Happy Monday, Athletics Nation!
The draft lottery is tomorrow, and the A’s, who finished last in all of MLB this year with a 50-112 record, are no doubt hoping for better luck than they had in last year’s lottery.
The lottery system was introduced in 2022 to disincentivize tanking. Prior to that, the draft order was assigned in a more straightforward manner based on teams’ regular season records, with no intervening element of chance.
Unfortunately for the A’s, the lottery’s introduction coincided with the team’s current rebuild cycle. The A’s were the second-worst MLB team in 2022, but instead of getting the second pick this year, they wound up with the sixth pick due to below-average luck in last year’s inaugural lottery.