This year’s amateur draft is officially underway, and we’ll be updating this post throughout the day with every first-round selection. More details and scouting reports on all these young players are available in pre-draft rankings from Baseball America, Fangraphs, MLB Pipeline, The Athletic’s Keith Law, and ESPN’s Kiley McDaniel. As well, Pipeline has the breakdown of the slot values assigned to each pick in the first 10 rounds, as well as the bonus pool money available to all 30 teams.
Here are the first-round selections….
- Chicago White Sox: Roch Cholowsky, SS, UCLA
- Tampa Bay Rays: Grady Emerson, SS, Fort Worth Christian High School (TX)
- Minnesota Twins: Vahn Lackey, C, Georgia Tech
- San Francisco Giants: Jackson Flora, RHP, UC Santa Barbara
- Pittsburgh Pirates: Derek Curiel, OF, LSU
- Kansas City Royals: Zion Rose, OF, University of Louisville
- Baltimore Orioles: Eric Booth Jr., OF, Oak Grove High School (MS)
- Athletics: Drew Burress, OF, Georgia Tech
- Atlanta Braves: AJ Gracia, OF, University of Virginia
- Colorado Rockies: Tyler Bell, SS, University of Kentucky
- Washington Nationals: Chris Hacopian, 2B, Texas A&M
- Los Angeles Angels: Jared Grindlinger, LHP/OF, Huntington Beach High School (CA)
- St. Louis Cardinals: Trevor Condon, OF, Etowah High School (GA)
- Miami Marlins: Jacob Lombard, SS, Gulliver Prep (FL)
- Arizona Diamondbacks: Ryder Helfrick, C, University of Arkansas
- Texas Rangers: Gio Rojas, LHP, Stoneman Douglas High School (FL)
- Houston Astros: Logan Hughes, OF, Texas Tech
- Cincinnati Reds: Justin Lebron, SS, University of Alabama
- Cleveland Guardians: Liam Peterson, RHP, University of Florida
- Boston Red Sox: Jake Schaffner, SS, University of North Carolina
- San Diego Padres: Coleman Borthwick, RHP, South Walton High School (FL)
- Detroit Tigers: Cameron Flukey, RHP, Coastal Carolina University
- Chicago Cubs: Cade Townsend, RHP, University of Mississippi
- Seattle Mariners: Ace Reese, 3B, Mississippi State
- Milwaukee Brewers: Trey Ebel, SS, Corona High School (CA)
The first round officially consists of only 25 picks since the Mets, Yankees, Phillies, Blue Jays, and Dodgers all had their first-round selections dropped back by 10 slots. The five teams each surpassed the third luxury tax tier ($281MM) in 2025, and thus their punishment included a 10-slot drop in their opening draft choice. The Mets’ first choice will be the 27th overall pick, while the Yankees will choose 35th, the Phillies 36th, the Jays 39th, and the Dodgers 40th.
The 2026 draft is split up over two days. Rounds 5-20 will take place tomorrow, while the draft’s first 135 picks will come off the board today. Those 135 picks consist of the first four proper rounds, the two Competitive Balance Rounds, four compensatory picks for teams who lost qualifying offer-rejecting free agents, and Prospect Promotion Incentive picks for the Braves and Astros. The Pirates will also have two picks in the second round, as they received the 51st overall pick as compensation for not signing Angel Cervantes, the 50th overall selection in the 2026 draft.
