As part of efforts to try to prevent tanking, MLB and the Players Association agreed to a draft lottery.
The event will take place this week.
“For the first time ever, the top 6 picks in the 2023 #MLBDraft will be determined by a draft lottery. The results will be revealed on Tuesday, Dec. 6 at 8:30 pm ET on @MLBNetwork,” MLB tweeted.
For the first time ever, the top 6 picks in the 2023 #MLBDraft will be determined by a draft lottery.
The results will be revealed on Tuesday, Dec. 6 at 8:30 pm ET on @MLBNetwork. pic.twitter.com/ilLCqd7Nkm
— MLB (@MLB) December 5, 2022
18 teams will be going to the lottery, but just the first six spots will be decided that way.
The picks belonging to the remaining lottery participants will be set in reverse order of regular season winning percentage.
The remaining 12 teams are the 12 that made the postseason this past year.
The draft lottery was made to stop clubs from trying to lose games on purpose in order to land a higher draft pick.
The worst teams in the league, however, do have better odds of securing a higher pick.
The Three Favorites To Land The Number One Pick
For the 2023 Draft, three teams have 16.5 percent odds of securing the first pick: the Washington Nationals, the Pittsburgh Pirates, and the Oakland Athletics.
These are the worst organizations in MLB, in the middle of rebuilding processes and with several seasons to go until they are competitive again.
The Cincinnati Reds are fourth, and the Kansas City Royals complete the top five.
The lottery was one of the MLBPA’s conditions to move forward with the new Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA).
They wanted teams to stop tanking, because when that happens they will spend less on payroll (and therefore players) and will not be competitive.
In a way, they earned a small victory with the draft lottery, although it would be hard to completely eliminate tanking.
NEXT: The Astros May Avoid Any Moves After Losing An Ace