White Sox win MLB draft lottery and have top pick for first time since taking Harold Baines in 1977

ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — The Chicago White Sox won Major League Baseball’s amateur draft lottery Tuesday and will have the top selection for the first time since taking Harold Baines in 1977.

Coming off a 102-loss season, Chicago had the highest odds to win the weighted lottery at 27.73%. The White Sox will have the No. 1 selection for the third time when the draft starts on July 11 in Philadelphia ahead of the All-Star Game.

Baines became a six-time All-Star and was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2019. Chicago selected first baseman Danny Goodwin with the top pick in 1971, and he played in parts of seven major league seasons.

Baines represented the White Sox on stage for the lottery at baseball’s winter meetings.

“I’m still learning more and more about the draft. I’m getting familiar with some of the top names,” White Sox general manager Chris Getz said in an interview on MLB Network. “It looks like, at the top of the draft, that it’s a really impressive one.

“But on top of that, when you look at the pool space that you’re given and a chance to really walk away from a draft class and do some damage, bring in some real talent. … I’m just excited for our fan base and the people that are working for the Chicago White Sox.”

UCLA shortstop Roch Cholowsky is currently projected as the top selection, followed by Fort Worth Christian High School shortstop Grady Emerson.

Tampa Bay will pick second, followed by Minnesota, San Francisco, Pittsburgh, Kansas City, Baltimore, the Athletics, Atlanta and Colorado.

MLB and the players’ association established the lottery in the March 2022 collective bargaining agreement. The union pushed for the innovation to encourage teams to compete for wins rather than trade off players at the deadline in an attempt to get a higher draft choice.

Pittsburgh won the lottery the first year and chose right-hander Paul Skenes, the 2024 NL Rookie of the Year and 2025 NL Cy Young Award winner. Cleveland went first in 2024 and selected second baseman Travis Bazzana and Washington picked shortstop Eli Willits this July.

Colorado, the Los Angeles Angels and Washington were not eligible for this lottery. The Rockies, a big league-worst 43-119. were excluded because a team can’t receive a lottery pick in three consecutive years. The Angels and Nationals were blocked because teams that receive revenue sharing money can’t get a lottery pick in two straight years.

After the White Sox, Minnesota had the second-highest odds of the top pick at 22.18%, followed by Pittsburgh (16.81%), Baltimore (9.24%) and the Athletics (6.55%).

The New York Mets, the second-biggest spenders this year behind the Los Angeles Dodgers, had a 0.67% chance and will wind up drafting 27th after missing the playoffs.

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