The 2026 MLB draft order is set
Photo credit: © Brett Davis-Imagn Images
Dec 10, 2025, 10:00 ESTUpdated: Dec 10, 2025, 02:05 EST
The 2026 Major League Draft order is now set.
On Tuesday evening, the league had its fourth annual draft lottery. Thanks to making the World Series, the Toronto Blue Jays weren’t involved like they were after their 2024 season when they finished with a 74-88 record.
That said, there were still some interesting results, especially for American League East teams. The Tampa Bay Rays finished with the 10th-worst record in MLB, but had the seventh-best odds to land the first overall pick. They weren’t that lucky, but they jumped all the way up to the second overall pick.
At the same time, the Baltimore Orioles, who had the fourth-best odds of 9.2%, fell to the seventh overall pick. From the 2019 draft until the 2022 draft, the Orioles had four picks in the top five, so at least they fell back a bit.
The Rays had a three percent chance of landing the first overall pick, and even worse odds to land the second, but they did just that. As has been the case for the past three draft lotteries, there were some teams ranked after the 10th seed who rose drastically. The Kansas City Royals were the 13th seed with a 0.8% chance of landing the first rounder, so again, even worse odds to land the sixth overall pick like they did.
Another team who rose drastically were the San Francisco Giants, who were the 12th seed with 1% odds to land the first round pick. They jumped to the fourth overall pick in the draft. The biggest winners were the Chicago White Sox, who landed the first overall pick thanks to 27.7% odds.
The top 10 is as follows: White Sox, Rays, Minnesota Twins, Giants, Pittsburgh Pirates, Royals, Orioles, Athletics, Atlanta Braves, and Colorado Rockies.
Along with the Orioles, the St. Louis Cardinals and Miami Marlins’ picks dropped a few spots. The Orioles dropped from fourth to seventh, the Cardinals dropped from the eighth seed to the 13th overall pick, while the Marlins went from the ninth seed to the 14th overall pick.
The Rockies, Washington Nationals, and Los Angeles Angels were ineligible to be in the lottery due to past lotteries. They’ll pick 10th, 11th, and 12th respectively. There were three other non-playoff teams (technically four), the Arizona Diamondbacks will pick 15th, the Texas Rangers will pick 16th, and the Houston Astros will pick 17th.
As you may know, the New York Mets also missed the playoffs, but since they went over the second Competitive Tax Balance threshold, their first round drops back 10 spots to the 27th overall pick.
That also applied to the Blue Jays, Los Angeles Dodgers, Philadelphia Phillies, and New York Yankees. If you’re wondering where the Blue Jays will pick, it’s expected to be 39th. They’ll also be without their second and fifth round pick due to signing Dylan Cease. If they sign another player who declined a qualifying offer, they’ll also lose their third and sixth round picks.
Ryley Delaney is a Nation Network writer for Blue Jays Nation, Oilersnation, and FlamesNation. She can be followed on Twitter @Ryley__Delaney.