The Red Sox will pick 14th in the first round of next year’s amateur draft, as was revealed during the first-ever MLB Draft Lottery at the Winter Meetings in San Diego on Wednesday evening.
After finishing with the 14th-worst record in baseball (78-74) this season, the Sox would have been in line to receive the 14th overall pick in the 2023 draft under the old collective bargaining agreement. Earlier this spring, however, Major League Baseball and the MLB Players Association ratified a new collective bargaining agreement.
As part of that new collective bargaining agreement, a draft lottery was instituted to combat tanking and determine the first six picks in each year’s draft moving forward. Because they failed to reach the postseason this year, the Red Sox — and the 17 other non-playoff teams — qualified to be part of the lottery process.
Since they finished with the 14th-worst record, the Sox had the 14th-best odds (0.8 percent) to obtain the top pick next summer. They also had a 0.9 percent chance to land the second pick, a 1.0 percent chance to land the third pick, a 1.2 percent chance to land the fourth pick, a 1.4 percent chance to land the fifth pick, and a 1.7 percent chance to land the sixth pick, according to Tankathon.com.
The results of the lottery were announced at 8:30 p.m. eastern time on MLB Network. The Nationals, Athletics, and Pirates all had an equal chance (16.5 percent) of landing the No. 1 pick after finishing with the three worst records this season. Pittsburgh ultimately won the lottery and came away with the top overall selection as a result. Here is the order of the first round in its entirety:
1. Pirates
2. Nationals
3. Tigers
4. Rangers
5. Twins
6. A’s
7. Reds
8. Royals
9. Rockies
10. Marlins
11. Angels
12. D-backs
13. Cubs
14. Red Sox
15. White Sox
16. Giants
17. Orioles
18. Brewers
19. Rays
20. Blue Jays
21. Cardinals
22. Mariners
23. Guardians
24. Braves
25. Padres
26. Yankees
27. Phillies
28. Astros
The Pirates will be picking first for the second time in three years next July. The Red Sox, on the other hand, will be picking 14th for just the third time in franchise history.
In 1984, Boston took catcher John Marzano out of Temple University. Two years later, it took outfielder Greg McCurty out of Brockton High School. McCurty did not sign and instead played college baseball at the University of Michigan.
(Picture of Mikey Romero: Maddie Malhotra/Boston Red Sox/Getty Images)