2025 MLB draft: Day 1 winners, losers and takeaways
The first day of the MLB 2025 draft is over! The Washington Nationals have selected Eli Willits with the choice n ° 1, opting for the Prep stop – which could be more likely to sign under the slot machine – in a project without a clear perspective. And there were many other intriguing selections while the first three laps took place on Sunday evening.
The Seattle Mariners had to be delighted to have the No. 1 perspective of Kiley McDaniel, Kade Anderson, to them at n ° 3, and Ethan Holliday was selected at n ° 4 by the former team of his famous father, the Rockies of Colorado.
We asked the Espn Gonzalez baseball initiates, Jesse Rogers and David Schoenfield to break their favorite and heaviest movements of the first night of the project, as well as to predict which players will bring the most to their new long -term teams.
Many of us have been thrown for a loop by the first two selections. What do you do with the Nationals by taking Eli Willits at No. 1 and the Angels who choose Tyler Bremner at No. 2?
Gonzalez: I was amazed at the two accounts. Although there has certainly been a certain uncertainty around the Nationals approach, especially since the dismissal of GM Mike Rizzo, I have not seen anyone, nowhere, to project Willita to be their choice in n ° 1 overall. But the angels writing Bremner were an even greater risk. Kiley had him 18th in his last ranking. Six launchers were classified in front of him. But Bremner could be someone who can increase and quickly affect his list of major leagues, and angels are always looking for this.
Rogers: The first two choices really summed up the uncertainty of the entire draft. The Faith of the Nationals in a 17 -year -old will be tested in the coming years, but the choice will probably save them money for later in this project and will give Willités to develop. The same can be said of most of the best choices: they will need time. There are much less sure this year – although Bremner can be the exception. The angles love to get their player diploma quickly, and as an university arm, he could see the majors as soon as possible. Like Willits, this could also be a decision to reduce costs for subsequent expenditure.
Schoenfield: In a project that has not only missed a safe overall choice, but has been considered lower at the top than those of recent years, it may not be a huge surprise that nationals and angels have used their choices to conclude probable submarious agreements with Willit and Bremner, giving them money to spend later in the project-that they can use the high school prospects that could have shown them, going to university. It is a strategy that the teams have successfully used over the years, so drafts for nationals and angels will have to be consulted in their entirety and not only focus on these two players.
What was your favorite choice of the night – and which had scratched your head?
Gonzalez: The rocks did a lot of things in the latter … Uh, decades. But it was really cool to see them take Ethan Holliday at n ° 4 after his father, Matt, has played Colorado for so long. Apart from the first two choices, Ethan Conrad going 17th row of the cubs was my biggest surprise of the night. Kiley had classified him 30th; Others made it fall entirely from the first round. There is an uncertainty that comes out of shoulder surgery. But Conrad, 21, set up an OPS of 1,238 in 97 appearances before the end of his season prematurely in March. And the shortage of university bats has probably influenced a slight range here.
Rogers: I love Billy Carlson to the White Sox at n ° 10. Although they lost 121 games last season, Chicago could not choose higher than this place by ABC rules – but the SOX could have obtained a player among the first five. Carlson’s defense will play extremely well behind a good and young sneaky pitch staff who should keep the ball on the long -term ground. Meanwhile, with the choice of litter with regard to the strikers – the college championships and the high school students also – the pirates took a launcher in high school at No. 6. Seth Hernandez could be great, but they need to strike. A lot.
Schoenfield: The navies would have liked the left -hander of the LSU Kade Anderson from the start, but they certainly could not expect to obtain it with the third choice. (Keep in mind that the navies were lucky in the first place to get the third choice to the lottery, so they added good fortune in addition to good luck.) They get the most polite university launcher of the project, the one who should move quickly – and perhaps make a little easier for Jerry Dipoto to dive into his agricultural system and to go up the alignment of the Big Death. Even if I understand why the angels did, Bremner always seems a little questionable. With the second choice, you want to opt for a home run, and the consensus is that Holliday or even Anderson is more likely to be a more hard -hitting lighting. The absence of a bremner of a third land plus is a problem, and you must ask yourself if the angels count too much on its control – which, yes, should allow it to reach the majors – and ignore the possible lack of the increase.
Who is the only player you would like to plant your flag as the biggest flight of this project?
Gonzalez: Seth Hernandez, who went sixth to the pirates and should one day share a rotation with Paul Skenes and Jared Jones. Secondary launchers are incredibly risky, especially when taken so early in the project. But Hernandez is a great athlete who is already launching hard, has a more change and has shown an improvement with his rupture ball this spring. He will go on the Hunter Greene road, from the High School launcher to the AS of major leagues.
Rogers: Jamie Arnold will look like a flight at No. 11, especially when he made his debut in the majors long before many players took around him. I am not worried about the fall of the sleeves in 2025 – not when he withdrew 119 strikers and walking only 27. The need to polish him but will be satisfied with the consistency he will be. You cannot be mistaken with an academic left -hander from an ACC school – at least, A did not do so.
Schoenfield: I go with Billy Carlson with the 10th choice – with the warning admitted that the White Sox were not exactly stellar to develop strikers. But Carlson looks like an elite defensive stop-curl with more power, and this can alone make him a precious major feature. If the successful tool arrives, we look at a potential star. Ok, is that Bobby Witt Jr. Lite? He is always a star player.
What is your biggest point to remember from the first day of this project?
Gonzalez: The nationals throwing a key into the procedure by selecting Willits. It was a surprising choice, but in their mind, easy. The acting managing director, Mike Debartolo, described Willits the best striker and best available champion. And in a project devoid of talents at risk and with high impact, Willits is undoubtedly a solid choice – a polished striker who should stick to the stop stop and could still hit 20 circuits and steal 20 bases in a premium position. It could also go under the place, allowing flexibility later in the project. But his selection is what allowed Anderson to reach the navies at n ° 3 and prompted the rocks to write Holliday at n ° 4, among other dominoes. It gave a really interesting tone.
Rogers: Things quickly change in baseball. While university strikers are generally the safest bets at the start of the draft, players in this year’s secondary position dominated. (And they all play at the stop stop, at least for the moment.) Athletics has returned to baseball, and the draft rooms act accordingly.
Schoenfield: I agree with Jesse. The selection of as much stop of the preparation stops stood out – and they all seem to hit left -handed and run well, and some of them have great power potential and a cannon for an arm. Look, the successful tool is the most important and the most difficult to search and project, so all these children will not do it, but their potential is exciting and, in Jesse’s point, their wide range of tools shows that baseball always attracts the best athletes to sport.
