Lottery Drop! Texas Rangers Unlucky in MLB Draft Lottery, Fall Back Four Spots

The Texas Rangers were a long shot to move up in the draft order after an under-.500 season put them back in the lottery.

Stefan Stevenson/Rangers On SI

The Texas Rangers did not want to be back in the MLB Draft lottery for a while after winning the 2023 World Series. A year later, however, they found themselves back among the teams vying for the No. 1 overall pick.

The Rangers weren’t so lucky, as they ended up with the No. 12 pick overall Tuesday afternoon at the MLB Draft lottery at the winter meetings in Dallas.

The Washington Nationals were awarded with the No. 1 selection, followed by the Los Angeles Angels and the Seattle Mariners.

The Rangers were ranked eighth in lottery odds at 2.45% but dropped four spots. Two teams with worse odds than Texas leap-frogged it in the order, as Seattle (0.53%) moved from No. 15 to No. 3 and St. Louis (0.82%) moved from No. 13 to No. 5.

Two teams — the Chicago White Sox and the Athletics — were not eligible for the No. 1 pick after picking there in the past two seasons. They were Nos. 10 and 11 respectively.

Texas selected No. 30 in the most recent draft, thanks to their World Series title. The Rangers selected Stanford catcher Malcolm Moore.

The last time the Rangers drafted in the lottery portion was in 2023 when it selected outfielder Wyatt Langford out of Florida. He made the Opening Day roster this season and was one of the better rookies in MLB last season.

The last time Texas had the No. 12 overall pick was in 2006 when it selected pitcher Kasey Kiker out of Russell County High School in Seale, Ala. He never reached the Majors.

2025 MLB Draft Lottery Results

1. Washington Nationals

2. Los Angeles Angels

3. Seattle Mariners

4. Colorado Rockies

5. St. Louis Cardinals

6. Pittsburgh Pirates

7. Miami Marlins

8. Toronto Blue Jays

9. Cincinnati Reds

10. Chicago White Sox

11. Athletics

12. Texas Rangers

13 San Francisco Giants

14. Tampa Bay Rays

15. Boston Red Sox

16. Minnesota Twins

17. Chicago Cubs

18. Arizona Diamondbacks