One of the CBA’s anti-tanking measures is to limit how often a team can pick within the lottery. The odds aren’t simply the inverse of the previous year’s standings, however.
If two teams have the same record, the club with the worse record in the preceding season gets the better odds. A team’s odds of landing a higher pick are still weighted in favor of the clubs with the worst records, although the three worst teams all have identical chances of landing the #1 selection. It also finalized the lottery odds for the top picks in next summer’s amateur draft ( h/t to Carlos Collazo of Baseball America).Īs part of the Players Association’s efforts to reduce the incentive for non-competitive teams to lose games, the latest collective bargaining agreement introduced a lottery to determine the top six overall selections. The conclusion of the 2023 season didn’t just bring the start of the offseason.
