Despite being a near-unwatchable product on the field in recent years, the Washington Nationals have had pretty fantastic luck when it comes to having the odds bounce in their favor. Specifically, the ping pong balls for the MLB Draft Lottery have resulted in their favor more often than not, but the team has been unable to take full advantage.
Them not being able to take advantage is actually no fault of their own but is in fact due to an outright stupid rule change that Major League Baseball implemented a few years ago. Following the events of the 2026 MLB Draft Lottery yesterday, the Nationals have once again fallen victim to the rule change.
For context, since the Nationals are classified as a "payor club" - which is a team that gives rather than receives revenue sharing dollars, they are not allowed to have consecutive Lottery picks. In the context of the MLB Draft, that is absolutely a huge deal, which is why, despite the Nationals actually winning the #2 pick yesterday, they are unable to select inside the Top 10 of next year's draft.
Only adding fuel to the fire is that the Nationals actually won the #2, #5, #6, and #9 picks, meaning that they had 4 different opportunities to be able to secure just one Top 10 pick. Clearly, the Baseball Gods wanted to see the Nationals get a top pick, but unfortunately, the league rules disagreed.
The rule to me is stupid, especially when you consider the fact that the Nationals have now been on the opposite end of the lottery twice within a 4-year span. After barely missing out on Paul Skenes in 2023 when they got the #2 pick and selected Dylan Crews, the Nationals won the Lottery in 2024, but were unable to select in the Top 10 due to the rule.
With that selection, they ended up taking Seaver King, who is finally showing signs of life following a strong Arizona Fall League, but they did miss out on a lot of elite talent by not being able to pick within the Top 10. In 2025, the Nationals won the Lottery yet again, and were rewarded with the opportunity to select Eli WIllits, who already has looked the part of the #1 pick.
Now, the Nationals will be entrenched in an all too familiar #11 pick in next year's draft, and hopefully they will be able to get some great value that happens to fall outside of the Top 10 that they will be able to take advantage of. Hopefully, this rule will somehow be abolished, and the Nationals won't have to fall victim to this rule for too much longer.
What do you think of the Nationals not being able to secure a high pick again? As always, please let me know on X, @DCBerk.