The 2025 MLB Draft is officially over, and the discourse has shifted from prediction to analysis. The days following the event, which spanned 20 rounds (plus compensatory rounds) and 615 picks, serve as prime real estate to break down your favorite team’s picks and identify some of the best values from the Draft.
On the latest Pipeline Podcast, Jim Callis, Jonathan Mayo and Sam Dykstra alongside Jason Ratliff dove into the Draft with their analysis caps on, picking out the biggest steals from each of the first 10 rounds. Here’s their list along with when they were taken and their MLB Pipeline Draft ranking:
Round 1
Jamie Arnold, LHP, Athletics No. 11; ranked No. 4
Dykstra: “A lot of people have made the Chris Sale (comparison) because the fastball and curveball are so advanced. Just a real uncomfortable at-bat. It just felt like Arnold had a chance to be at least a top eight pick, and he goes here at 11 to the A’s. It feels like they got really good value there. We’ve seen Gage Jump do so well in that system, and I think Jamie Arnold has a higher ceiling than Gage Jump does.”
Compensation round
Brendan Summerhill, OF, Rays No. 42; ranked No. 16
Callis: “I had him going 16th to the Twins in my final mock. We heard some talk he was sliding a little bit. But I didn’t think he’d get all the way down to pick 42. It’s not a great class of college hitters and I thought he was one of the best position players around.”
Round 2
Devin Taylor, OF, Athletics No. 48; ranked No. 30
Mayo: “He was arguably one of the best pure college hitters in the class. There were some defensive questions, so maybe he ends up in left field. Fine. He can really hit, and he’s going to hit with power. To get a college hitter of this caliber, in a class that was really weak in terms of college bats, to get him at pick 48, that was a really good get for the A’s.”
Round 3
Anthony Eyanson, RHP, Red Sox No. 87; ranked No. 40
Dykstra: “Red Sox really made a run on college players … really, really good slider. What we’ve learned about the Red Sox over the last few years is, if you have a good pitch, they like to lean into that. They’ve done a better job this year of improving guys’ fastballs, so I’ll be interested to see what they do with Eyanson. But that slider is going to be something that really pushes him toward Fenway.”
Round 4
Mason Neville, OF, Reds No. 114; ranked No. 35
Callis: “I feel like this one is sort of obvious. Neville tied the NCAA Division I lead with 26 homers. He’s pretty athletic. Had a big year at Oregon. A guy I thought was going to go in the sandwich or early second round, for the Reds to get him in the fourth round, I think that’s tremendous value.”
Round 5
Matt Barr, RHP, Twins No. 149; ranked No. 136
Mayo: “He was the best junior college player in the Draft. He can really pitch. He can really, really, really spin a breaking ball. But he can also crank his fastball up to 97.”
Round 6
Josiah Hartshorn, OF, Cubs No. 181; ranked No. 108
Dykstra: “Fascinating background for this — a switch hitter who spent a lot of time hitting from one side, had an elbow injury and then had to switch. Then he had a back injury and had to hit from the other side. He won a share of last year’s High School Home Run Derby. The power is going to drive the profile here. I think there is some upside here as long as he can get healthy.”
Round 7
Matthew Fisher, RHP, Phillies No. 221; ranked No. 46
Callis: “There was lot of talk he was going to fit in the sandwich round. Really athletic high school pitcher from Indiana. 6-foot-3, 200 pounds, fastball up to 95. He got high spin rates on two different breaking balls. He has aptitude for a changeup. It’s a good delivery with good extension. He just needs to get stronger. I was just really surprised that he fell to the seventh round. This might be the biggest steal of the top 10 rounds compared to where a guy was ranked.”
Round 8
Nick Dumesnil, OF, Tigers No. 249; ranked No. 118
Mayo: “When I did our way-too-early first mock of the first round last July, he was in the first round because he’d had a big sophomore year and hit really well in the Cape. Then this year he was really inconsistent. There were a lot of concerns with him getting to the power. That said, this was a guy who had first-round potential talent. To get that kind of talent in Round 8 is pretty darn good.”
Round 9
Jared Jones, 1B, Pirates No. 263; ranked No. 101
Jones ranked as one of the best power hitters in the 2022 prep class and was one of the top sluggers in the ’24 and ’25 college crops, slugging 64 homers and winning two Men’s College World Series titles in three years at Louisiana State. He was projected to land in the third or fourth round.
Round 10
Maximus Martin, SS/OF, Red Sox No. 298; ranked No. 223
Callis: “It’s tools over skills but it’s an interesting package. He’s got plus raw power. He hits the ball hard. He has to make more contact. He can show plus straight-line speed. The Red Sox have had a lot of success developing hitters recently, helping hitters make strides. There is a lot to work with here.”
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