PPI Could Deliver Record Three MLB Draft Picks in 2026
MLB’s Prospect Promotion Incentive could award three teams extra first-round picks after the 2026 season. Cleveland has secured one, while two more depend on Rookie of the Year results.
The Prospect Promotion Incentive could produce a record three extra first-round selections in the 2027 MLB Draft, if Kevin McGonigle wins American League Rookie of the Year. Cleveland has already clinched a pick because Parker Messick was named an AL Cy Young Award finalist. A National League Rookie of the Year winner is also guaranteed to qualify his team for a pick, with JJ Wetherholt, Sal Stewart and Carson Benge having met the prospect eligibility requirements.
The incentive, introduced in the 2022 collective bargaining agreement, rewards teams whose eligible prospects spend a full season on the active roster and either win Rookie of the Year or become a top-three MVP or Cy Young finalist before arbitration eligibility. Players can generate only one pick for their team while eligible.
Prospects must appear on at least two top-100 lists from MLB Pipeline, Baseball America or ESPN. In 2026, 15 of the 97 players who met the list requirement retained eligibility for the incentive.
If McGonigle beats Messick for AL Rookie of the Year, the season will mark the first time three clubs earn PPI picks. The selections would fall around No. 28 to No. 30, though their exact positions depend partly on whether the Mets and Blue Jays receive lottery picks, which cannot be moved down.
At least one player has earned a PPI pick in each of the incentive’s first five seasons. Previous recipients include Julio Rodríguez, Corbin Carroll, Gunnar Henderson, Bobby Witt Jr., Drake Baldwin and Hunter Brown. The current collective bargaining agreement ends after 2026, and the incentive’s record season could strengthen the case for keeping it in the next agreement.