Nats Win 2026 Draft Lottery (well, sort of)
After winning the #1 pick in the ’25 Draft last December, and the #2 two pick for the 2023 Draft in December, the best the Nats could do was the #11 pick.
And that’s exactly what happened.
It’s the second time in three years Washington has secured the best possible pick given the rules preventing “payor” clubs (for the MASN Commenters, that means the Nats spend enough money to pay revenue-sharing dollars) from getting back-to-back Top 10 picks.
Put another way, the Nats couldn’t have done much better than they have since the Draft Lottery was established in 2022.
Some of you may recall that two years ago the Nats ball came up at #1 but had to be set aside due to the rules. According to BA’s J.J. Cooper (via MASN’s Mark Zuckerman), the Nats ball came up four times in the first nine draws.
So you [McEnroe]cannot be serious[/McEnroe] and say the Nats have been unlucky… at least not in terms of the lottery.
Next up (and yes, I know we need to vote on the pitchers soon): Today’s Rule 5 Draft.
With it looking like the Toboni tenure will start with a rebuilding season, do the Nats go back into the top tier draft lottery for the 2027 draft (in other words, could the Nats get the top pick in the 2027 draft)?
Yes, it’s one year on and off again.
As long as this rebuild persists, we’ll likely.have the #11 or so pick in even years, and the #1-4 or so pick in odd years.
FWIW, the Nats drafting #11 was neither lucky nor unlucky. It was a fait accompli (as the saying goes). There were three teams that were ineligible for the lottery and so were slotted into the draft order (by record, worst to best) after the #9 slot. They were the Rockies, the Nats, and the Angels. The Rockies went #10 because they had (by far) the worst record of the three, with the Nats (#11) and the Angels (#12) following. With no lottery, the Rockies would have drafted #1/#1.
Here is another Rubik’s cube shift angle to take on the 2026 draft position .
Rounds 2 onward are in the three seat postition not 11.
Well 34 players ejected minor league free agency from the Nats . Mr “ T” and guys added Lyon a possible starter . 6 guys in minor league draft , Leo Herrera at Rochester OF depth chart . Baum @ Rochester , . Not bad for a weeks work .
Realize the lottery was an owner’s concession to the MLBPA, but it’s remarkable the MLB lottery leads to the most variance (and/or unfair) reordering of the draft of any of the major sports, and the 162 game MLB regular season is by far the most accurate test of the talent level of each team. Utterly ridiculous that the Rockies pick 10th, when they were the worst MLB team by a ton.
As for the Rule V draft, the Nats first pick in the MLB phase, Griff McGarry is a UVA product, and is near the top of the “stuff” analytical rankings:
https://x.com/andrewcgolden/status/1998855926359712186
Nats also picked up 6 guys in the minor league portion, more than anyone else.
There’s some headscratchers, who must have a plus pitch that they can’t locate or something, and a few seemingly quite astute picks too. Will be interesting to see how they play out.
Can someone remind me what the rules are for returning players via the minor league draft? I don’t recall us returning any of our picks in recent years.
Minor league you keep esoecislly in minor league portion .
Not surprising that the new staff lead by Buteras Rays background lead to Sandy Gaston and Cesar Rojas added .
Interesting name of the Padres farmhand who toiled for Fort Wayne Tin Cups my moms hometown where the two of us watched an 19 year young Grady Sizemore hit his first pro tater .
Jack Rogers joins Herrrera in big board outfield depth additions whether needed at AAA or AA.
The new pitching coach might have recalled Rogers in Reds spring training .
In regards to the Abram’s question head on that old 80 s punk song Should I stay or should I go .. does Glasser equate into a super utility talent where he could help out Nunez or does club search outward for short term vet ?
Once again : bullpens evolve like a bachelors short list of young women in his mind
lol !!
McGarry has ++ stuff. And truly terrible control, bad enough that he’s 26 and hasn’t really threatened a breakthrough. He did improve his control a bit this season, although his BB% was still 13.9% (with a 35.1% K rate!).
So there’s upside there, buried under the wildness. Will he amount to much? Doubtful. But he’s a Rule 5 pick. The upside is worth the $50,000 gamble (their loss if they end up returning him). People get to wound up over Rule 5 picks. On a team with as much roster space as the Nats have, getting upset about a Rule 5 pick is nearly as silly as getting wound up over a minor league free agent signing.