Detroit Tigers set to take place in first ever MLB Draft Lottery in December

Detroit Tigers have a chance at the first overall pick.

Usually, draft lottery content is reserved for other Detroit sports teams like the Pistons or Red Wings. But, the Detroit Tigers are set to take place in the first-ever MLB Draft Lottery this December during Winter Meetings in San Diego.

After the new CBA agreement was enacted, the draft process is changing. With the sixth-worst record in the league this summer, the Detroit Tigers will be a part of the draft lottery.

Typically, things do not go great with the draft lottery; well, at least as more of a hockey fan than basketball, that’s how it feels for the Red Wings. The Pistons got Cade Cunningham with the first-overall pick, but the Tigers would have to jump six spots to grab the top selection.

With that being said, the Tigers will have a 7.5% chance of landing the first overall pick. With the new draft lottery being added and its structure, the Tigers also have a 24% chance to move up into the top three selections of the draft.

This article from the Detroit Free Press has the full layout of where the Tigers could fall statistically with the percentages. As the article mentions, the most likely statistical outcome leaves the Tigers to pick eight overall. This would mean the Tigers would fall two spots in terms of where they fall with the sixth-worst record in the league.

The article also states that the farthest the Red Wings can fall is to the 12th overall pick. There’s hope to move up for the Tigers and plenty of reason to believe they will stay within the top ten. This allows Harris to make his first selection and build for the future.

It will be interesting to see how Harris builds his first draft class for the Detroit Tigers. While draft talk and draft projections are ways down the line, the lottery is slated for this winter. Moving up into the top three picks would be nice for the Tigers’ front office to add a top talent early in the first round and add another asset to the mix.

To clarify, the draft lottery only applies to the first round. So if the Tigers were lucky enough to land the first overall pick in the 2023 MLB Draft, they will still pick sixth in all of the rounds after the first.

The Tigers will find out their fate soon enough; hopefully, they will be able to move upwards and not fall from the sixth pick of the 2023 MLB Draft.