Nats down to three names for No. 1
As the hours count down on Sunday to the start of the MLB Draft, the Washington Nationals have slowly whittled what was a group of seven or eight players down to three to be the No. 1 overall pick: Ethan Holliday, Kade Anderson and Eli Willits.
Holliday, MLB Pipeline’s No. 1 Draft prospect, has been at the top of most boards since last winter. Matt’s son has the chance to join Jackson as the only brother combination to both go 1-1 (Justin Upton went No. 1 overall, but his brother BJ was the No. 2 overall pick). Anderson is the lefty out of LSU who is No. 2 on the Top 250 and could be in the Nationals’ rotation at some point in 2026. Willits, the son of former big leaguer Reggie Willits, reclassified and is only 17, and while he would likely bring the Nats larger savings in terms of a bonus, there are evaluators who think he could end up being the best player in the class when we look back years from now.
This is a time pre-Draft when you start hearing rumors about potential deals at the very top of the Draft. Some of them are legitimate possibilities; some are more smokescreens used to potentially help negotiations with other candidates. The one some teams picking lower in the first round started hearing this morning was that the Nationals were considering either Willits or Ike Irish in a deal at No. 1.
This one has some truth to it, as Willits is very much still in the conversation. But Irish, the Auburn catcher and outfielder, is not in the mix. Here’s why those names have come up: In addition to being very talented players, neither Willits nor Irish went to the Draft Combine and took the medical, which guarantees a player receives an offer of at least 75 percent of the pick value where they are selected. So IF a team wanted to save even more money (it should be noted that the Nationals will save money regardless of who they take because no one will come close to signing for the slot value of just over $11 million for the No. 1 pick), they could decide to take someone like Willits or Irish to do so.
New names in the sandwich round
Since June 12, we’ve done four mock drafts projecting the top 43 picks, expanding beyond the 27 first-round picks to include every comp pick. That’s 16 selections in four different mocks. There have been some mainstays, like California prep infielder Quentin Young (No. 37), Alabama right-hander Riley Quick (No. 38) and Oregon outfielder Mason Neville (No. 35), who have been projected in all four.
Others have been more recent names as we’ve gotten more information about who the industry thinks will be sandwich picks. Georgia prep shortstop Dax Kilby, No. 62 on our Top 250, is one of those, as the Clemson recruit has gathered steam as the Draft has approached. Now just a day away from hearing from hearing who is officially part of the 2025 Draft class, there are some other lower-ranked names who are coming up in conversation.
Don’t be surprised if you hear Florida high school shortstop Jordan Yost (No. 50), a Florida recruit, Michigan second baseman Mitch Voit (No. 63), Tulane right-hander Michael Lombardi (No. 75) and/or North Carolina prep infielder Coy James (No. 94), committed to Mississippi, get taken in that 28-43 range.
Pop-up candidate: Mason McCraine, 1B/LHP, Glenwood Academy (Ala.)
McCraine’s name popped up shortly before the Draft as a candidate for a seven-figure bonus from a small group of teams. As a 6-foot-7, 205-pounder with big left-handed power potential, a fastball that reaches 94 mph and athleticism for his size, he draws some parallels to Jac Caglianone. The Auburn recruit led Glenwood Academy — Tim Hudson’s alma mater — to the Alabama state 3-A title, earning the victory and driving in two runs in the clincher.
2025 MLB Draft presented by Nike
Day 1 (Rounds 1-3): Sun., July 13, 6 p.m. ET (MLBN/MLB.com/ESPN)
Day 2 (Rounds 4-20): Mon., July 14, 11:30 a.m. ET (MLB.com)
Players eligible for the Draft can officially have their names removed from consideration if they don’t want to be selected. It’s often high school players who have decided they would rather head on to college to try to develop into better prospects two or three years from now. So far, there are six players who have, using the official terminology, “provided the required notification and will be ineligible for selection in the 2025 Draft.” This also means they can’t be signed post-Draft as a passed-over non-drafted free agent. Four of those players were ranked on MLB Pipeline’s Draft Top 250 prospects list.
There are a couple of college players who have also officially withdrawn.
Orioles grow their bonus pool
Thursday’s announced trade that sent reliever Bryan Baker from the Orioles to the Rays may not have sent shock waves through the baseball world, but it definitely created some buzz in Draft circles. That’s because the return for Baker was the Rays’ pick at No. 37 in this year’s Draft. The selection comes with a slot value of $2,631,400 and gives the O’s the highest bonus pool in this year’s Draft. Their pool of $19,144,500 is the highest allotment since the bonus pool system was instituted in 2012. Baltimore has four selections in the top 37 and seven in the top 93, giving them a total of 14 selections in the top 10 rounds.
Fear not, Rays fans. Even with the loss of the selection, Tampa has five picks on Day 1 (which goes through the third round this year). The Rays have their regular first-round pick at 14, a Competitive Balance Round A pick at No. 42 (from the A’s in the Jefrrey Springs and Jacob Lopez trade), their second-rounder at No. 53, pick No. 67 in the Competitive Balance Round B (compensation for not signing No. 66 overall pick Tyler Bell last year) and their third-round pick at No. 86. Their pool still stands at a robust $14,068,000, good for ninth-largest among all 30 teams.
