The Chicago White Sox won Major League Baseball’s 2026 draft lottery on Dec. 9 at the winter meetings and will have the No. 1 overall pick for the first time since 1977, and just the club’s third in franchise history.
The new Pope’s favorite team entered the lottery with the best odds (27.73%) to land the No. 1 pick, baseball’s fourth year with a draft lottery.
The Colorado Rockies had MLB’s worst record (43-119) and would have had the best odds but were ineligible for the lottery as they picked in the top six the past two years.
While the White Sox won out, two oof the teams with the worst chances – the San Francisco Giants (1.01%) and Kansas City Royals (0.84%) – defied the odds and snuck into the top six.
Here’s a look at the order for the 2026 MLB draft:
MLB draft lottery results
- 1. Chicago White Sox
- 2. Tampa Bay Rays
- 3. Minnesota Twins
- 4. San Francisco Giants
- 5. Pittsburgh Pirates
- 6. Kansas City Royals
- 7. Baltimore Orioles
- 8. Athletics
- 9. Atlanta Braves
- 10. Colorado Rockies
- 11. Washington Nationals
- 12. Los Angeles Angels
- 13. St. Louis Cardinals
- 14. Miami Marlins
- 15. Arizona Diamondbacks
- 16. Texas Rangers
- 17. Houston Astros
- 18. Cincinnati Reds
When is MLB draft lottery? How to watch, TV channel
- Time: 5:30 p.m. ET
- TV channel: MLB Network
MLB draft lottery odds 2026
- White Sox: 27.73%
- Twins: 22.18%
- Pirates: 16.81%
- Orioles: 9.24%
- Athletics: 6.55%
- Braves: 4.54%
- Rays: 3.03%
- Cardinals: 2.35%
- Marlins: 1.85%
- Diamondbacks: 1.51%
- Rangers: 1.34%
- Giants: 1.01%
- Royals: 0.84%
- Mets: 0.67%
- Astros: 0.34%
- Rockies: ineligible
- Nationals: ineligible
- Angels: ineligible
The Colorado Rockies had the worst record in baseball but are are ineligible for the lottery because a team can’t receive a top-six pick three years in a row, after the team had such picks in 2024 and 2025. The Washington Nationals and Los Angeles Angels are also ineligible as ‘payor’ teams, unable to receive back-to-back lottery picks.