The Red Sox had long odds to land a top six-pick in the MLB Draft. They ended up beating the odds, but not in the way they would’ve preferred.
Boston was jumped by two longshots in Tuesday’s MLB Draft Lottery, bumping the Red Sox down the board to No. 15 overall. The Seattle Mariners and St. Louis Cardinals, each of whom had worse lottery odds, landed within the top six and will pick No. 3 and No. 5 overall respectively.
The Washington Nationals, who had the fourth best odds, landed the No. 1 overall pick. The Los Angeles Angels will pick second, followed by the Mariners, Colorado Rockies, Cardinals and Pittsburgh Pirates.
By virtue of finishing 81-81 and with the 13th-worst record in MLB, the Red Sox had a 1.22% chance of winning the top pick and a 13.1% chance of landing inside the top six. The Rockies and Miami Marlins were tied for the best odds (22.5%/92.4% each), followed by the Angels, Nationals, and Toronto Blue Jays. The Cardinals had an 8.9% chance of landing a top six pick and the Mariners’ odds were just 6%.
The Marlins were easily the lottery’s biggest loser, falling outside the top six entirely despite their highly favorable odds.
Despite enduring one of the worst seasons in MLB history, the White Sox were not eligible for this year’s lottery because they pay money into the league’s revenue sharing program and received a lottery pick in 2024. The Athletics, who receive revenue sharing money and earned lottery picks each of the last two years, were also ineligible. They will pick No. 10 and 11, respectively.
The full lottery results are as follows.
- Washington Nationals
- Los Angeles Angels
- Seattle Mariners
- Colorado Rockies
- St. Louis Cardinals
- Pittsburgh Pirates
- Miami Marlins
- Toronto Blue Jays
- Cincinnati Reds
- Chicago White Sox
- Athletics
- Texas Rangers
- San Francisco Giants
- Tampa Bay Rays
- Boston Red Sox
- Minnesota Twins
- Chicago Cubs
- Arizona Diamondbacks