Author Topic: 2025 MLB Draft (Read 32687 times)

JCA-CrystalCity · « **Reply #600 on:** July 16, 2025, 03:50:12 pm »

I thought Nussbaum missed the boat when he emphasized how 15 of the 20 picks were college kids. The story is that 4 of the top 5 were HS kids and the 5th looks like a guy who should sign for underslot. Add in that 5 picks (6-10) were seniors who should sign for just a few thousand each and you see this draft was a big play for high upside young talent rather than quick to the majors college kids

blue911 · « **Reply #601 on:** July 16, 2025, 04:01:23 pm »

Quote from: JCA-CrystalCity on July 16, 2025, 03:50:12 pm

I thought Nussbaum missed the boat when he emphasized how 15 of the 20 picks were college kids. The story is that 4 of the top 5 were HS kids and the 5th looks like a guy who should sign for underslot. Add in that 5 picks (6-10) were seniors who should sign for just a few thousand each and you see this draft was a big play for high upside young talent rather than quick to the majors college kids

It feels like a very mediocre draft all around,not just the Nats. Now it boils down to the ability to develop.

JCA-CrystalCity · « **Reply #602 on:** July 16, 2025, 04:03:20 pm »

Quote from: blue911 on July 16, 2025, 04:01:23 pm

It feels like a very mediocre draft all around,not just the Nats. Now it boils down to the ability to develop.

and we know how that's gone in the past.

blue911 · « **Reply #603 on:** July 16, 2025, 05:32:20 pm »

Quote from: JCA-CrystalCity on July 16, 2025, 04:03:20 pm

and we know how that's gone in the past.

All you have to do is draft Ryan Zimmerman clones.

zoom · « **Reply #604 on:** July 16, 2025, 08:10:31 pm »

Quote from: imref on July 15, 2025, 02:09:56 pm

So we ended up with five of the mlb pipeline top-100. Tied for most.

Signed so far:
6th – Boston Smith – C – Wright State University
7th – Julian Tonghini – RHP – University of Arizona
8th – Riley Maddox – RHP – University of Mississippi
9th – Wyatt Henseler – 3B – Texas A&M University
10th – Hunter Hines – 1B – Mississippi State University

85k total (50, 10, 10, 10, 5) pool allocation. ` 1.25 million saved.

JCA-CrystalCity · « **Reply #605 on:** July 17, 2025, 08:38:32 am »

So. $1.25 plus maybe $2 million on Willits plus say $750k on the 2d rounders guy is $4 million to throw at the 4 other high school picks on top of slot.

Slateman · « **Reply #606 on:** July 17, 2025, 12:04:52 pm »

Kade signed for underslot by almost a million

USF_Football · « **Reply #607 on:** July 17, 2025, 01:12:24 pm »

I follow different writers from a fantasy baseball perspective (for those of us that live, eat and sleep fantasy baseball). Here is one blurb after the draft:

3) Eli Willits - WSH, SS, 17.7 - Willits was the semi surprise 1st pick in the draft, but considering there wasn't a truly slam dunk #1 overall pick, I don't think it was much of a surprise at all. It seems that he will sign for an under slot deal, which surely factored into Washington's decision, but even taking money out of it, Willits has a real case to be the top player in this class. He has one of the best hit tools in the high school class with top of the scale contact. He's a switch hitter and his swing from both sides of the plate are super simple, easy, and very quick. He has plus speed, he's an aggressive base runner, and he has a plus SS glove. There isn't much present power, but he's one of the youngest players in the class at 17 years old, and he's 6'1'', 175 pounds, so the power should tick up naturally over time. That gives Willits one of the safest floors in the draft with hit, defense and speed, and there is enough power projection here for him to have real upside too. He was worthy of that top pick in this draft class. ETA: 2028 Prime Projection: 93/18/77/.283/.348/.438/31 Where he would rank in the Upcoming Top 300 Prospects Rankings: #35 - ranked around Justin Crawford, Colt Emerson, Angel Genoa and Franklin Arias

USF_Football · « **Reply #608 on:** July 17, 2025, 01:13:15 pm »

The same writer's take on Ethan Holliday:

1) Ethan Holliday - COL, SS, 18.5 - Why does taking Ethan Holliday 1st overall feel like falling into a trap? Why does this feel more like Druw Jones 2.0 than Jackson Holliday 2.0? Why does getting drafted into Coors (4th overall in the Draft), the best hitter's park in baseball, make this feel like falling even more into a trap? I'm thankful that all of my leagues hold their FYPD/available prospects draft in the off-season, after these hitters debut in pro ball and we can start to get some real data and looks on them against pro competition, because right now, I don't feel strongly about this top pick at all. I've tried to put a pitcher in this top spot, but every instinct I've ever developed in Dynasty Baseball just wouldn't let me do it. I've considered some other bats for this top spot too, but the bottom line is that there doesn't seem to be a single player who has the talent, size, upside, bloodlines, and now ballpark to top Ethan Holliday's potential dynasty value. He's 6'4'', 200 pounds with a picturesque lefty swing that is smooth and explosive. It has easy double plus power potential written all over it. The dream is that he becomes a middle of the order masher hitting in Coors with power, patience and a solid hit tool. The problem is that he's shown some swing and miss risk in his amateur career, he still likely needs to make adjustments to fully tap into his raw power, and he's also not expected to be a big base stealer. So while it's super easy to talk yourself out of him, there really isn't anyone slam dunk enough to move me off him right now. For now, he's my top dog. ETA: 2028 Prime Projection: 94/32/103/.266/.352/.508/10 Where he would rank in the Upcoming Top 300 Prospects Rankings: #25 - ranked around Lazaro Montes and Bryce Eldridge

imref · « **Reply #609 on:** July 17, 2025, 05:39:39 pm »

Kiley McDaniel's assessment of the Nats' draft:

Quote

Best value: Landon Harmon (No. 80 overall). Down the stretch, Harmon was getting comp-to-second-round overpay projections, and the Nats landed him in the third.

He's typical in some ways, a prep righty up to 98 mph with loud stuff and an aggressive delivery that he needs to harness, but his four-seam/sweeper shapes and athletic testing are among the best in the class. I connected the Nats and Harmon in my final mock.

Quickest to the big leagues: Ethan Petry (No. 49 overall). There are a lot of decent candidates but no polished reliever to plug in here. Petry has three years of SEC performance, so he should breeze through Single-A. Being a right-handed, corner fit who could end up at first base means there isn't a massive upside, but he's a slam-dunk big leaguer who should move pretty quickly.

Sleeper to watch: Miguel Sime Jr. (fourth round). I was so-so on Sime after the summer and early in the spring, as he seemed to be a 6-foot-4 velo sideshow without much more to offer. Down the stretch and in the MLB Draft League, he looked like a different player, flashing an above-average curveball and changeup while throwing strikes. He's a potential midrotation type if he continues progressing.

Of the later picks, I like Boston Smith (sixth round) as a high probability senior sign, Jack Moroknek (11th round) and Jacob Walsh (15th round) for their huge power and Tucker Biven (13th round) as a potential long-term starter.

One big thought: I was the high guy in the industry on Willits and ranked him No. 3 in my top 250, on the same tier with Kade Anderson and Ethan Holliday. But I was still hesitant to see who the Nats landed with the savings to justify taking a (slightly) lesser talent at the top pick.

Landing Harmon, Sime, Coy James (fifth round), and possibly Mason Pike (19th round) is a really strong outcome to where the move at the top is now justifiable.

I think the Nats did an above-average job with their other key picks, collecting a nice group of senior signs and six figure lottery tickets.

imref · « **Reply #610 on:** July 17, 2025, 06:10:18 pm »

The Braves just signed their 4th round pick for $2.4 million over slot

zoom · « **Reply #611 on:** July 17, 2025, 08:16:15 pm »

Quote from: Slateman on July 17, 2025, 12:04:52 pm

Kade signed for underslot by almost a million

Doyle signed for nearly a million under as well.

imref · « **Reply #612 on:** July 17, 2025, 08:28:54 pm »

Seems to be some question as to whether or not we can sign Mason Pike. Committed to Oregon State, 135th ranked prospect who fell to the 19th round over signability issues.

tomterp · « **Reply #613 on:** July 17, 2025, 08:49:05 pm »

I posted elsewhere here a comment that Pike is a backup sign if one of their 3-5 don't bite. If they sign
all three of those guys assume Pike moves on.