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Mike Rizzo and Matt Adams of the Washington Nationals greet Charles Johnson of the Miami Marlins after the Nationals win the number one pick during the Draft Lottery at the 2024 MLB Winter Meetings at Hilton Anatole on Tuesday, December 10, 2024 in Dallas, Texas. (Photo by Daniel Shirey/MLB Photos via Getty Images)
The Nationals won this year’s draft lottery and will have the first overall pick in the 2025 draft. But who were the other winners and losers from the results?
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Winners
Mariners — No. 3 overall pick
Seattle was the biggest winner of this year’s draft lottery, going from 17th overall under the previous system to the third pick despite having just a 0.4% chance to earn the first overall pick. The pick capital is great, but as always with baseball’s draft, the slot value that comes with the picks are equally—or more—important. The Mariners should have some of the most bonus pool money to spend in the 2025 draft now that they’ve got the third overall pick (which had a slot value of $9,070,800 in the 2024 draft) as well as the third pick in the supplemental first round. A great farm system should keep getting better. This is the highest the Mariners have drafted since the 2012 draft when they took catcher Mike Zunino.
Angels — No. 2 overall pick
In a vacuum the Angels didn’t move up much more than their third-best odds (17.96%) might indicate, but the team did avoid falling—like both the Rockies and Marlins did—and they are in a position where they could use an infusion of talent as the 30th-ranked farm system on our midseason org rankings. The Angels have pursued an aggressive draft strategy in recent years that involves signing fast-moving collegians. Whether or not they continue that path is an open question, but picking second in most classes will give them access to that sort of player profile who also gives them more upside potential. Early college names to think about for the Angels include Texas A&M outfielder Jace Laviolette and college starters Tyler Bremner and Jamie Arnold.
Losers
Marlins — No. 7 overall pick
The Marlins had equal odds with the Rockies (22.45%) for the top overall pick in the draft but find themselves outside of the top six draft lottery selections entirely. While the Marlins have an exciting, high upside southpaw leading the way in the farm system currently, it’s a group that falls off quickly and could use reinforcements to…