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MLB new draft lottery set for San Diego debut

MLB will roll out a brand new change to its draft in December. Here is what you need to know.

Credit: AP

FILE - Major League Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred speaks to reporters following an owners' meeting at MLB headquarters in New York, June 16, 2022. MLB said it is prepared to voluntarily accept the formation of a minor league union, a key step that will lead to collective bargaining and possibly a strike threat at the start of next season. Manfred said the sport was in the process of notifying the MLB Players Association, which launched the unionization drive on Aug. 28, 2022. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig, File)

SAN DIEGO — Major League Baseball is set to debut a big change to its draft next month in San Diego.

On Monday, MLB announced they are implementing a draft lottery for next year's draft. The lottery will be held on Dec. 6 at the Winter Meetings held in San Diego.

This is the first time MLB will be using a draft lottery, which is already used in the NHL and NBA. It comes under a new collective bargaining agreement signed by MLB and the MLB Players Association, which aims to prevent teams from tanking to get better draft picks.

All teams that did not make the postseason are eligible for the lottery, but it will only be used to determine the order of the first six picks. Here is how the draft order will be decided:

Picks 1 - 6: Lottery
Picks 7 - 18: Non-postseason, non-lottery teams in reverse order of the previous year's standings
Picks 19 - 22: Wild Card Series losers
Picks 23 - 26: Division Series losers
Picks 27 - 28: Championship Series losers
Pick 29: World Series loser
Pick 30: World Series winner

According to a press release from MLB, five teams have at least a 10% chance of getting the No.1 overall pick:

Washington Nationals - 16.5%
Oakland Athletics - 16.5%
Pittsburgh Pirates - 16.5%
Cincinnati Reds - 13.2%
Kansas City Royals - 10.0%

The @MLBDraft lottery will be held on Tuesday, December 6th from the Winter Meetings in San Diego. Three Clubs -- the @Nationals, the @Athletics, and the @Pirates -- share the best chance at receiving the top overall selection in the 2023 Draft. pic.twitter.com/u1bkqY6LGF
— MLB Communications (@MLB_PR) November 7, 2022

However, the draft order is already set for each team that made the playoffs. Since the Padres lost in the National League Championship Series, they are set to get the No. 27 overall pick.

Some local players who could get selected in this upcoming draft include Kevin Sim from the University of San Diego and Cole Carrigg at San Diego State.

The lottery results will be broadcasted starting at 5:30 p.m. PST on Tuesday, Dec. 6 on MLB Network.

The Winter Meetings are an annual event where top baseball executives gather in person to discuss potential trades and transactions during the offseason. The meetings are scheduled to take place from Dec. 4 to Dec. 7 in San Diego. They were last held in San Diego in 2019, but were canceled in 2020 and held virtually in 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.