Although the Winter Meetings have been uneventful, there is some rather exciting news regarding the MLB Draft Lottery. Even though nine teams finished with worse records during the 2023 regular season, the Cleveland Guardians have been granted the first overall pick in the 2024 draft.
"Not something I was expecting AT ALL waking up this morning. In fact, wasn't really even on our radar. Knew it was happening, but given the odds, wasn't spending a whole lot of time on it." - Cleveland Guardians president Chris Antonetti after winning the No. 1 pick with 2% odds" - @awfulannouncing
This is a massive win for the Cleveland Guardians, who entered the day with only a 2.0% chance of earning the top pick in the MLB Draft Lottery. Now, after finishing the season with a 76-86 record, the Guardians will get the opportunity to build up their farm system with the first overall pick.
Prior to the MLB Draft Lottery drawing, the Oakland Athletics (18.3%), Kansas City Royal (18.3%), and Colorado Rockies (18.3%) had the highest odds of landing the top pick. Following those three teams were the Chicago White Sox (14.7%), St. Louis Cardinals (8.3%), and Los Angeles Angels (6.1%).
A look at the results of the 2024 MLB Draft Lottery and complete Draft order
The MLB universe is completely shocked by the outcome of the lottery given the fact that the Cleveland Guardians had nearly no realistic shot at walking away with the top pick. Here's a complete order for the 2024 MLB Draft
- Cleveland Guardians
- Cincinnati Reds
- Colorado Rockies
- Oakland Athletics
- Chicago White Sox
- Kansas City Royals
- St. Louis Cardinals
- Los Angeles Angels
- Pittsburgh Pirates
- Washington Nationals
- Detroit Tigers
- Boston Red Sox
- San Francisco Giants
- Chicago Cubs
- Seattle Mariners
- Miami Marlins
- Milwaukee Brewers
- Tampa Bay Rays
- New York Mets
- Toronto Blue Jays
- Minnesota Twins
- Baltimore Orioles
- Los Angeles Dodgers
- Atlanta Braves
- San Diego Padres
- New York Yankees
- Philadelphia Phillies
- Houston Astros
- Arizona Diamondbacks
- Texas Rangers
As part of the MLB's competitive balance tax threshold, the New York Yankees, New York Mets, and San Diego Padres all had their draft picks moved back 10 spots for exceeding the $273 million third-tier threshold.
"Frustrating that the teams that went all in to try and win last year (Mets/Padres/Yankees) are so penalized for that when it comes to the draft lottery." - @BenVerlander