The Chicago White Sox struggled in 2025, but help is on the way. After going 60-102 last year, Chicago won the MLB Draft lottery on Tuesday, earning the No. 1 overall pick in the 2026 MLB Draft.

The White Sox entered the event with a 27.73% chance to earn the top pick in next year’s draft, the best odds of any team. Now 2026 will be the first time the White Sox pick first overall since the team drafted Hall of Famer Harold Baines in 1977.

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Baines happened to be Chicago’s representative for this year’s lottery. It might also be worth noting that this was the first lottery since a White Sox fan became pope.

Whom will Chicago choose with the pick? UCLA shortstop Roch Cholowsky is currently the consensus top talent in 2026, but you really never know how the 2026 season will go or what deals might be cut in the MLB Draft.

After the White Sox, the Minnesota Twins (22.18%), Pittsburgh Pirates (16.81%), Baltimore Orioles (9.24%) and Athletics (6.55%) were the only other teams with better than 5% odds to win the draft lottery.

Those odds are, generally, determined based on a team’s record the previous season. The White Sox had a bad record in 2025 but not the worst record in baseball. That “honor” went to the Colorado Rockies, who finished 43-119. But the Rockies were not eligible for a lottery pick this season, as a rule prevents a team from picking in the lottery for more than two consecutive years.

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The Rockies picked fourth in the 2025 draft and third in 2024, rendering them ineligible to be a lottery team in 2026. Because of that, the earliest the Rockies could pick in the 2026 MLB Draft was 10th.

The Washington Nationals and Los Angeles Angels were also ineligible for the lottery because, as teams that pay revenue-sharing dollars rather than receive, they cannot have a lottery pick in consecutive years. The Nationals picked first in 2025, selecting high school shortstop Eli Willits, while the Angels picked second, taking UC Santa Barbara pitcher Tyler Bremner. Like the Rockies, the earliest those two teams could pick was 10th.

2026 MLB Draft order

1. Chicago White Sox
2. Tampa Bay Rays
3. Minnesota Twins
4. San Francisco Giants
5. Pittsburgh Pirates
6. Kansas City Royals
7. Baltimore Orioles
8. Athletics
9. Atlanta Braves
10. Colorado Rockies
11. Washington Nationals
12. Los Angeles Angels
13. St. Louis Cardinals
14. Miami Marlins
15. Arizona Diamondbacks
16. Texas Rangers
17. Houston Astros
18. Cincinnati Reds
19. Cleveland Guardians
20. Boston Red Sox
21. San Diego Padres
22. Detroit Tigers
23. Chicago Cubs
24. Seattle Mariners
25. Milwaukee Brewers
26. Atlanta Braves
27. New York Mets

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The Los Angeles Dodgers, Toronto Blue Jays, Philadelphia Phillies and New York Yankees all moved out of the first round after exceeding the second competitive-balance-tax threshold, which pushes their first pick back 10 spots.

The Braves earned a second first-round pick due to catcher Drake Baldwin winning Rookie of the Year in 2025.