Royals Awarded Competitive Balance Round Pick in 2026 MLB Draft

[Kevin O'Brien]

On Tuesday afternoon, MLB announced the order of the two Competitive Balance rounds of the 2026 MLB Draft, as highlighted by Sam Dykstra of MLB Pipeline on Bluesky.

For those unaware, the Competitive Balance rounds in the MLB Draft can be described as follows, according to MLB.com's Joe Trezza: 

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Since 2017, Major League Baseball has used a formula that combines revenue, winning percentage and market score to award Draft picks to teams that fall in the bottom 10 in revenue or market size. In 2025, there were 15 teams awarded picks in the two CB rounds: eight in Round A and seven in Round B.

This year, there are 15 teams: seven in Round A and eight in Round B.

Competitive Balance Round A takes place between the first-round compensation picks and the second round, while Round B is held after the second round is over. The order of the picks within each round is determined by order of finish in the previous year’s standings, best down to worst.

The Royals rank 28th in MLB franchise value, ahead of only the Tampa Bay Rays and Miami Marlins, according to Forbes. Thus, Kansas City not only tends to receive draft picks in the Competitive Balance round, but it also tends to receive an excellent draft position in those rounds. 

Here's a layout of the two rounds, according to Trezza. 

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Round A:

Guardians
Royals
D-backs
Cardinals
Orioles
Pirates
Rockies

Round B:

Brewers
Mariners
Tigers
Reds
Marlins
Rays
A's
Twins

The Royals draft behind only the Guardians, who rank 25th in Forbes' franchise valuations. Competitive Balance round picks are the only draft picks that are allowed to be traded by MLB teams. In 2022, the Royals utilized their CB pick in a deal with Atlanta that netted them outfielder Drew Waters, pitcher Andrew Hoffmann, and infielder CJ Alexander. In 2024, they acquired reliever Hunter Harvey from the Nationals in a trade package that included their CB pick and third-base prospect Cayden Wallace. 

While the Competitive Balance rounds are set, the whole draft order will not be set until December 9th, when the MLB Draft Lottery takes place, during the Winter Meetings. The Royals have 0.84% odds to win the top pick in the 2026 MLB Draft, according to Trezza. The 2026 MLB Draft is set to take place July 12th-13th in Philadelphia, home of the All-Star game next season. 

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