DALLAS — The Washington Nationals will have the No. 1 overall pick in the amateur draft next summer after winning the lottery in a drawing of ping-pong balls at the winter meetings Tuesday.
Unlike last year, when the Nationals were ineligible after initially coming out with the top spot, they will get to make the first pick in July in Atlanta, the site of the All-Star Game.
Washington was ineligible for a top-six pick last year because the collective bargaining agreement states a team that pays into the revenue-sharing plan cannot have a lottery selection in back-to-back years. The Nationals chose outfielder Dylan Crews with the No. 2 pick in 2023.
Washington has selected first twice in franchise history, landing stalwarts Stephen Strasburg in 2009 and Bryce Harper in 2010.
The Los Angeles Angels have the second pick for next summer. Seattle, Colorado, St. Louis and Pittsburgh round out the top six.
A weighted lottery among the 18 teams that failed to make the playoffs this season determined the order of picks for the third year in a row.
The Nationals went in with a 10.2 per cent chance, the fourth-best odds, for getting the No. 1 pick. Colorado and Miami, both 100-loss teams, had the best odds at 22.45 per cent, ahead of the Angels at 17.96 per cent.
Miami instead ended up with the seventh pick.
The Toronto Blue Jays had the fifth-best odds (7.48 per cent) of winning the first-overall selection, but had their pick drop to eighth.
Toronto has never picked first in the MLB Draft.
Seattle got the No. 3 overall pick after having a 0.53 per cent chance to get the No. 1 pick, the second-worst odds among 16 eligible teams.
The 121-loss Chicago White Sox, who had the most losses of any major league club since 1900, were not eligible for the draft lottery since they had one of the top six picks last year (No. 5) and is a team that pays into the revenue-sharing plan.
The CBA also doesn’t allow teams that receive money in revenue sharing to have lottery picks three years in a row. That made the Athletics (69-93) ineligible for the lottery — they picked fourth last year after having the No. 6 selection in 2023.
Chicago instead got the 10th pick, one spot ahead of Oakland — the highest possible positions for those two teams because of their recent lottery picks.
The Cleveland Guardians won the 2023 lottery with just a two per cent shot at the top pick. They used the selection on Oregon State infielder Travis Bazzana.
The 2025 draft is expected to be a strong class and is headlined by MLB-pedigree infielder Ethan Holliday, Texas A&M standout Jace Laviolette and Clemson star Cam Cannarella.
Here is how the first round in the MLB Draft will play out.
1. Washington Nationals
2. Los Angeles Angels
3. Seattle Mariners
4. Colorado Rockies
5. St. Louis Cardinals
6. Pittsburgh Pirates
7. Miami Marlins
8. Toronto Blue Jays
9. Cincinnati Reds
10. Chicago White Sox
11. Athletics
12. Texas Rangers
13. San Francisco Giants
14. Tampa Bay Rays
15. Boston Red Sox
16. Minnesota Twins
17. Chicago Cubs
18. Arizona Diamondbacks
19. Houston Astros
20. Atlanta Braves
21. Baltimore Orioles
22. Milwaukee Brewers
23. Kansas City Royals
24. Detroit Tigers
25. San Diego Padres
26. Philadelphia Phillies
27. New York Mets
28. Cleveland Guardians
29. New York Yankees
30. Los Angeles Dodgers
— With files from Sportsnet Staff
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