How to watch, team odds, top prospects and more

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(Photo by Daniel Shirey/MLB Photos via Getty Images)

Three years later, the MLB Draft lottery has become a must-play for baseball fans.

In the first two runs of the lottery, we saw the ping-pong balls fall for a team with the best chance of landing the Pirates’ top pick for 2023, and we saw a major statistical surprise when the Guardians took the No. 1 spot 1 in the overall selection for 2024, although the chance of winning is only two percent.

Will the lottery draw for the 2025 draft hold more surprises?

When does the MLB Draft Lottery take place?

This year’s draft lottery is scheduled to take place during the Winter Meetings in Dallas on Tuesday, December 10th at 5:30 p.m. ET.

How to stream the 2025 MLB Draft Lottery?

The event will be broadcast on MLB Network and streamed live on MLB.com.

How does the MLB Draft lottery work?

As part of the collective bargaining agreement signed in 2022, MLB introduced a draft lottery to help curb tanking.

According to the CBA, all eligible non-playoff teams participate in the lottery and have a chance to win the first six picks, with odds depending on ranking. Table tennis balls are placed into an air-blown lottery machine that produces a ball labeled with a number every 15 seconds. Four balls are collected to create a four-digit code that corresponds to a specific team.

The process repeats until the first six lottery spots are filled. Once the lottery is completed, the remaining lottery teams will be divided according to the original odds.

Which teams have the best chances?

The Rockies and Marlins enter the draft lottery with the best odds at 22.45% each, while the Angels are in third place at 17.96%. The Diamondbacks have the worst odds at just 0.20%. You can find the complete odds here.

Why aren’t the White Sox & A’s included in the lottery?

Despite the poor record in 2024 – historically poor in the case of the White Sox – neither the White Sox nor the Athletics are eligible for a lottery pick and cannot pick earlier than 10th and 11th, respectively.

The White Sox received a lottery pick in the 2024 draft and pay into revenue sharing, meaning they cannot make a lottery pick in consecutive drafts, while the A’s received lottery picks in the 2023 and 2024 drafts and receive revenue sharing. This means they cannot have lottery picks in three consecutive drafts.

The same penalty applied to the Nationals in the 2024 draft. After receiving the second overall pick in 2023, the Nationals could only pick 10th at the earliest the following year.

What about the non-lottery teams?

The draft order of ineligible teams (the eight postseason teams) is determined by a combination of postseason completion, regular season standings and revenue share status. Here is the order for this year’s lottery:

19. Orioles
20. Brewer
21. Astros
22. Brave
23. Royals
24. Tigers
25. Padres
26. Phillies
27. Guardian
28. Mets
29. Yankees
30. Dodgers

Who are the best prospects for the 2025 draft?

The 2025 draft class appears to be stronger than the 2024 class. There is a large and solid group of high school prospects, but no clear and obvious choice at No. 1 overall yet.

In September, Baseball America released its updated ranking of the top 100 draft prospects for 2025. Topping the list is Jace LaViolette, a Texas A&M outfielder who combines a special blend of skill, athleticism and collegiate performance as a left-handed hitter.

Find more rankings and draft coverage here: