2025 Amateur Draft

The 2025 First Year Player Draft was the 61st Major League Baseball Amateur Draft. It began on July 13, 2025, in Atlanta, GA as part of the 2025 All-Star Game festivities and was held at the Roxy Theater at the Battery, located next to Truist Park.

As has been the case since 2023, the first overall pick was determined through a lottery held at the winter meetings on December 10, 2024. The Washington Nationals won that contest, leapfrogging past three other teams that had posted a worse record in 2024. Also, in the first concrete result from the anti-tanking policy adopted as part of the latest Collective Bargaining Agreement, the Chicago White Sox were ineligible for a lottery pick and, in spite of posting a new record for most losses by a team since 1900, had to make do with the #10 pick. The Dodgers, Yankees and Mets all saw their top selection move to the middle of the Competitive Balance Round A round as punishment for exceeding luxury tax thresholds.

The early favorite to be selected with the First overall pick, at the time of the draft lottery, had a familiar last name: high school infielder Ethan Holliday, son of major leaguer Matt Holliday and brother of Jackson Holliday, drafted first overall in 2022. There was still plenty of time for other candidates to emerge, however, and as the draft drew closer, a couple of other names were added to the mix, left-handed pitchers Kade Anderson of Louisiana State University and Liam Doyle of the University of Tennessee, both of whom were considered to be much closer to the majors than Holliday. However, the first round did not go as expected at all. The Nationals, who had fired long-time GM Mike Rizzo a week before the draft, chose high school SS Eli Willits with the first pick; Willits, a second-generation player, had been expected to go in the top five, but not that high. The Los Angeles Angels, picking second, did go for a college pitcher, but not one of the top favorites, in selecting Tyler Bremner from the University of California, Santa Barbara. Shortstops were the flavor of the day, representing 15 of the top 32 picks.

Draft Order

First Round

Pick	Team	Player	Position	School (Type)	Hometown	Notes
1	Washington Nationals	Eli Willits	SS	Fort Cobb-Broxton High School (H.S.)	Fort Cobb, OK
2	Los Angeles Angels	Tyler Bremner	P	University of California, Santa Barbara (Coll.)	San Diego, CA
3	Seattle Mariners	Kade Anderson	P	Louisiana State University (Col.)	Madisonville, LA
4	Colorado Rockies	Ethan Holliday	SS	Stillwater High School (H.S.)	Stillwater, OK
5	St. Louis Cardinals	Liam Doyle	P	University of Tennessee (Col.)	Derry, NH
6	Pittsburgh Pirates	Seth Hernandez	P	Corona High School (H.S.)	Chino, CA
7	Miami Marlins	Aiva Arquette	SS	Oregon State University (Col.)	Kailua, HI
8	Toronto Blue Jays	JoJo Parker	SS	Purvis High School (H.S.)	Purvis, MS
9	Cincinnati Reds	Steele Hall	SS	Hewitt-Trussville High School (H.S.)	Trussville, AL
10	Chicago White Sox	Billy Carlson	SS	Corona High School (H.S.)	Corona, CA	ineligible for lottery pick
11	The Athletics	Jamie Arnold	P	Florida State University (Col.)	Tampa, FL	ineligible for lottery pick
12	Texas Rangers	Gavin Fien	3B	Great Oak High School (H.S.)	Temecula, CA
13	San Francisco Giants	Gavin Kilen	SS	University of Tennessee (Col.)	Milton, WI
14	Tampa Bay Rays	Daniel Pierce	SS	Mill Creek High School (H.S.)	Hoschton, GA
15	Boston Red Sox	Kyson Witherspoon	P	University of Oklahoma (Col.)	Jacksonville, FL
16	Minnesota Twins	Marek Houston	SS	Wake Forest University (Col.)	Nokomis, FL
17	Chicago Cubs	Ethan Conrad	OF	Wake Forest University (Col.)	Saugerties, NY
18	Arizona Diamondbacks	Kayson Cunningham	SS	Lady Bird Johnson High School (H.S.)	San Antonio, TX
19	Baltimore Orioles	Ike Irish	C	Auburn University (Col.)	Hudsonville, MI
20	Milwaukee Brewers	Andrew Fischer	3B	University of Tennessee (Col.)	Manasquan, NJ
21	Houston Astros	Xavier Neyens	3B	Mount Vernon High School (H.S.)	Mount Vernon, WA
22	Atlanta Braves	Tate Southisene	SS	Basic High School (H.S.)	Henderson, NV
23	Kansas City Royals	Sean Gamble	OF	IMG Academy (H.S.)	Des Moines, IA
24	Detroit Tigers	Jordan Yost	SS	Walter L. Sickles High School (H.S.)	Tampa, FL
25	San Diego Padres	Kruz Schoolcraft	P	Sunset High School (H.S.)	Beaverton, OR
26	Philadelphia Phillies	Gage Wood	P	University of Arkansas (H.S.)	Batesville, AR
27	Cleveland Guardians	Jace LaViolette	OF	Texas A&M University (Col.)	Katy, TX

Prospect Promotion Incentive Picks

Pick	Team	Player	Position	School (Type)	Hometown	Notes
28	Kansas City Royals	Josh Hammond	SS	Wesleyan Christian Academy (H.S.)	High Point, NC	Received for Bobby Witt Jr. finishing 2nd in the MVP Award

Compensation Picks

Pick	Team	Player	Position	School (Type)	Hometown	Notes
29	Arizona Diamondbacks	Patrick Forbes	P	University of Louisville (Col.)	Bowling Green, KY	Compensation for Christian Walker leaving as a free agent
30	Baltimore Orioles	Caden Bodine	C	Coastal Carolina University (Col.)	Haddon Heights, NJ	Compensation for Corbin Burnes leaving as a free agent
31	Baltimore Orioles	Wehiwa Aloy	SS	University of Arkansas (H.S.)	Wailuku, HI	Compensation for Anthony Santander leaving as a free agent
32	Milwaukee Brewers	Brady Ebel	SS	Corona High School (H.S.)	Rancho Cucamonga, CA	Compensation for Willie Adames leaving as a free agent

Competitive Balance Round A

Pick	Team	Player	Position	School (Type)	Hometown	Notes
33	Boston Red Sox	Marcus Phillips	P	University of Tennessee (Col.)	Sioux Falls, SD	acquired from Milwaukee in Quinn Priester trade
34	Detroit Tigers	Michael Oliveto	C	Hauppauge High School (H.S.)	Smithtown, NY
35	Seattle Mariners	Luke Stevenson	C	University of North Carolina (Col.)	Wake Forest, NC
36	Minnesota Twins	Riley Quick	P	University of Alabama (Col.)	Trussville, AL
37	Baltimore Orioles	Slater de Brun	OF	Summit High School (H.S.)	Bend, OR	acquired from Tampa Bay in Bryan Baker trade
38	New York Mets	Mitch Voit	2B/P	University of Michigan (Col.)	Milwaukee, WI	1st-round pick downgraded for exceeding luxury tax threshold
39	New York Yankees	Dax Kilby	SS	Newnan High School (H.S.)	Newnan, GA	1st-round pick downgraded for exceeding luxury tax threshold
40	Los Angeles Dodgers	Zach Root	P	University of Arkansas (Col.)	Fort Myers, FL	1st-round pick downgraded for exceeding luxury tax threshold
41	Los Angeles Dodgers	Charles Davalan	OF	University of Arkansas (Col.)	Montreal, QC	acquired from Cincinnati in Gavin Lux trade
42	Tampa Bay Rays	Brendan Summerhill	OF	University of Arizona (Col.)	Chicago, IL	acquired from The Athletics in Jeffrey Springs trade
43	Miami Marlins	Cam Cannarella	OF	Clemson University (Col.)	Hartsville, SC

Notes

Corona High School in Corona, CA, became the first high school to ever have three players drafted in the first round of the same draft.

Further Reading

• Anthony Castrovince: "Stunners at the top, shortstops galore and more takeaways from Draft Day 1", mlb.com, July 14, 2025. [1]
• Jonathan Mayo: "New: Top 100 Draft prospects for '25", mlb.com, December 5, 2024. [2]
• Jonathan Mayo: "Nats win Lottery, get No. 1 pick in 2025; M's, Cards make big moves up board", mlb.com, December 10, 2024. [3]
• Jonathan Mayo: "There's a NEW No. 1 pick in the latest mock draft", mlb.com, June 5, 2025. [4]
• Jonathan Mayo: "Draft Day 1: Pick-by-pick rundown, analysis", mlb.com, July 13, 2025. [5]
• Charles Odum (Associated Press): "Nationals take high school shortstop Eli Willits, son of ex-MLBer Reggie, with No. 1 pick in draft", Yahoo! Sports, July 13, 2025. [6]

Related Sites

• Complete draft order