New Report On 2021 MLB Draft Order Is Good News For Red Sox
BOSTON (CBS) -- The Red Sox have had an abysmal season, and for a long time, the only good news regarding the 2020 campaign was that it would only last 60 games. On Tuesday, the team got some more good news by way of a report regarding next year's MLB Draft.
According to ESPN's Jeff Passan, the 2021 MLB draft order is "highly likely" to be determined by this year's record. There was some speculation that the league could use a combo of this year's results and those from last season, which would have been bad news for the Red Sox.
"While MLB has yet to announce whether teams' 2020 records will determine draft order, a source familiar with the league's thinking said that the clause written into MLB's March agreement with the players' association that gave the league the right to determine draft order was a contingency in case the season was canceled well before records were indicative of much. Even though 60 games doesn't give the full picture of who's really good and who isn't, the source said it's highly likely that the draft order will be determined by this year's record," Passan wrote Tuesday.
With Boston sitting at just 20-34 entering the final week of the season, MLB going with 2020 records to determine the 2021 draft order means they would receive the third overall pick -- with a chance to improve that spot with a few more losses.
At 15-39, the Pittsburgh Pirates are pretty locked in for the No. 1 selection. Boston could potentially land the second overall pick if the team keeps up its losing ways against the Orioles and Braves over the next six days. The Red Sox, Texas Rangers, Arizona Diamondbacks, Washington Nationals and Kansas City Royals are all within three games of each other at the bottom of the MLB standings.
The Red Sox last had the third overall pick in 1967, which was the last time the team drafted in the top five. Boston has picked in the top 10 three times since then, taking Trot Nixon (1993), Trey Ball (2013) and Andrew Benintendi (2015) -- all with the seventh overall selection.