Rangers Odds for First MLB Draft Lottery

The Texas Rangers have a chance to land the No. 1 overall selection in the 2023 MLB Draft.

The Texas Rangers still have a chance to claim something good out of this lost 2022 season — the No. 1 overall pick in the 2023 MLB Draft.

How? The first MLB Draft Lottery, which will be held Tuesday night at 7:30 CT at the Winter Meetings.

MLB is implementing a draft lottery system for the first time to set the first six selections of the draft.

The Rangers finished with a 68-94 record, tied for the seventh-worst in baseball. But thanks to a tie-breaker with the Colorado Rockies, the Rangers have the seventh-best odds to land the pick.

The teams with the three worst records in 2022 -- the Washington Nationals, Oakland A’s and Pittsburgh Pirates -- have the best chance (16.5 percent each) to get the No. 1 overall pick via the lottery.

The Rangers? Well, they have a 5.5 percent chance of landing that No. 1 overall selection.

Aside from the Nationals, A’s and Pirates, only the Cincinnati Reds (13.5 percent), Kansas City Royals (10 percent) and Detroit Tigers (7.5 percent) have better odds than the Rangers.

If the Rangers end up with a Top 10 selection, it will be their third in the past five drafts.

In 2019 the Rangers selected third baseman Josh Jung out of Texas Tech at No. 8 overall. He made his Major League debut in September. The Rangers took Vanderbilt pitcher Jack Leiter No. 2 overall in 2021. Leiter just wrapped up his first professional season with the Double-A Frisco RoughRiders. The Rangers took Leiter’s former college teammate, Kumar Rocker, at No. 3 overall. He is pitching in the Arizona Fall League.

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You can find Matthew Postins on Twitter @PostinsPostcard

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