MLB's confusing rules misled Yankees fans into believing they hit Draft Lottery jackpot

MLB believed that, even after blowing up their paint-by-numbers worst-to-first draft order, they had created a system that was sound. They believed incorrectly.

Entering Tuesday night, all that was clear was that the Yankees had a minuscule chance of moving into the top six, or even into the No. 1 spot. Never tell a true believer the odds ... except it's fine to do that right now, because they were 0.6% to rise up the entire mountaintop. If New York "won" the lottery and watched their pick rise into the top six section of protected choices, it wouldn't plummet as a result of their heavily taxed spending. If their pick remained outside the top six, it would then drop 10 spots because of how poorly constructed their roster was entering the season. Seemed fair.

Only, through a combination of levers, pulleys, and MLB's chicanery, Yankees fans received a spoonful of false hope immediately.

When their number wasn't called at 16, hopes began to simmer. As the list unfurled, and the Yankees were nowhere to be found at 15, 14, 12, 10, or eight, even the most pessimistic among us began to believe some sort of magic could be happening.

Except ... well ... when the top six came out, the Cleveland Guardians had won the whole damn thing, and the Yankees were nowhere to be found. What happened? It's quite simple, and quite infuriating.

Yankees 2024 MLB Draft Lottery: We won NOTHING.

When MLB released the draft's full order, the Yankees sat at No. 25. What seemed to have happened was a one-spot rise (yay!) followed by a 10-spot taxation drop (come on now).

What actually happened was one level sillier. The "No. 15" of it all was a typo. The Yankees actually remained 16th, dropped to 26th, and that was that. MLB printed the wrong data. Nobody moved. There wasn't even a flicker. The Yankees just sank like a stone, as Rob Manfred intended.

This was a masterclass at crafting false hope, and set some very devoted fans up for some very bad tweets -- which, I believe, you can sue for in this day and age.

Well, joke's on the league, because No. 26 is what we call "firmly Mike Trout territory"; that's one spot back from where the legendary center fielder was selected back in 2009.

Wait ... so this means that, if MLB's initial typo were real, the Yankees would be picking in the exact Trout spot?! RIGGED!