ORLANDO, Fla. — The Pirates were hoping for some good luck in the 2026 MLB draft lottery, as they entered Tuesday evening’s event at baseball’s winter meeting with the third-best odds (16.81%) of receiving the No. 1 overall pick. Instead, they slipped a bit and received the No. 5 overall pick in July’s draft.

Speaking to the Post-Gazette minutes after the lottery results were announced, Pirates assistant general manager Kevan Graves expressed slight disappointment about the slot, but overall confidence in the process.

“I mean, you're always hoping to get the best outcome you possibly can,” Graves said. “Understand that only one team is going to get that first overall pick. We're happy with five, confident we'll get a really good player. We've obviously had a couple of outcomes the last t

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