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The White Sox won this year’s draft lottery and will have the first-overall pick in the 2026 MLB Draft. Below, we’re taking a take a look at some of the other winners and losers from Tuesday’s ping pong ball results.
Also be sure to read our complete 2026 first-round mock draft in the wake of the lottery and draft order results.
Winners
White Sox — No. 1 overall pick
Where else to start but at the top? The White Sox entered the lottery with elevated odds to claim the first-overall pick thanks to both the Rockies and Nationals not being eligible this year. The math didn’t play any funny games, and now Chicago will get first dibs on a 2026 draft class that is topped by one of the best college shortstop prospects we’ve seen in a decade: UCLA shortstop Roch Cholowsky.
The White Sox could use an infusion of talent in a bad way, and now they’ll have the first-overall pick— plus the additional pool money that it comes with—to infuse their system with upside players. The only question next spring will be whether anyone else will challenge Cholowsky for the 1-1 spot.
Giants — No. 4 overall pick
The Giants entered the lottery with just 0.6% odds for the first-overall pick but leapt over 10 teams to jump into the top six. They’ll pick fourth overall, giving them their highest draft selection since 2018 when San Francisco had the second-overall pick and took Georgia Tech catcher Joey Bart.
The Giants have been hitter-heavy in each of their last three drafts in the first round, taking shortstop Gavin Kilen in 2025, outfielder James Tibbs in 2024 and first baseman Bryce Eldridge in 2023. It seems more likely that a hitter than a pitcher will be a fit at this pick now, but there’s a trio of college arms who could improve their draft stock next spring and fit here on talent, as well.
Royals — No. 6 overall pick
The Royals are no stranger to picking inside the first 10 picks, but it was surprising to see them jump from 16th—with just 0.6% odds for the first-overall pick—all the way to No. 6 and secure the final lottery pick.
Kansas City drafted 23rd overall a year ago, but they owned a top 10 pick in each of the previous five drafts from 2020-2024, selecting Asa Lacy, Frank Mozzicato, Gavin Cross, Blake Mitchell and Jac Caglianone, respectively. At this stage, the only demographic that might not be a fit for this pick is high school pitching, with plenty of available talent that make sense in both hitter demographics and on the college pitching side.
Losers
Marlins — No. 14 overall pick
The Marlins system is on the upswing, and entering the evening, there could have been some hope that, with the ninth-best odds at 1.1%, there might be a way to sneak into a lottery pick and jump a trio of teams in front of them. Instead, it was bad news for Miami as soon as both the Royals and Giants weren’t called for picks in the 13-plus range. The Marlins wound up being a casualty to both teams leaping into the lottery.
The Marlins dropped five overall spots and wound up behind all three of the ineligible teams—Rockies at 10, Nationals at 11 and Angels at 12—as well as the Cardinals, who fell from 8th to 13th. As a result of their bad luck, Miami won’t pick until the mid teens after selecting shortstop Aiva Arquette seventh overall in the 2025 draft.
There’s some thought that the upper-tier talent in the 2026 class drops off around the 10-12 player range. If that winds up being the case on draft day, perhaps Miami would also feel the implications of a significant talent gap, as well, though it’s too soon to say that with anything more than speculation.
Mets — No. 27 overall
It seems odd to call the Mets a loser in this year’s draft lottery. They entered the night with just 0.4% odds for the first-overall pick, and they were least-likely team to secure a lottery pick aside from the Astros.
However, the implications for the Mets getting into the lottery despite those odds were significant. Had the Mets gotten a lottery pick, the 10-pick penalty they’ll receive for spending over the revenue threshold would instead be placed on their second-round pick. as lottery picks are exempt from those pick penalties. Such a result would have meant significantly more bonus pool money to spend on top of the upgraded draft position itself.
According to BA’s J.J. Cooper, who was behind the scenes for the draft lottery again this year, the Mets came awfully close to doing exactly that. Instead, they slipped to the late 20s.
