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MLB Draft lottery rules explained

By Eric Treuden

CINCINNATI, OHIO - JULY 05: A general view of the MLB logo on the on-deck circle during the game between the New York Mets and the Cincinnati Reds at Great American Ball Park on July 05, 2022 in Cincinnati, Ohio. (Photo by Dylan Buell/Getty Images)
CINCINNATI, OHIO - JULY 05: A general view of the MLB logo on the on-deck circle during the game between the New York Mets and the Cincinnati Reds at Great American Ball Park on July 05, 2022 in Cincinnati, Ohio. (Photo by Dylan Buell/Getty Images) /
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Explaining how the MLB Draft lottery works in its first season.

For the first time in Major League Baseball history, this year’s MLB Draft will utilize a draft lottery system to determine a portion of the draft order. In years past, the draft would be decided by the reversed regular season standings of the season that recently came to a close.

Such a system may sound familiar to fans of the NBA and NHL.

The NBA started the whole draft lottery concept, utilizing the system dating all the way back to the 1985 draft.

On the NHL side of things, the draft order was solely determined by the standings at the end of the previous year’s regular season.

Major League Baseball, much like both the NBA and NHL, will have each non-playoff team from the previous season participate in the lottery.

MLB Draft lottery rules explained

The primary difference between MLB’s lottery is that there will be six spots determined. In the NBA there are four spots while the NHL only covers two.

Another significant difference between MLB’s new lottery is that there are some teams that are not allowed to participate in the event in consecutive years. This means large-market teams (AKA teams that don’t receive revenue sharing) can’t take part in the event two years in a row and small-market teams aren’t able to in three consecutive years.

MLB Draft lottery odds

  • Picks 1-6: Lottery
  • Picks 7-18: Non-postseason, non-lottery teams in reverse order of the previous year’s standings
  • Picks 19-22: Wild Card Series losers
  • Picks 23-26: Division Series losers
  • Picks 27-28: Championship Series losers
  • Pick 29: World Series loser
  • Pick 30: World Series winner

Under new MLB Draft rules negotiated as part of the Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA), the worst team from the previous season is no longer even guaranteed a spot in the top six with the new lottery. This new rule was put into place to curb non-competitive behavior commonly referred to as “tanking”.

Next. MLB rumors: 3 things to watch at Day 3 of the 2022 MLB Winter Meetings. dark

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