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The White Sox, with the highest odds at 27.73%, won the No. 1 overall pick in next summer's draft during Tuesday's lottery at the Winter Meetings in Orlando. It will be Chicago's first No. 1 selection since taking Hall of Famer Harold Baines in 1977 and their third No. 1 pick overall (also Danny Goodwin in 1971).

"An opportunity to boost what we have going on right now," White Sox GM Chris Getz said about winning the lottery. "It's an honor. A huge responsibility."

MLB and the MLBPA agreed to the lottery as part of the current collective bargaining agreement in an effort to reduce tanking and anti-competitive behavior. The 18 non-postseason teams are eligible for the lottery, though the worst teams have the best odds. Only the first six picks are chosen via lottery. Here are the six lottery teams and their No. 1 pick odds:

  1. White Sox (27.73%)
  2. Rays (3.03%)
  3. Twins (22.18%)
  4. Giants (1.01%)
  5. Pirates (16.81%)
  6. Royals (0.84%)

Picks 7-18 are the remaining non-postseason teams in reverse order of the standings, and picks 19-30 are the 12 postseason teams in order of their finish (Wild Card Series losers first, World Series winner last, etc.). The 2026 Draft will be held in Philadelphia during next summer's All-Star break. UCLA shortstop Roch Cholowsky is the early favorite to be the No. 1 pick.

White Sox win No. 1 pick in MLB Draft Lottery: Five contenders to go first overall, including UCLA's shortstop
R.J. Anderson
White Sox win No. 1 pick in MLB Draft Lottery: Five contenders to go first overall, including UCLA's shortstop

With the lottery complete, here now is the complete first round order for the 2026 MLB draft, plus some winners and losers from the lottery.

2026 MLB Draft first round order

  1. White Sox
  2. Rays
  3. Twins
  4. Giants
  5. Pirates
  6. Royals
  7. Orioles
  8. Athletics
  9. Braves
  10. Rockies
  11. Nationals
  12. Angels
  13. Cardinals
  14. Marlins
  15. Diamondbacks
  16. Rangers
  17. Astros
  18. Reds
  19. Guardians
  20. Red Sox
  21. Padres
  22. Tigers
  23. Cubs
  24. Mariners
  25. Brewers
  26. Braves (Prospect Promotion Incentive pick for Drake Baldwin winning Rookie of the Year)
  27. Mets

The Blue Jays, Dodgers, Phillies, and Yankees had their top draft picks moved back 10 spots via competitive balance tax penalties, pushing them out of the first round. The Dodgers moved from No. 30 to No. 40. The Blue Jays moved from No. 29 to No. 39. The Phillies moved from No. 26 to No. 36. The Yankees moved from the No. 25 to No. 35. The Mets had their top pick moved back for the same reason, though they technically stayed within the first round.

Also, that is the order for the first round only. In the second round, it goes back to the reverse order of this year's standings, so the 43-119 Rockies have the first pick of the second round, the 60-102 White Sox have the second pick of the second round, etc.

Winner: White Sox

Get the No. 1 pick and you're automatically a winner. Sure, the White Sox had the highest odds for the No. 1 pick, but they're the first team in the four years of the Draft Lottery to get the No. 1 pick with the highest odds. Chicago is still fairly early in a very deep rebuild. The No. 1 pick next summer will accelerate things nicely.

Winners: Rays

The Rays were the biggest mover in the lottery, jumping from the No. 7 pick all the way to No. 2 through the lottery. It will be their highest pick since taking Tim Beckham with the No. 1 pick in 2008. In just about every sport, the first two or three picks of the draft are far more valuable than, say, the No. 6-8 picks. Tampa's expected outcome for next year's first rounder jumped considerably.

Loser: Rockies

Despite losing 17 more games than any other team in 2025, the Rockies did not have a chance to win the No. 1 pick in the lottery. That's because teams can not pick in the lottery more than two years in the row. Colorado had the No. 3 pick in 2024 and the No. 4 pick in 2025, which made them ineligible for the No. 1 pick (and a top-six pick in general) in 2026. So, their reward for those 119 losses is the No. 10 pick next summer. Ouch.

Winner: Giants and Royals

The 2014 World Series clubs went into the lottery with the 12th- and 13th-best odds, respectively, and although neither won the lottery, they made a huge jump into the top six. The Giants went from No. 12 to No. 4 and the Royals went from No. 13 to No. 6. Moving up that much shifts the draft calculus significantly, and not just because they're picking higher. They now have more money to spend too.

Loser: Cardinals

Not a huge loser, but a loser. Some team was going to take a hit with both the Giants and Royals moving into the lottery and that team is the Cardinals. They got bumped back from the No. 8 pick to the No. 13 pick. Five spots doesn't sound like much, but it is a pretty big ding that early in the draft. A pick in the top 10 is much more valuable than than one closer to No. 15.