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Jorge Castillo, ESPN Staff Writer
DALLAS — The Washington Nationals will have the first pick in the 2025 MLB draft for the third time in franchise history after winning the draft lottery Tuesday at baseball’s winter meetings.
Washington had the fourth-best odds (10.8%) to land the top pick. The Colorado Rockies and Miami Marlins (22.5% each) were tied for the best chance, but the Marlins fell to seventh and the Rockies will select fourth.
The Los Angeles Angels will pick second after having the third-best odds for the first selection.
The Chicago White Sox, despite losing a modern-day record 121 games, were not eligible for a lottery pick — one of the top six selections — because the collective bargaining agreement stipulates a team that pays into the revenue-sharing plan cannot hold a lottery pick in consecutive drafts. The White Sox chose fifth in the 2024 draft.
The Athletics were also ineligible because teams that receive revenue sharing cannot have a lottery pick three straight years.
The Nationals also drew the No. 1 pick at last year’s draft lottery, but they weren’t eligible for a lottery selection as a team that paid into the revenue-sharing plan and couldn’t receive a lottery pick two years in a row, resulting in another drawing. The Cleveland Guardians won the No. 1 pick on the second drawing despite having just a 2% chance.
The pingpong balls went the Nationals’ way again Tuesday, which will give them a chance to replicate their previous success with No. 1 selections. In 2009, they chose right-hander Stephen Strasburg. A year later, they selected outfielder Bryce Harper. Both players were hyped as generational talents and both quickly rose through the minors to serve as franchise cornerstones during the Nationals’ ascension to NL East power in the 2010s.
Washington has not made the postseason since winning the 2019 World Series. The Nationals were third in the NL East in 2024 with a 71-91 record.
The draft lottery gives the 18 teams that do not reach the postseason an opportunity to land one of the first six selections. It was introduced in MLB’s new collective bargaining agreement that went into effect in 2023. Picks from 7 to 18 are slotted by reverse winning percentage, followed by how teams finished in the postseason.