Rangers Have Shot at No. 1 2023 Draft Pick

The new MLB Draft Lottery gives the Texas Rangers a slim chance at claiming the No. 1 overall pick in next July's draft.

The Texas Rangers have a 5.5 percent chance of claiming the No. 1 overall pick in the 2023 MLB Draft when the league’s first draft lottery is held on Dec. 6 at the Winter Meetings.

The lottery will be hosted in San Diego at 6:30 p.m. CT on the MLB Network.

The lottery will determine the first six picks of the draft. The Washington Nationals, the Oakland Athletics and the Pittsburgh Pirates each have the best chance of landing the No. 1 overall pick at 16.5 percent.

Once the first six picks of the draft are determined by lottery, picks 7-18 will be determined in reverse order of the 2022 standings.

The Rangers went 68-94, finishing fourth in the AL West. The Rangers and the Colorado Rockies had the same number of wins, but the Rockies have just a 3.9 percent chance of claiming the No. 1 overall pick. The tiebreaker is the two teams’ 2021 records, and the Rangers were worse.

The Rangers cannot lose their first-round pick, as all first-round picks are protected from compensation for signing a free agent. The Rangers gave up their second- and third-round picks in the 2022 Draft after signing Corey Seager and Marcus Semien.

The rest of the draft order is set now that the postseason has concluded. The Tampa Bay Rays selects at No. 19, followed by Toronto Blue Jays (20), St. Louis Cardinals (21), the New York Mets (22), Seattle Mariners (23), Cleveland Guardians (24), Atlanta Braves (25), Los Angeles Dodgers (26), San Diego Padres (27), New York Yankees (28), Philadelphia Phillies (29) and World Series champion Houston Astros (30).

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