The 2025 MLB Draft is a little over two weeks away. Four years ago, MLB pushed the draft back from the first week of June to the All-Star break in an effort to better market the event, and it will remain there moving forward, even though many executives don’t like it. The two-day draft begins Sunday, July 13, this year.
This is the third year of MLB’s draft lottery system. In the past, the draft order was the reverse order of the previous year’s standings, which was nice and easy. Now picks 1-6 are assigned via lottery, picks 7-18 are the remaining non-postseason teams in reverse order of the previous year’s standings, and picks 19-30 are postseason teams in order of their playoff finish.
At 71-91, the Nationals had baseball’s sixth-worst record last season, yet they won the lottery and moved up to the No. 1 pick. It marks the third time in franchise history that the Expos/Nationals have held the No. 1 selection. The first two times resulted in elite players: Stephen Strasburg in 2009 and Bryce Harper in 2010.
The following are the six largest bonus pools for the 2025 MLB draft per MLB.com:
- Mariners: $17,074,400
- Rays: $16,699,400
- Angels: $16,656,400
- Nationals: $16,597,800
- Orioles: $16,513,100
Teams typically prioritize selecting the best available talent over filling specific roster needs early in the draft. This draft class features a lack of a clear No. 1 prospect, complicating predictions about selections.
