White Sox 2025 MLB Draft Notebook 1.0
via MLB PR
The 2025 Major League Baseball Draft will take place in Atlanta as part of All Star weekend. This will be the fourth draft for the White Sox under the current rules. The draft is 20 rounds and a lottery determines the first six picks (more on that later). With all of the shuffling and change in the White Sox’s organization, Mike Shirley remains in charge of the amateur draft. This will be his sixth draft as the director of amateur scouting. He has selected Garrett Crochet, Colson Montgomery, Noah Schultz, Jacob Gonzalez and Hagen Smith to this point.
New Draft Format and How it Affects the White Sox
From 2012-2019, the MLB Draft was 40 rounds in total and it was 50 rounds prior to that. When the draft lottery was originally implemented for the collective bargaining agreement in 2022, the draft was shortened to 20 rounds with the first two on Sunday, 3-10 on Monday and 11-20 on Tuesday. The format is changing again.
Major League Baseball still wants the draft to take place as part of All-Star weekend and it’s scheduled to do so once again. It will get a lot longer on night one however. On Sunday July 13, the first three rounds of the 2025 Draft will take place. Rounds 4-20 will now become a marathon on Monday July 14th. Two big changes that we could potentially see under this format occur in rounds four and 11.
After night one, teams would typically make some calls to try and line up deals in the third round. That won’t be a thing any longer but the fourth round might become more interesting for the same reasons. Round 11 often had the same effect. Clubs are awarded a total bonus pool to spend on their draft but it’s only allocated from rounds 1-10. Players selected in rounds 11-20 can be signed for $150K without counting against a club’s bonus pool. There is typically lots of jockeying for position after round two.
Teams will need to have their boards set and their priority targets lined up while staying open-minded overall on different paths toward procuring as much talent as possible. A source told me that he liked this new format because “prepared teams will have a distinct advantage”. The White Sox have been prepared under the guidance of Mike Shirley and his scouting staff for the most part.
Draft Lottery A Fait Accompli for the White Sox
The White Sox will have the 10th overall pick in the 2025 Draft despite finishing with the worst record in the league in 2024. One of the rules implemented in the most recent CBA, essentially ensured that this would be the case for the supposedly large market Pale Hose. The White Sox landed the 5th overall pick in the 2024 MLB Draft which made them ineligible for a lottery pick in the 2025 Draft; despite the fact that they actually moved down in the order.
The rules are weird and they won’t discourage tanking but there’s nothing that clubs can do about it. The scouting staff has to find the best player that they can at #10 overall. One silver lining is that the White Sox will have the first overall pick in rounds 2-20. The Washington Nationals were in a similar position in 2024 and the 10th overall pick came with an assigned bonus pool of $5,953,800. That total is likely to go up this year. The second round pick will likely fall at #44 with a bonus pool close to $2.3 million as well.
Draft bonus pools won’t be finalized until the remaining free agents with qualifying offers sign contract and land with teams. In 2024, the White Sox acquired a competitive balance Round B selection in a trade with the Seattle Mariners and it would behoove them to follow a similar playbook for 2025. They could really use an extra pick and more money to play with.
Speaking of the Nationals, Washington landed the #1 overall pick in the draft with 10% odds. The Los Angeles Angels will pick second and they came in with an 18% chance at landing the top selection. The Seattle Mariners and the St. Louis Cardinals are the teams who made the biggest jumps and they’ll choose at #3 and #5 respectively. The Colorado Rockies and Miami Marlins came in with the best odds and both teams fell in the order. The Rockies will pick 4th overall while the Marlins won’t select until #7 overall.
The current draft order isn’t yet known because free agency hasn’t entirely concluded. It is known that The New York Mets, New York Yankees and Los Angeles Dodgers won’t pick until 38, 39 and 40 however because those teams exceeded the competitive balance tax threshold that lowers their pick ten spots. The Kansas City Royals will receive the 28th overall pick due to Bobby Witt’s MVP-like season while the Baltimore Orioles, Milwaukee Brewers and Arizona Diamondbacks will also receive compensation picks after the first round for losing Corbin Burnes, Anthony Santander, Wily Adames and Christian Walker.
Way-Too Early 2025 Mock Draft
1. Washington Nationals: Ethan Holliday, SS, Stillwater HS (OK)
Mike Rizzo won’t be afraid to take the best player on the board and Holliday resembles his father, Matt, more than his older brother Jackson does. The 6-4, 200 pounder is more physical and powerful with some juice from the left side. He projects for plus-plus power and strength.
2. Los Angeles Angels: Chase LaViolette, OF, Texas A&M
The Angels love taking college bats and they get the best one in the class with this selection. LaViolette is a 6-6, 230 pound outfielder who has hit 50 homers in two college seasons. It’s a right field profile with premium power and lots of walks from the left side.
3. Seattle Mariners: Jamie Arnold, LHP, Florida State
Seattle has taken all different demographics in recent drafts but Arnold looks to be the top arm in the class at this point. The 6-1, 180 pound southpaw struck out 159 hitters and walked just 26 as a sophomore for the Seminoles and he runs his fastball up to 97 mph with a plus slider.
4. Colorado Rockies: Tyler Bremner, RHP, UC Santa Barbara
The best righty in the college class pitches on the west coast and the Rockies grab another hurler here. The 6-2, 190 pounder shows three plus pitches with a fastball up to 98 mph and a plus changeup. He needs innings and has some durability questions but he should go in this range next July.
5. St. Louis Cardinals: Xavier Neyens, 3B, Mount Vernon HS (WA)
In Chaim Bloom’s first draft as a decision maker, he’s taking a powerful high school infielder. Neyens is a 6-4, 200 pounder with a great approach, discipline and power from the lefts side. There’s some swing and miss in his game but the Oregon State recruit should stay at third base.
6. Pittsburgh Pirates: Kayson Cunningham, SS, Johnson HS (TX)
Cunningham will stay at shortstop and the 5-9, 170 pounder can really hit. He also possesses plus speed. The Piartes could also take Seth Hernandez; the best prep pitcher in the 2025 class.
7. Miami Marlins: Kruz Schoolcraft, LHP/1B, Sunset HS (OR)
The Marlins new braintrust loves very young players and they’re also years away from contention at the moment. The 6-8, 230 pounder is a legitimate two-way talent and he reclassified into the 2025 class so he’s only 17-years-old.
8. Toronto Blue Jays: Seth Hernandez, RHP, Corona HS (CA)
Hernandez could go much higher than this. He’ll have the earned skepticism of being a prep right hander but he might be the best pitcher in the draft class. The 6-4, 190 pounder has the profile of a top of the rotation starter. He was stellar on the summer circuit and he’s an athletic, power arm with premium stuff.
9. Cincinnati Reds: Brendan Summerhill, OF, Arizona
The 6-3, 205 pounder might play center field for Arizona this year but he likely profiles in an outfield corner. Summerhill was great in the Cape Cod League and he’s the type of college hitter that flies up draft boards in July.
10. Chicago White Sox: Eli Willits, SS, Fort-Cobb Broxton HS (OK)
Willits has bloodlines as his father Reggie played in the big leagues and he’s another reclass from 2026 originally. The 6-1, 165 pounder is a switch-hitter who projects to have average power with a plus hit tool. He’ll be the youngest player in the class on draft day as he’ll be just 17-years and seven months old at the time. He’s also a plus defender at shortstop and should stay at the position.
