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Before baseball gets to its All-Star Game, the sports next generation begins its journey toward the big leagues.
The 2026 MLB Draft starts Saturday at the Pennsylvania Convention Center in Philadelphia and lasts through Sunday.
The Chicago White Sox have this years No.
1 pick.
That top spot can be a transformational force, of course think Ken Griffey Jr.
to the Seattle Mariners in 1987 or the Washington Nationals landing Stephen Strasburg in 2009.
Yet all 30 franchises are going to make decisions that can shape their futures.
Advertisement Superstars-to-be hide within the 2026 draft, which takes on extra weight as the league proposes a total overhaul of its current process.
This years broadcast setup is also quite confusing, with rounds split up across several TV channels and streaming options.
We sort it all out below.
You can watch MLB Network and live MLB games throughout the season on Fubo (Stream Now).
How to watch the 2026 MLB Draft All times are ET.
Day 1 (Rounds 1-4) Saturday, July 11: - 1 p.m.
picks 1-10 on NBC and Peacock - 2:30 p.m.
picks 11-40 on MLB Network, MLB.com, MLB.TV and MLB+ - 4:30 p.m.
picks 41-135 on MLB.com, MLB.TV and MLB+ Day 2 (Rounds 5-20) Sunday, July 12: - 11:30 a.m.
on MLB.com, MLB.TV and MLB+ NBC is free over the air.
The different MLB Draft broadcasts The first four rounds are slated for Saturday, while Rounds 5-20 cram into Sunday.
As part of a network recommitment to baseball, NBC has the rights to Saturday coverage.
Well ..
some of it.
The first 10 picks can be seen over the air on NBCs main channel and on its streaming app, Peacock.
But the TV broadcast gets shifted over to MLB Network for picks Nos.
11-40.
The rest of Saturday and all of Sunday are available online through MLB.com, plus the league properties MLB.TV and MLB+.
NBC Sports and MLB Network both have Greg Amsinger as host, with Cole Hamels, Mark DeRosa, Dan ODowd and Harold Reynolds on the desk.
Theres also a side studio, anchored by Melanie Newman, that includes Jim Callis of MLB Pipeline and Carlos Collazo of Baseball America.
Expect to hear interviews with draftees as well as front office executives.
Prospects who could go first overall Players sorted alphabetically Roch Cholowsky is a right-handed shortstop from UCLA.
He is MLB Pipelines No.
2 prospect and No.
1 on The Athletics big board.
He could be the first Bruin taken No.
1 since Gerrit Cole in 2011.
At the college level, Cholowsky hit .329 with 52 home runs through 178 games.
His father, Dan, was a first-round pick in 1991 and played four seasons of Triple-A ball.
Advertisement Grady Emerson is a shortstop as well, but he bats left-handed and comes out of high school in North Richland Hills, Texas.
Emerson sits atop the MLB Pipeline rankings (and fourth on The Athletics) after being named the Gatorade National Player of the Year.
Hes mentored by Rusty Greer, a nine-year pro with the Rangers.
Vahn Lackey offers an entirely different option as a slugging backstop from Georgia Tech.
Hes third on the Pipelines board and second on The Athletics after batting .397 and mashing 20 homers in 61 games last season.
The Yellow Jackets have been a fruitful program for catchers, with alumni like Jason Varitek and Matt Wieters.
Among the pitchers who could fly off the board quickly are UC Santa Barbara RHP Jackson Flora, USC southpaw Mason Edwards and fellow left-hander Gio Rojas from high school in Florida.
The 2026 MLB Draft order The top of the order was determined by Decembers lottery.
Selected players must be residents of the United States or Canada.
Draft eligibility is extended to: - Those at four-year colleges who have either completed their junior year or turned 21 years old.
- Those who havent attended a four-year college but have graduated high school or completed a year of junior college.
The order listed is as of Saturday morning.
You can follow along with draft updates with our live picks tracker.
First round 1.
Chicago White Sox 2.
Tampa Bay Rays 3.
Minnesota Twins 4.
San Francisco Giants 5.
Pittsburgh Pirates 6.
Kansas City Royals 7.
Baltimore Orioles 8.
Athletics 9.
Atlanta Braves 10.
Colorado Rockies 11.
Washington Nationals 12.
Los Angeles Angels 13.
St.
Louis Cardinals 14.
Miami Marlins 15.
Arizona Diamondbacks 16.
Texas Rangers 17.
Houston Astros 18.
Cincinnati Reds 19.
Cleveland Guardians 20.
Boston Red Sox 21.
San Diego Padres 22.
Detroit Tigers 23.
Chicago Cubs 24.
Seattle Mariners 25.
Milwaukee Brewers Prospect Promotion Incentive picks and Competitive Balance Round A 26.
Atlanta Braves 27.
New York Mets 28.
Houston Astros 29.
San Francisco Giants 30.
Kansas City Royals 31.
Arizona Diamondbacks 32.
St.
Louis Cardinals 33.
Tampa Bay Rays 34.
Chicago White Sox 35.
New York Yankees 36.
Philadelphia Phillies 37.
Colorado Rockies St.
Louis leads the pack with seven Saturday picks, followed by Houston with six.
Advertisement The Braves (No.
26) and Astros (No.
28) earned an extra spot due to the Prospect Promotion Incentive.
That rule rewards teams with a preseason top 100 prospect on their Opening Day rosters, should that player go on to win Rookie of the Year (Atlantas Drake Baldwin) or land a top-three finish for MVP or Cy Young (Houstons Hunter Brown).
Five teams dropped 10 spots in the order.
The Toronto Blue Jays, Los Angeles Dodgers, Mets, Phillies and Yankees all incurred last years Competitive Balance Tax, a cumulative salary limit for MLB rosters.
The Mets now have the No.
27 pick, with the Yankees at 35th and the Phillies at 36th.
Given their spots so late in the order, both reigning pennant winners tumble into the second round.
The Blue Jays first pick comes at No.
39, followed by the Dodgers at No.
40.
Competitive Balance picks are also granted to franchises in one of the 10 smallest markets or revenue pools.
Half of the eligible teams make their additional pick at the end of the first round, while the other half go at the end of the second.
They are the only draft picks that can be traded.
This years lucky bunch includes the Cardinals, Royals, Diamondbacks and Rockies.
The Rays then acquired the Orioles No.
33 pick from the Shane Baz trade, while the White Sox received the Pirates No.
34 selection in a trade the night before the draft.
The Giants also hold a Competitive Balance pick at No.
29 certainly not because San Francisco is a small market, but through their deal with the Guardians that sent out Patrick Bailey.
Last No.
1 picks | Year | Pick | Team | From | |---|---|---|---| 2025 | Eli Willits | Nationals | Fort Cobb-Broxton HS | 2024 | Travis Bazzana | Guardians | Oregon State | 2023 | Paul Skenes | Pirates | LSU | 2022 | Jackson Holliday | Orioles | Stillwater HS | 2021 | Henry Davis | Pirates | Louisville | 2020 | Spencer Torkelson | Tigers | Arizona State | 2019 | Adley Rutschman | Orioles | Oregon State | 2018 | Casey Mize | Tigers | Auburn | 2017 | Royce Lewis | Twins | JSerra Catholic High School | 2016 | Mickey Moniak | Phillies | La Costa Canyon HS | Streaming links in this article are provided by partners of The Athletic.
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