SAN DIEGO – The Cincinnati Reds lost 100 games during the 2022 season, and they were handed another loss in Major League Baseball’s inaugural draft lottery Tuesday.
The Reds had the fourth-best odds to land the No. 1 overall pick, but they were jumped in the lottery by three teams. They own the No. 7 pick in next summer’s MLB Draft.
The Pittsburgh Pirates won the lottery and received the No. 1 overall pick. The Reds and Pirates finished last season with identical 62-100 records, but the Pirates had slightly higher odds due to a tiebreaker for worst record in 2021.
Not only did the draft lottery affect the Reds’ placement in the draft, but it will slightly alter the size of their bonus pool to sign players who were selected in the first 10 rounds of the draft. The Reds gave Cam Collier, the No. 18 overall pick in July, a $5 million signing bonus, which was $1.34 million above the actual slot value of the pick.
The MLB Draft lottery was enacted as an anti-tanking measure in the sport’s latest collective bargaining agreement. The top six picks were determined by lottery, ping-pong balls in a hidden room inside the Manchester Grand Hyatt with team representatives observing. The Reds sent baseball operations analyst Nick Perez to observe the actual lottery and amateur scouting director Joe Katuska represented the club on the MLB Network show.
Perez and other people designated to watch the ping pong ball drawing had to part with their phones until after the lottery results were unveiled. PricewaterhouseCoopers oversaw the lottery process.
As another anti-tanking measure, the Reds and other designated small-market teams are prohibited from picking in the lottery for three consecutive seasons. Large-market teams cannot participate in the lottery in back-to-back years.
The Detroit Tigers (No. 3), Texas Rangers (No. 4) and Minnesota Twins (No. 5) all moved ahead of the Reds in the first round of the draft. The Reds will return to the fourth pick in subsequent rounds.
The No. 7 overall pick is the highest the Reds will draft since they took Nick Lodolo in 2019. The Reds have never drafted No. 1 overall in franchise history.
Cincinnati Reds first-round picks in the last 10 drafts:
2022 – 3B Cam Collier (18)
2021 – SS Matt McLain (17)
2020 – OF Austin Hendrick (12)
2019 – LHP Nick Lodolo (7)
2018 – 3B Jonathan India (5)
2017 – RHP Hunter Greene (2)
2016 – 3B Nick Senzel (2)
2015 – C Tyler Stephenson (11)
2014 – RHP Nick Howard (19)
2013 – OF Phillip Ervin (27)
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