Braves Fall to Ninth in 2026 MLB Draft Order After Lottery

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00:00Braves fall to 9th in 2026, MLB Draft Order After Lottery

00:05The MLB Draft Lottery can be a moment of hope or a gut punch.

00:09For the Atlanta Braves, it was, unfortunately, the latter.

00:14Coming into the night with the 6th best odds,

00:16the Braves had positioned themselves for a potentially impactful pick,

00:20just outside that coveted top 5 zone where elite talent tends to cluster.

00:25But when the dust settled, Atlanta found itself sitting at 9th overall,

00:30a 3-spot drop that stings more than a little.

00:33The nature of the MLB Draft means that 3 spots can be the difference

00:37between drafting a franchise-altering cornerstone or settling for organizational depth.

00:42It's not a death knell.

00:44Plenty of star players have come from outside the top 10,

00:47but the margin for error grows thinner.

00:49What the Braves lost in position, they'll now need to make up for

00:52with precision scouting and smart development.

00:55On a more strategic front,

00:56Atlanta may find itself re-evaluating its approach to the 2026 draft as well.

01:03With a slightly diminished return in 2025,

01:06the incentive to hold on to that 26th overall pick in 2026,

01:11and its valuable bonus pool money, just grew.

01:14While some might have considered leveraging that pick in a future deal,

01:18the downside of a lower-than-expected 2025 return

01:21adds new value to the asset they already hold.

01:24It's a long game, and the Braves are nothing if not calculated in how they build their roster.

01:30Their player development system has long been a strength,

01:33and this will be a moment for it to shine once again.

01:36Meanwhile, the biggest headline of the night belongs to the Chicago White Sox,

01:41who defied the odds and landed the number one overall pick.

01:45It's their first time picking first since 1977,

01:48when they selected Harold Baines, who went on to a Hall of Fame career.

01:53That's the kind of lottery magic every franchise dreams of.

01:57Will the Braves find their own version of that magic at number nine?

02:00It's too soon to tell.

02:02But with the front office's track record of maximizing value across the board,

02:07Atlanta won't go down quietly.

02:09They didn't get the break they hoped for,

02:11but they've still got the tools,

02:12and now, perhaps, a little more motivation.