MLB Draft Lottery: Athletics have 18.3 percent chance at No. 1 pick

The second annual MLB Draft lottery will take place on Tuesday, December 5 at the Winter Meetings.

Despite losing a league-worst 112 games, the Oakland Athletics are not assured of receiving the first overall pick in the 2024 MLB Draft. The new CBA instituted an annual Draft Lottery for the first six picks of the Draft with the hope of providing less of an incentive for teams to tank during the regular season. The A’s were bit by the lottery format last winter when their record would have given them the No. 2 overall selection under the old format, but they dropped to the sixth pick under the new lottery system.

The Athletics entered the lottery last offseason with a 16.5 percent chance of claiming the top pick. Their odds have improved slightly this time around. Oakland, the Kansas City Royals and Colorado Rockies will all enter the lottery with an 18.3 percent chance of claiming the top pick.

Here is the full breakdown:

Athletics: 18.3%
Royals: 18.3%
Rockies: 18.3%
White Sox: 14.7%
Cardinals: 8.3%
Angels: 6.1%
Mets: 4.3%
Pirates: 3.0%
Guardians: 2.0%
Tigers: 1.6%
Red Sox: 1.2%
Giants: 1.0%
Reds: 0.9%
Padres: 0.7%
Yankees: 0.6%
Cubs: 0.4%
Mariners: 0.2%

The Nationals are ineligible for this year’s lottery because teams that pay revenue sharing dollars are not allowed to be selected in consecutive lotteries.

The lottery will be held on Tuesday, December 6 at the Winter Meetings in Nashville. Any team in the lottery that doesn’t get one of the first six picks will select in reverse order of the standings for picks 7-18.