Tomorrow at 1:30 PM EST, MLB will hold their first Competitive Balance Lottery, awarding draft picks to small market and low revenue teams. Jonathan Mayo has the details of the event. Here is a breakdown of what will take place.
**The draft will be held at 1:30 PM, although the results won’t be known until 2:45 PM on MLB Network.
**The teams involved will include the ten smallest-market teams, and the ten lowest-revenue teams. Some teams fall in to both categories, which means there won’t be 20 teams. The teams involved are the Diamondbacks, Orioles, Indians, Royals, Athletics, Pirates, Padres, Rays, Reds, Rockies, Marlins, Brewers and Cardinals.
**The odds of winning a pick will be based on each team’s winning percentage the previous year.
**There will be six picks that will be awarded at the conclusion of the first round. Those picks will take place after the free agent compensation picks.
**Any team that didn’t receive a pick in the first lottery will be entered in a second lottery. The second lottery will award picks at the end of the second round. Along with the seven remaining teams from the first lottery, every remaining team that receives revenue sharing will be included in this second lottery. For this year’s draft, that only applies to the Detroit Tigers, which means eight teams will be competing for six picks after the second round.
**Lottery picks can be traded, although there are a few exclusions. Picks can only be traded once. They can also only be traded in-season. A team that gets a pick can deal it at the trade deadline, or at some point next season before the draft, but they can’t deal picks in the off-season, such as during the winter meetings. Picks also can’t be traded for cash.
