Guardians' lottery glee

The Cleveland Guardians will have the No 1 pick in next year's amateur baseball draft for the first time, winning a lottery at the second try on Tuesday after Washington came out with the top spot initially but was ineligible.

Major League Baseball and the players' association agreed to the lottery in 2022, an innovation to discourage struggling teams from deliberately trying for a top draft pick by getting rid of veterans.

The 18 teams that failed to make the playoffs entered the weighted lottery, and the first drawing of four ping-pong balls at the Gaylord Opryland Resort and Convention Center in Nashville, Tennessee, came up with 3-9-11-13 — a winning combination for the Nationals.