Pittsburgh Pirates News

Home

Quizzes

Watch

Newsletter

Jul 14, 2024; Ft. Worth, TX, USA; The Pittsburgh Pirates draft Konnor Griffin with the ninth pick during the first round of the MLB Draft at Cowtown Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: Kevin Jairaj-Imagn Images Kevin Jairaj-Imagn Images

Pirates 2026 MLB Draft Details Announced

Originally posted on Pittsburgh Pirates on SI
By Dominic Campbell | Last updated Dec 2, 2025 12:16 PM ET

PITTSBURGH — The Pittsburgh Pirates have seven months until the 2026 MLB Draft, but learned some valuable information heading into it.

Draft Lottery and Chances at No. 1 Overall Pick

The MLB Draft Lottery takes place on Dec. 9 during the Winter Meetings and the Pirates have a good shot at the first overall pick.

Pittsburgh has the third best chance of landing the first overall pick in the 2026 MLB Draft at 16.81%. Only the Chicago White Sox at 27.73% and the Minnesota Twins at 22.18% have a better shot than them.

The MLB Draft Lottery is set by the teams with the worst record, with the White Sox and Twins having worse records than the Pirates.

Two teams that should be ahead of the Pirates didn't qualify, including the Colorado Rockies, who had the worst record at 43-119, and the Washington Nationals, who had the third worst record at 66-96.

Colorado received lottery picks in the 2024 and 2025 drafts and can't get a lottery pick for a third consecutive season, since they are a large market team.

Washington and also the Los Angeles Angels, who had a better record than the Pirates are both "payor clubs", which are ball clubs that pay into revenue sharing, rather than receive money from it, which makes them ineligble from a lottery pick in consecutive drafts.

The rest of the teams below the Pirates in the draft lottery include the Baltimore Orioles (9.24%), the Athletics (6.55%), the Atlanta Braves (4.54%), the Tampa Bay Rays (3.03%), the St. Louis Cardinals (2.35%), the Miami Marlins (1.85%), Arizona Diamondbacks (1.51%), Texas Rangers (1.31%), San Francisco Giants (1.01%), Kansas City Royals (0.84%), New York Mets (0.67%) and the Houston Astros (0.34%).

Pirates History in the Draft Lottery

The MLB Draft didn't have a draft lottery until the 2023 MLB Draft, which saw the Pirates win the first ever inaugural draft lottery.

Pittsburgh used that pick and took right-handed pitcher Paul Skenes out of LSU, signing him to a record $9.2 million bonus. That pick worked out well, as Skenes won National League Rookie of the Year in 2024 and then the NL Cy Young Award in 2025.

The Pirates didn't win the draft lottery in 2024, but did take shortstop Konnor Griffin with the ninth overall pick out of Jackson Preparatory School in Jackson, Miss. Griffin is the top prospect in baseball and could join the Pirates Opening Day Roster for 2026.

Pittsburgh did win the draft lottery in 2025, taking right-handed pitcher Seth Hernandez out of Corona Hills High School in Corona, Calif with the sixth overall pick.

Competitive Balance Picks and Rounds Set

The Pirates earned themselves a competitive balance pick for the 2026 MLB Draft, something that's an annual thing for the franchise.

Competitive Balance picks came into existence after the 2012-16 Collective Bargaining Agreement and then the 2017-21 Collective Bargaining Agreement amended the process for awarding these picks, using a formula that combines revenue, winning percentage and market score.

The 10 lowest revenue earning clubs from the 10 smallest markets have eligibility for a Competitive Balance pick, with each team earning a pick in either Competitive Balance Round A or Competitive Balance Round B.

Pittsburgh is one of the seven teams in Round A, which takes place after the compensatory picks following the first round and before the second round.

They got the sixth competitive balance pick in Round A, or the 34th overall pick in the 2026 MLB Draft.

Pirates History with Competitive Balance Round Picks

Pirates general manager Ben Cherington has taken a few players in the Competitive Balance rounds during his tenure.

This includes three right-handed pitchers in Competitive Balance Round A in Carmen Mlodzinski out of South Carolina with the 31st pick in 2020, Thomas Harrington out of Campbell with the 36th pick in 2022 and Levi Sterling out of Notre Dame High School in Los Angeles at No. 37 overall in 2024.

It also features three players in Competitive Balance Round B, including outfielder Lonnie White Jr. from Malvern Preparatory School in Malvern, Pa. at the 64th pick in 2021, right-handed pitcher Zander Meuth out of Belleville East High School in Belleville, Ill. with the 67th pick in 2023, and third baseman Murf Gray with the 73rd overall pick in 2025.

This article first appeared on Pittsburgh Pirates on SI and was syndicated with permission.

More must-reads: