NASHVILLE, Tenn. — The Cardinals did not have much luck in the MLB Draft Lottery on Tuesday night.
Hoping to end up with their first top five pick since 1998, the Cardinals instead drew the seventh overall pick in the amateur draft next July in the lottery drawing, held at the Winter Meetings in Nashville.
It will still be the first time the Cardinals have picked higher than 18th overall since 2008.
MLB went to the draft lottery in 2022 to determine the top six picks in the draft in hopes of preventing teams from trying to lose on purpose to get awarded a higher pick in the next year’s draft.
Under the old system the Cardinals, who tied the Nationals with a 71-91 record, would have received either the fifth or sixth overall pick.
The Cardinals had an 8.3 percent chance of getting the top pick in the draft lottery, the fifth best odds of the 17 teams who were participating.
The Cleveland Guardians, with only a 2 percent chance, drew the top overall pick while the Cincinnati Reds, with just a 0.9 percent chance, received the second pick.
The importance of the draft order is that not only does it involve the overall pick, there also is a bigger bonus pool available to the teams that get the higher draft slots. A bigger bonus pool allows teams to spread that money around on picks throughout the draft.
The Cardinals already knew they would forfeit their second-round pick as compensation for signing free agent pitcher Sonny Gray.
The last time the Cardinals picked higher than 18th, in 2008, they chose third baseman Brett Wallace with the 13th overall pick. The last time the Cardinals had a top five pick was in 1998 when they selected J.D. Drew.
This will be the 11th time since the draft began in 1965 that the Cardinals have picked in the top 10. Their highest overall pick was third, when they selected Braden Looper in 1996.
Follow Rob Rains on Twitter @RobRains
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