MLB Draft Lottery: Why Can’t The Rockies, Nationals & Angels Get The No. 1 Pick?
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In looking at the listed odds for Tuesday’s MLB Draft lottery, one key thing immediately jumps out—the Rockies, Nationals and Angels aren’t included.
Why is that?
In a typical year, the bottom three teams in the MLB standings would have an equal shot to win the first-overall pick. But for 2026, both the Rockies (43-119) and Nationals (66-96) are ineligible for the lottery—leaving the White Sox (60-102) with the best overall odds of any team.
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The new system is a tough blow in particular for the Rockies, who finished with the worst record in baseball and would have been a lock for the top overall pick in the upcoming draft under the old system. Now, because they picked in the lottery in 2023 and 2024, they’ll have to settle for just the 10th overall pick.
More specifically, the Rockies are ineligible as a revenue payee that has picked in the lottery in each of the past two drafts, while the Nationals are ineligible as a revenue payor that picked in the lottery last year.
Under the current draft lottery rules, teams that receive revenue sharing (e.g., the Rockies) can’t pick in the lottery in three consecutive years, while teams that pay into revenue sharing (e.g., the Nationals) can’t pick in the lottery in consecutive years.
The Angels (72-90), meanwhile, are the third ineligible team for the lottery this year. They are a revenue payor like the Nationals and picked in the lottery last year.
Teams ineligible to receive a lottery pick can pick no earlier than 10th overall. For 2026, the Rockies will pick 10th, the Nationals will pick 11th and the Angels will pick 12th.
Other recent teams to be excluded from the draft lottery include the Nationals in 2024 (drafted Seaver King 10th overall) and the White Sox (drafted Billy Carlson 10th overall) and Athletics (drafted Jamie Arnold 11th overall) in 2025.
For 2026, the remaining 15 eligible teams will have a chance for a lottery pick. After the first six selections are determined, the rest of the order for non-postseason teams is determined by reverse order of regular season winning percentage. Ties are determined by winning percentage of the prior season.
