The MLB Draft Lottery came and went at the league's Winter Meetings in Dallas, where executives, managers and media members gathered to make the Hilton Anatole Hotel baseball's epicenter for the week.
The league conducted its draft lottery Tuesday, which enters all non-playoff teams into a drawing for the top six picks in next year's draft. Some teams can become ineligible for the lottery, however, due to previous lotteries, market size and revenue sharing rules. This applied to two clubs this year.
Here's everything you need to know about the lottery, how the night shook out and where your team will pick in the first round of the 2025 MLB draft:
How the MLB Draft Lottery Works
This year, only 16 of the 18 non-playoff teams were eligible for the lottery. The Chicago White Sox and the Athletics were the two ineligible squads.
The White Sox were ineligible because they are a "payor club," which is a team who gives rather than receives revenue sharing dollars. Payor clubs are not allowed to be selected in consecutive lotteries. The White Sox selected fifth in 2024.
The Athletics are a "payee club," which is a team who receives revenue sharing dollars. Payee clubs cannot receive a lottery pick three years in a row, while the A's selected in the lottery in both 2023 and '24, thus ruling them out for this go round.
All eligible teams, which is everyone who didn't make the playoffs other than the White Sox and A's, are entered into the lottery drawing for pick No. 1 through pick No. 6. After the sixth pick is decided, the rest of the teams are ordered based on their winning percentage.
This year, the Colorado Rockies and the Miami Marlins had the top chances of winning the top pick. Each team had a 22.45% chance to select first. The team with the next highest odds was the Los Angeles Angels (17.96%), followed by the Washington Nationals (10.2%).
MLB Draft Lottery Results: Top Picks
Here are the teams that landed in the lottery-selected top six picks:
The Washington Nationals won the draft lottery with only the fourth best odds to do so, while the Miami Marlins slipped fully out of the lottery after entering the night tied for the top odds with the Colorado Rockies.
Complete Round 1 Order for the MLB Draft
Outside of the lottery-selected top six, here is the full first-round order for the 2025 MLB draft:
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as 2025 MLB Draft Lottery Results, Full Pick Order: Nationals No. 1, Marlins Tumble.
