Latest news with #EliWillits
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Sport
- Yahoo
2025 MLB Draft tracker: Every player drafted in first round on Day 1
The 2025 MLB Draft is here, which means future baseball prospects will be getting the call of a lifetime. The 2025 draft will take place from Sunday, July 13, through Monday, July 14. Rounds 1-3 will take place on Day 1, while Rounds 4-20 will take place on Day 2. Day 1 action can be watched on MLB Network (6 p.m. ET), with ESPN also broadcasting Sunday's first round. Advertisement The Detroit Tigers hold the No. 24 overall pick in the first round of the draft after a postseason appearance in 2024. That gives them their first late-round pick since 2017, when they selected at No. 18 overall. You can follow along with live updates of every pick below: 2025 MLB Draft first round picks: Live tracker on Day 1 The first round of the draft on Day 1 begins at 6 p.m. ET, with coverage on ESPN and MLB Network. Here is the order of picks for Round 1 — the first 27 picks — plus all other picks before Round 2, including compensation picks and competitive balance rounds. The section below will be updated with each pick. Advertisement Washington Nationals: Eli Willits, SS, Cobb-Broxton High School, Oklahoma Los Angeles Angels: Tyler Bremner, RHP, UC Santa Barbara Seattle Mariners: Kade Anderson, LHP, LSU Colorado Rockies: Ethan Holliday, SS, Stillwater High School, Oklahoma St. Louis Cardinals: Liam Doyle, LHP, Tennessee Pittsburgh Pirates: Seth Hernandez, RHP, Corona High School, California Miami Marlins: Aiva Arquette, SS, Oregon State Toronto Blue Jays: JoJo Parker, SS, Purvis High School, Mississippi Cincinnati Reds: Steele Hall, SS, Hewitt-Trussville High School, Alabama Chicago White Sox: Billy Carlson, SS, Corona High School, California Athletics: Jamie Arnold, LHP, Florida State Texas Rangers: Gavin Fien, 3B, Great Oak High School, California San Francisco Giants: Gavin Kilen, SS, Tennessee Tampa Bay Rays: Daniel Pierce, SS, Mill Creek High School, Georgia Boston Red Sox: Kyson Witherspoon, RHP, Oklahoma Minnesota Twins: Marek Houston, SS, Wake Forest Chicago Cubs: Ethan Conrad, RF, Wake Forest Arizona Diamondbacks: Kayson Cunningham, SS, Johnson High School, Texas Baltimore Orioles: Ike Irish, C, Auburn Milwaukee Brewers: Andrew Fisher, 3B, Tennessee Houston Astros: Xavier Neyens, 3B, Mount Vernon High School, Washington Atlanta Braves: Tate Southisene, SS, Basic High School, Nevada Kansas City Royals: Sean Gamble, 2B, IMG Academy, Florida Detroit Tigers: Jordan Yost, SS, Sickles High School, Florida San Diego Padres: Kruz Schoolcraft, LHP, Sunset High School, Oregon Philadelphia Phillies: Gage Wood, RHP, Arkansas Cleveland Guardians: Jace LaViolette, CF, Texas A&M Kansas City Royals (prospect promotion pick): Josh Hammond, SS, Wesleyan Christian High School, North Carolina Arizona Diamondbacks (compensation pick): Patrick Forbes, RHP, Louisville Baltimore Orioles (compensation pick): Caden Bodine, C, Coastal Carolina Baltimore Orioles (compensation pick): Wehiwa Aloy, SS, Arkansas Milwaukee Brewers (compensation pick): Brady Ebel, 3B, Corona High School Boston Red Sox (competitive balance pick): Marcus Phillips, RHP, Tennessee Detroit Tigers (competitive balance pick): Michael Oliveto, C, Hauppauge High School, New York Seattle Mariners (competitive balance pick): Luke Stevenson, C, North Carolina Minnesota Twins (competitive balance pick): Riley Quick, RHP, Alabama Baltimore Orioles (competitive balance pick): Slater de Brun, OF, Summit High School, Oregon New York Mets (competitive balance pick): Mitch Voit, 2B, Michigan New York Yankees (competitive balance pick): Dax Kilby, SS, Newnan High School, Georgia Los Angeles Dodgers (competitive balance pick): Zach Root, LHP, Arkansas Los Angeles Dodgers (competitive balance pick): Charles Davalan, LF, Arkansas Tampa Bay Rays (competitive balance pick): Brendan Summerhill, CF, Arizona Miami Marlins (competitive balance pick): Cam Cannarella, OF, Clemson For more picks, follow the MLB draft tracker. Detroit Tigers other Day 1 picks After picking at No. 34 with their Competitive Balance Round A selection, the Tigers won't pick again until No. 62 in the second round and then again at No. 98 in the third round. You can reach Christian at cromo@ Contact Matthew Auchincloss at mauchincloss@ This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: 2025 MLB Draft order: Tracking every player picked in Round 1
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Sport
- Yahoo
MLB Draft: Top pick Eli Willits, 17, to build power with Nationals
July 14 (UPI) -- Switch-hitting shortstop Eli Willits is lauded as exceedingly polished at the plate, but the No. 1 overall pick in the 2025 MLB Draft says he plans to improve as a power hitter while with the Washington Nationals. Willits spoke about his desire to improve in that area Sunday, moments after the Nationals made him the youngest No. 1 overall pick in an MLB Draft since Ken Griffey Jr. in 1987. The move to select the 17-year-old infielder from Broxton High School in Fort Cobb, Okla., that early was a bit of a shock, as experts expected either shortstop Ethan Holliday or pitcher Kade Anderson to be the first player picked. Advertisement "I'm just a player that's going to go out there and give everything I've got, just like everyone else," Willits said on the MLB Network broadcast from Atlanta. "I feel like I have a good hit ability and I'm going to take that to the next level. I feel like my power is up and coming, but I needed to get into an organization like the Nationals that can help develop that and take that to the next level." The 6-foot-1, 180-pound infielder previously committed to Oklahoma, but now will likely be headed into the Nationals' minor league system. He hit .471 with 14 doubles, a triple, eight home runs, 34 RBIs, 27 walks, 47 stolen bases and 56 runs last season, when he struck out only four times. Advertisement "I'm just excited and thankful for the Nationals organization for giving me this chance," Willits said. "I want to thank God for everything, but at the end of the day I'm just ready to get out there and get to work." The Nationals made Willits the top pick about a week after they fired longtime general manager Mike Rizzo and Dave Martinez. Interim general manager Mike DeBartolo DeBartolo, who said he was "empowered" by ownership to make draft and trade deadline decisions, called Willits the Nationals' "top guy throughout the process." "We couldn't be more excited," DeBartolo said. "Eli, he's special player. Great hit tool, makes contact, controls the strike zone. We love his swing, switch hitter, just a clean operation at the plate, with developing power, impact at the plate then just an elite shortstop. Somebody who stays at shortstop, somebody with great range, smooth hands, great arm, accurate. You add on top of that, intangibles, confidence, work ethic and maturity that's off the charts. Advertisement "You put all that together. It's rare to get somebody that is the best hitter in the draft and best fielder in the draft. We just felt that was an opportunity we couldn't pass up." The Los Angeles Angels selected former UC Santa Barbara right-handed pitcher Tyler Bremner at No. 2 overall. Anderson, a left-handed pitcher out of LSU, landed with the Seattle Mariners at No. 3. The Colorado Rockies snagged Holliday, a third baseman from Stillwater High School in Stillwater, Okla., at No. 4. Tennessee left-handed pitcher Liam Doyle went to the St. Louis Cardinals at No. 5. Right-handed pitcher Seth Hernandez (Pittsburgh Pirates), shortstop Aiva Arquette (Miami Marlins), shortstop JoJo Parker (Toronto Blue Jays), shortstop Steele Hall (Cincinnati Reds) and shortstop Billy Carlson (Chicago White Sox) rounded out the Top 10 picks. All Day 1 selections can be found here. Rounds 4 through 20 of the 2025 MLB Draft will air at 11:30 a.m. EDT Monday on and
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Sport
- Yahoo
Why Nationals drafted Eli Willits over Ethan Holliday at No. 1 overall pick in 2025 MLB Draft
The Washington Nationals looked like they were on a course to take a college pitcher with the No. 1 overall pick in the 2025 MLB Draft. But seemingly at the last minute, the Nats pivoted. They made a franchise-altering decision, but it wasn't to Ethan Holliday. Advertisement At 1.1, the Nationals drafted Eli Willits, a high school shortstop out of Oklahoma. At 17 years old, he's the youngest player ever chosen first overall. Late mock drafts had LSU's Kade Anderson as the Nationals' most likely selection. The college lefty was viewed as a talented, safe pick. The Nats decided they didn't want safe. They wanted best. Many had Holliday, the son of Matt Holliday (Rockies legend) and brother Jackson Holliday (Orioles rising star), as the No. 1 player on the board. "Ethan Holliday would've been the best pick," MLB Network's Harold Reynolds said on the broadcast. Advertisement Instead, they went Willits. He's the son of Reggie Willits, who was a six-year MLB outfielder with the Angels. He's viewed as having above-average tools across the board. He reclassified from being the No. 1 recruit in the 2026 class to get to the pros a year early. Willits will stick at shortstop, and he's quite a safe choice. He seems like he'll make it and be a good MLB ballplayer, for sure. "You can dream on him becoming Francisco Lindor," MLB Network's Dan O'Dowd said on the broadcast. "... We can argue about the ceiling all day, but has a really good floor." Advertisement From now on, he'll be compared to Holliday. The two high school shortstops from Oklahoma might end up as the two best players in this class. Is Willits the better one? Time will tell. MORE MLB DRAFT:
Washington Post
3 days ago
- Sport
- Washington Post
All about upside as Nationals stock up at the MLB draft
This Washington Nationals draft will ultimately be judged by the performance of top pick Eli Willits. It's what happens when a team has the No. 1 overall selection, and the Nationals used it Sunday night on the 17-year-old high school shortstop from Oklahoma. But that pick does not exist in a vacuum. In all likelihood, the selection of Willits — which will see the shortstop sign for less than the expected value of a No. 1 pick, according to a person with knowledge of the negotiations who spoke on the condition of anonymity — allowed the Nationals to take several high-upside swings with their remaining 19 picks, 17 of which were made Monday as the draft wrapped up.
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Sport
- Yahoo
MLB Draft 2025: Signing Bonus Slot Values for First Round Picks
The Washington Nationals selected high school shortstop Eli Willits with the No. 1 overall pick in Sunday's MLB Draft. Willits, who doesn't turn 18 until December, is the youngest player selected first since the Seattle Mariners took Ken Griffey Jr. in 1987. Washington was in position to select Willits after winning the draft lottery in December, despite having only the fourth-best odds to do so—Miami and Colorado had the best odds but fell to seventh and fourth, respectively. The top pick came with a draft slot value of $11,075,900. Advertisement More from Baseball's slot values offer some wiggle room, unlike rookie contracts in the NFL and NBA, where first-round picks are tied to those leagues' salary caps and are largely set in stone. NFL teams have the option to sign first-round picks below their draft slot amount but never do. NBA teams can sign first-rounders to contracts that range from 80% to 120% of their slot value, but the agreements are almost always at the max level. Cam Ward signed a four-year, $48.4 million contract with the Tennessee Titans. Cooper Flagg's contract with the Dallas Mavericks is worth $62.7 million over four years, although only the first two years are guaranteed. Compare those to Travis Bazzana, last year's top pick by the Cleveland Guardians, who received an $8.95 million bonus, 15% lower than the $10.57 million slot value. The Pittsburgh Pirates gave Paul Skenes a $9.2 million bonus, 5% below his slot in 2023. A year before that, Jackson Holliday received an $8.19 million bonus from the Baltimore Orioles, 10% lower than the $9.05 million slot value. Advertisement Every pick in the first 10 rounds is assigned a slot value, and a team's total bonus pool is the sum of those slot values. The Orioles have the highest pool this year at $19.1 million, followed by the Mariners ($17.1 million), Los Angeles Angels ($16.7 million) and Nationals ($16.6 million). The New York Yankees rank last at $5.4 million after MLB lowered their top pick 10 spots for exceeding the second surcharge threshold of the luxury tax, and they also forfeited their second-round pick for signing free agent Max Fried. When teams sign players below their slot values, it frees up more room to go over slot to sign a high school player who might choose college over a smaller signing bonus. Those negotiations sometimes happen before draft night. Willits was a surprise pick at the top of the draft, as the consensus top two picks were high school infielder Ethan Holliday and LSU pitcher Kade Anderson. They went third and fourth. Last week, the Nationals fired general manager Mike Rizzo, who led their baseball operations for 17 years. Manager Davey Martinez was also fired last week. Players selected after the 10th round can be signed for up to $125,000 without the bonus being applied toward the pool allotment, but anything over $125,000 is part of the pool. Last year, the Angels gave 11th-round pick Trey Gregory-Alford a $1.96 million bonus. The total 2025 bonus pool for the 30 teams is $350 million, up 4.8% from the prior year, which is tied to the growth of MLB revenues. Teams often exceed their bonus allotment but never by more than 5%; up to 5%, the penalty is simply a 75% tax on any overage. Teams face a steeper penalty at higher thresholds, including the loss of draft picks. Spending 5% to 10% above the bonus pool threshold costs a first-round pick, and the penalty reaches two first-round picks at 15%. Advertisement In the minor leagues, rookie-level minimum salaries are $20,430 this year, while Triple-A is $36,590. The minimum annual salary in the majors is $760,000 in 2025. The draft continues Monday afternoon with rounds four through 20. Best of Sign up for Sportico's Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
