The Nationals, Los Angeles Angels, Seattle Mariners, Colorado Rockies, and St. Louis Cardinals round out the top five picks in next year's draft.
For those wondering how the Chicago White Sox aren't even a top-five pick despite posting the worst record (41-121) in MLB history this past season, it's because they are considered a payor club and weren't eligible this year, same for the Athletics.
In short, payor clubs - ones that give revenue-sharing earnings rather than taking them - aren't allowed to have back-to-back lottery picks (since they had one in the 2024 draft). They were originally pulled for the number six spot in the 2025 draft but knew ahead of time that 10th was as best as they would get.
The Nationals have the first pick in the draft for the first time since 2010 when the club took Bryce Harper. Two years prior to that, the club took star pitcher Stephen Strasburg with the number one overall pick.
Washington had the second overall pick in 2023, taking outfielder Dylan Crews, who played in 31 games for the professional club this past season, and the 10th overall pick this past season, drafting shortstop Seaver King.
Infielder Ethan Holliday (Stillwater HS), younger brother to Baltimore Orioles' young star Jackson Holliday, and son to former major leaguer Matt Holliday, is expected to be taken at number one across mock draft boards everywhere.
Rest of the first round
Playoff clubs will choose in reverse order for the 28-40 picks and throughout the 20 rounds of the entire draft. The Kansas City Royals earned the 28th spot strictly due to Bobby Witt Jr. placing second in AL MVP voting this year while the Brewers earned an extra pick due to Willy Adames leaving for the San Francisco Giants.
So the order will look as the following:
28. Royals
29. Brewers
30. Brewers
31. Tigers
32. Mariners
33. Twins
34. Rays
35. Reds
36. A’s
37. Marlins
38. Mets
39. Yankees
40. Dodgers