The 2025 MLB Draft is just around the corner, starting at 6 p.m. EST on Sunday as a kickoff to All-Star week in Atlanta. The Mets are in a different spot with less flexibility than they have had in years past.
Unlike the NFL Draft or the NBA Draft, the MLB Draft is not as simple as taking the best talent available when you are on the clock. It is ultimately a combination of talent and signability, as bonus pool implications come into play.
Each selection inside the top 10 rounds of the draft is assigned a slot value, and those slot values combine for a team’s overall draft bonus pool. The slot values are not hard-slotted; a team can divvy up their pool however they see fit. A team may also exceed its total pool by up to five percent, and the penalty will only be financial. This is something the Mets have done, almost to the dollar, over the last few years.
A recent example where the Mets have utilized bonus pool flexibility is just last year when they went under slot with first-round pick Carson Benge and third-round pick Nate Dohm, among others, which led to them being able to pay high school shortstop Trey Snyder $1,322,500 in the fifth round ($476,200 over his pick’s slot value) to sign him away from a commitment to Tennessee.
The Mets' first pick this year is not until No. 38 overall, as their first selection dropped 10 spots due to exceeding the luxury tax threshold by $40 million or more last season. The Yankees and Dodgers also have the same penalty and will pick No. 39 and No. 40, respectively.
The Mets will not pick again until No. 102 due to signing Juan Soto, who was a free agent who received a qualifying offer. The Mets had to give up their second-and fifth-highest selections, as well as $1 million from their 2026 international bonus pool due to the Soto signing.
While the Mets are obviously making those trades every day, it does quite literally limit their flexibility in the 2025 draft. The Mets have the second-lowest bonus pool in the sport at $5,465,900, which is ahead of only the Yankees.
In evaluating the class and talking to scouts, the near consensus I have received is that the class is a little deeper than it is littered with star talent at the top.
The No. 1 pick is likely to come down to Oklahoma high school infielder Ethan Holliday, the son of former big leaguer Matt Holliday and brother of Orioles infielder Jackson, and LSU left-handed pitcher Kade Anderson.
Without access to talent like that, as MLB.com’s Jim Callis told us on this week’s episode of The Mets Pod, the Mets may need to play it purer on a talent that should go around No. 38 rather than being able to be opportunistic on someone who falls — which usually would be a high school player with a high asking price to sign.
For example, I don’t think the Mets will be able to essentially "buy" someone like high school left-hander Kruz Schoolcraft down to No. 38. There will definitely be some over slot here and under slot there throughout their class, but they may not be positioned to make that big financial swing that they have done in past drafts.
That doesn’t mean the Mets won’t be able to have a successful draft.
The scouting department, spearheaded by vice president of amateur scouting Kris Gross and scouting director Drew Toussaint, is well-regarded in the industry. They are coming off a 2024 class that has produced some strong first pro season results from prospects like Benge, left-hander Jonathan Santucci, Dohm, outfielder Eli Serrano III, Snyder, and right-handers Will Watson and Ryan Lambert.
The Mets have cast a very wide net on prospects they are interested in, both at the collegiate and high school level, which makes it tough to project. I have heard them mostly connected to hitters, which would check out on both Mets history as well as Gross’ history from his previous time with the Astros.
The last Mets first-round pick who was a pitcher was David Peterson in 2017. I think they’d love if Oregon high school outfielder Slater de Brun were available, but that seems unlikely. Here are a few names to at least keep an eye on:
– Florida high school second baseman/outfielder Sean Gamble
– Nevada high school shortstop/outfielder Tate Southisene
– Wake Forest outfielder Ethan Conrad
– Oregon outfielder Mason Neville
– Arizona State outfielder Brandon Compton
– Texas outfielder Max Belyeu
Regardless of where a team picks, there is always talent to be had throughout the MLB Draft, as evidenced by the Mets producing top 100 prospects in players like Brandon Sproat, Nolan McLean, and Jonah Tong, who were all selected outside of the first round.
Starting this Sunday, the Mets will get the chance to add 19 more prospects to their player development system.
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