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Jesse Rogers, ESPN Staff Writer
NASHVILLE — The Cleveland Guardians will pick first in the 2024 MLB amateur draft next summer after winning the second-ever draft lottery on Tuesday at baseball’s winter meetings.
The Guardians had just a 2% chance of earning the No.1 pick and beat out eight other teams with better odds, including the Oakland Athletics, Kansas City Royals and Colorado Rockies — all of whom had odds of 18.3%.
The Cincinnati Reds will draft second, the Rockies third, the A’s fourth and the Chicago White Sox fifth. The Royals fell all the way to sixth.
The Guardians will pick first for the first time in franchise history after finishing the 2023 season with a 76-86 record, ninth worst in the league.
The draft lottery, whereby the 18 teams that do not reach the postseason vie for the first six selections, was introduced in MLB’s new collective bargaining agreement that went into effect last year.
The Nos. 7 to 18 picks are slotted by reverse winning percentage, followed by how teams finished in the postseason.
The Pittsburgh Pirates won the inaugural draft lottery last year and selected LSU pitcher Paul Skenes at No. 1.
The complete 2024 draft order is as follows: