MLB Draft Lottery Results: How 2025 order impacts Brewers and where will they pick?

The 2025 MLB Draft order is now set following the results of the Draft Lottery announced Tuesday night at the Winter Meetings. The Milwaukee Brewers were not eligible to win one of the first six selections because they were a playoff team, but they were still impacted.

The winner of the draft lottery was the Washington Nationals, who will receive the first overall pick next year. The St. Louis Cardinals, an NL Central rival, were awarded the fifth overall pick in the lottery, moving them up from where they originally were at 15th.

But where will the Milwaukee Brewers be picking in the first round in the 2025 MLB Draft?

Brewers will hold 20th overall pick in the 2025 MLB Draft

As a playoff team eliminated in the Wild Card round, the Milwaukee Brewers are selecting right after the lottery-eligible selections and are slotted for the 20th overall pick. First round picks for playoff teams are grouped by what round they lost in and then ordered by a combination of winning percentage and revenue sharing status.

The Brewers had the highest winning percentage of the teams eliminated in the Wild Card round, which would've placed them 22nd, but because teams that are revenue sharing recipients are ordered first, the Brewers and Orioles go to the front of the line ahead of the Braves and Astros.

The last time the Brewers held the 20th overall pick was the 2020 Draft, which they used on UCLA outfielder Garrett Mitchell.

Where the Brewers are truly impacted with the draft order results is not so much from the ping pong balls in the lottery, but from the luxury tax penalties being applied to the Mets, Yankees, and Dodgers. Because those three teams exceeded the second threshold of the luxury tax, their first selections are pushed back 10 spots. Last year, luxury tax penalties helped move the Brewers first round selection up three spots.

This year, the Brewers compensation picks will move up three spots. Now that the first round ends with the 27th pick, the Royals Prospect Promotion Incentive pick for Bobby Witt Jr's MVP finish gets the 28th overall selection. The compensation pick for Willy Adames, which would've been at 32 overall, now gets to move up to 29 overall. That three pick difference nets the Brewers an additional ~$210k in bonus pool money.

That also means the Brewers Competitive Balance Round A pick moves up. That pick is currently slated for 30th overall, HOWEVER, that is going to move back a few spots most likely once other free agents who received a qualifying offer sign. If Corbin Burnes, Anthony Santander, and Christian Walker all sign with new teams, their previous teams will receive a draft pick between the Adames pick and the Brewers Comp A pick.

Should all three of those free agents sign with new teams and for more than $50MM, the Brewers Competitive Balance A pick will be at 33 overall. That gives the Brewers three selections in the top 33 picks and all within a 13 selection span.

The results of the ping pong balls may not have swayed much for the Brewers, but they know where their first round pick will be and know where their compensation pick for Willy Adames will be. They will have to wait to see how free agency plays out for Burnes, Santander, and Walker, but their Comp A pick will be no later than 33 overall.