NASHVILLE — The Rockies held serve in Tuesday’s Major League Baseball Draft Lottery, nabbing the third overall pick for the 2024 draft.
The Rockies finished the season 59-103, the third-worst record in the majors. Kansas City (56-106) and Oakland (50-112) were the only two teams with worse records. The Rockies entered the lottery tied with the A’s and the Royals with the highest percentage chance of landing the top pick, at 18.3%.
Cleveland was the surprise winner. The Guardians (76-86) won the No. 1 overall pick, even though they had the ninth-highest chance of winning it, at 2.0%. Cincinnati (82-80) snagged the second pick even though it had only a 0.9% chance of winning. Based solely on lottery odds, the Reds would have picked 13th and the Guardians ninth.
The Athletics will select fourth, the White Sox fifth and the Royals sixth when the draft is held next summer during the All-Star Game festivities.
The Rockies have drafted at No. 3 twice, selecting right-handed pitcher Jon Gray out of Oklahoma in 2013 and picking Brendan Rodgers, their current second baseman, out of Lake Mary High School (Fla.) in 2015.
The highest draft pick the Rockies ever had was in 2006 when they held the second overall selection and took right-handed pitcher Greg Reynolds out of Stanford.
This story will be updated.
Want more Rockies news? Sign up for the Rockies Insider to get all our MLB analysis.