For the second year, the MLB Draft order was determined during the Winter Meetings by a lottery -- and once again things got tossed into chaos.
Last year the Minnesota Twins benefited from the new lottery system by jumping all the way up to No. 5 after originally being outside of the Top 10. That resulted in the team being able to draft Walker Jenkins, who at times was talked about as the potential No. 1 pick but is now one of the prized prospects in the Twins farm system.
We were treated to even more chaos this year, as the MLB Draft Lottery was truly out of control and completely scrambled the entire order. The New York Yankees were projected to have a Top 18 pick but fell out thanks to the Tampa Bay Rays, a Wild Card team, moving up. Both the Colorado Rockies and Oakland A's shared top odds with the Kansas City Royals but none of those teams ended up wnning the lottery.
Instead it was the Cleveland Guardians winning the No. 1 pick for the first time in franchise history.
Minnesota benefited from all the chaos as well, moving up two spots to No. 21 overall thanks to the Yankees and Padres falling to the bottom six picks.
2024 MLB Draft order set
Here's the official draft order after things got shaken up once again by the Draft Lottery:
- Cleveland Guardians
- Cincinnati Reds
- Colorado Rockies
- Oakland A's
- Chicago White Sox
- Kansas City Royals
- St. Louis Cardinals
- Los Angeles Angels
- Pittsburgh Pirates
- Washington Nationals
- Detroit Tigers
- Boston Red Sox
- San Francisco Giants
- Chicago Cubs
- Seattle Mariners
- Miami Marlins
- Milwaukee Brewers
- Tampa Bay Rays
- New York Mets
- Toronto Blue Jays
- Minnesota Twins
- Baltimore Orioles
- Los Angeles Dodgers
- Atlanta Braves
- San Diego Padres
- New York Yankees
- Philadelphia Phillies
- Houston Astros
- Arizona Diamondbacks
- Texas Rangers
Playoff teams are not eligible to be in the draft lottery, but teams that lost in the Wild Card are. That's how the Rays were able to move up into the Top 18 and bounce into the lottery order, which is what initiated all of the chaos that ensued.
The Milwaukee Brewers also moved into the lottery after technically making the playoffs but losing to the Diamondbacks in the Wild Card round. Those teams moving up screwed the Yankees, Mets, and Padres out of better draft positioning.
Minnesota can't complain, though. For a second straight year the team moved up in the draft order thanks to the way the lottery shook out all while making the playoffs.
That’s not all. The Twins end their season by getting one more victory over the New York Yankees, a team they beat in a season series this year for the first time since 2001. The Yankees falling all the way to No. 26 is one of the reasons the Twins moved up two spots in the order, which is a nice little silver lining to thread the bow being tied around the season with.