Nationals Officially Know Where They'll Pick in 2026 MLB Draft

The order for the 2026 MLB Draft is set, and now the Washington Nationals officially know where they will be selecting.

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Tuesday of the Winter Meetings allowed teams around the league to take a break from trade and free agency rumors to see where they will be picking in the 2026 MLB Draft, and the Washington Nationals officially found out where they will be selecting.

Considered a "payor club" -- which is a franchise that gives revenue sharing dollars rather than receiving them -- they knew they would not be picking in the lottery because those teams cannot receive lottery picks in consecutive years.

Due to that, it was already known they would get the No. 11 overall pick in the 2026 draft. But things were made official on Tuesday, and now the Nationals can turn their attention to making the first selection of the Paul Toboni era.

Here's the 2026 MLB Draft order: https://t.co/0ruLX93A4p pic.twitter.com/q6B1LqRvck

— MLB Draft (@MLBDraft) December 9, 2025

"I kind of came up through the game working in amateur scouting, and it still remains a huge passion of mine, no matter how removed from it you get," Toboni said, per Mark Zuckerman of MASN. "I'm really excited, and I think this is the time of year where you really start to sink your teeth into who are the players that are going to go in the top-15 picks, or top-30 picks, whatever it might be. You start really doing your homework on who might be a fit at, in this case, pick 11 for us. That's super-exciting."

Unfortunately for Washington, things could have been a lot more exciting if this lottery rule wasn't in place. That's because Zuckerman shared that the Nationals would have selected No. 2 overall in the 2026 draft based on how the ping pong balls landed.

Perhaps no team has been affected more negatively by this rule than Washington. Two years ago, the Nationals won the lottery and would have been awarded the No. 1 overall pick in the 2024 draft had it not been for this rule. Instead, they had to select 10th, where they took Seaver King.

Without these limitations put in place by Major League Baseball, Washington would have picked at No. 2, No. 1, No. 1 and No. 2 across the four-year stretch that spanned the 2023-26 drafts.

Who Nationals Could Target at Pick No. 11 in 2026 MLB Draft

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But there's no point in dwelling on what could have been since the MLB put this lottery rule in place. Instead, it's best to turn the attention towards who the Nationals might take at No. 11 during the 2026 draft, even if it's roughly seven months away from getting underway.

MLB Pipeline released their top 100 draft prospects, and when looking around the area Washington will be selecting, it's notable that their No. 10 player is outfielder Sawyer Strosnider from TCU and No. 11 is California high school shortstop Tyler Spangler.

While the Nationals shocked plenty of people when they took Eli Willits first overall in the 2025 draft, it seems unlikely they would take another shortstop or even an outfielder based on where the strength of their roster lies.

Pitching could be a target, and at No. 7 on MLB Pipeline's big board is high school left-hander Carson Boleman with high school left-hander Gio Rojas coming in at No. 8. Right after Rojas is Coastal Carolina's right-handed pitcher Cameron Flukey, with Florida's right-handed pitcher Liam Peterson coming in at No. 13 and UC Santa Barbara's right-handed pitcher Jackson Flora at No. 14.

Things will change before the 2026 draft takes place, so there will be some shuffling. That will give Toboni and his front office time to identify who they want to select at No. 11 when that time comes.