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Draft links!
The 2025 MLB Draft gets underway on Sunday at 6 PM ET, with all of the picks of the first three rounds taking place. Picks from rounds four through twenty will begin on Monday morning at 11:30 AM ET.
Sunday’s action will be broadcast on ESPN, MLB.com, and the MLB Network, while all of the picks on Monday will be able to be streamed at MLB.com.
The Cincinnati Reds hold the #9 overall pick, and unlike what we’ve often seen in recent seasons they don’t have one of the largest overall draft bonus pools. That they are picking 9th instead of 2nd certainly impacts that, but it’s also due to the winter trade of overall pick #41 to the Los Angeles Dodgers as part of the deal that landed them Gavin Lux. That estimated pick value (part of Competitive Balance Round A) is some $2,386,900, while the Reds total bonus pool now sits at $11,836,800 - the 15th highest among all MLB clubs.
(They’d have the 8th largest pool if they still held that pick, for the record.)
Slot value for the #9 overall pick is a hair over $6.5 million, and it remains to be seen how the Reds will navigate that pick (and, thusly, the rest of their draft class). They may opt to pick a college player who has less leverage of a holdout and try to sign that player for under slot value, thereby unlocking the ability to go over-slot later on to coerce a player into turning pro who might otherwise go the college route. Or, they may benefit by having a high school player drop to them because each team drafting in front of them employs the former strategy, thereby needing to go over-slot early to land one big fish (and draft players they can sign for under slot value with their subsequent picks).
That there is no clear-cut #1 overall pick (or clear-cut ‘top tier’) in this draft class means that pretty much every club in the top dozen or so picks is in the same boat. So, it’s unsurprising to see a litany of different names connected to the Reds with their first pick.
Carlos Collazo of Baseball America dropped his latest mock draft this morning, with Auburn University’s Ike Irish (C/OF) the Reds selection at #9.
The MLB Pipeline crew’s latest mock has Irish off the board by pick #5, a completely different player selected 1st overall, and Billy Carlson - a shortstop from Corona High School in California - the Reds pick.
Over at The Athletic, Keith Law has each of Irish (6th) and Carlson (8th) off the board before Cincinnati makes their selection, which is LHP Jamie Arnold of Florida State University in his latest mock.
There’s a top-tier prospect in this draft named ‘Kruz Schoolcraft.’ I don’t have a specific link for that, I just thought you’d all enjoy knowing it.
Jamie Arnold goes #3 to the Seattle Mariners in ESPN’s latest mock, which features a trio of college LHPs coming off the board to start the 1st round. Oklahoma RHP Kyson Witherspoon is their pick for the Reds at #9 (with both Carlson and Irish still on their board when that pick is made).
I’m not really sure what ‘The Sporting Tribune’ is, but they have Corona HS (California) RHP Seth Hernandez going to the Reds with pick #9.
The Reds have been predictably tight-lipped about what it is they’ll be aiming for, but it’s pretty obvious that they’ll need to have multiple fires going depending on how the top of the 1st round shakes out.