.18%. Rounding out the six lottery picks were the San Francisco Giants, Pittsburgh Pirates and Kansas City Royals.
The league-worst Colorado Rockies(43-119) were not eligible for this year’s lottery because a team cannot receive a lottery pick in three consecutive years. They will pick 10th in the draft.
The Washington Nationals and Los Angeles Angels also were not eligible because they are “payor clubs” — or teams that give rather than receive revenue-sharing dollars — and cannot receive a lottery pick in consecutive years. The Nationals landed the 11th pick, while the Angels will pick 12th.
MLB and the players’ association established the lottery in the March 2022 collective bargaining agreement. The union pushed for the innovation to encourage teams to compete for wins rather than trade off players at the deadline in an attempt to get a higher draft choice.
The 2026 draft will take place July 11-12 in Philadelphia as part of MLB’s All-Star Week festivities.
The Nationals won the lottery last year and selected high school shortstop Eli Willits with the No. 1 pick.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
