The St. Louis Cardinals made what could wind up being one of the best picks of the 2025 MLB Draft at No. 5 overall by selecting Liam Doyle out of Tennessee. The Cardinals had a rare opportunity to aim high by picking early in the first round, and they did just that with Doyle, who could prove to be the best pitcher taken in this year's class.
The risk is evident. Doyle doesn't have much in terms of off-speed stuff to work with, so he could end up as a reliever if he can't develop solid secondaries. Still, his fastball is as electric as any offering in the draft and can reach triple digits. Doyle also commands it well and can generate swings and misses at a high clip.
If everything breaks right, the Cardinals have an ace with this pick, which they desperately need, considering their old and mostly underwhelming rotation. While the Cardinals look like winners, there are four other teams that crushed it in the MLB Draft as well.
4) Athletics
The Athletics might've gotten the steal of the draft by selecting Florida State's Jamie Arnold, a pitcher who could've easily gone as early as No. 2 overall. Arnold has been highly touted for a while now, and while the top of the first round was no sure thing, nobody expected the southpaw to fall to No. 11 overall, where the A's eventually snatched him.
Arnold can reach the upper 90s with his fastball, has a wicked sweeper and, perhaps most notably, has an arm angle that is as close to resembling Chris Sale's as an arm angle possibly can. The A's got the best player available who happened to fill their biggest need at No. 11 overall. That rarely happens and can prove to be a wonderful thing in the not-too-distant future.
3) Baltimore Orioles
Mike Elias has made his share of mistakes as GM of the Baltimore Orioles, but if there's one thing he's proven he can do well, it's draft. The Orioles knocked it out of the park again in the 2025 MLB Draft.
To be fair, it would've been tough for the Orioles to fail, given they had four picks in the first 37 selections and six of the first 69, but still: Elias did well. Ike Irish might not stick behind the plate, but he can really hit and is a steal at No. 19 overall. Shortstop Wehiwa Aloy was projected to go far earlier than No. 31 overall, where the Orioles selected him. Slater de Brun is one of the best outfielders in the class, whom the Orioles got to select thanks to the Bryan Baker trade made days before the draft.
The Orioles had the most money to spend of any team in the draft and added a ton of exciting talent to their farm system as a result. Again, Orioles fans can get on Elias for many things, but this year's draft is not one of them.
2) Colorado Rockies
Could the draft have played out any better for the Colorado Rockies? Despite holding the No. 4 overall pick, the Rockies picked the player who most analysts would say is the most talented in the class. Yes, it's always a little risky taking a prospect out of high school, but Holliday's ceiling is too great for him to have fallen all the way to No. 4 overall.
Holliday projects to have more power than his brother, Jackson, and is a better athlete than his father, Matt, a former Rockies All-Star. Whether he can stick at shortstop remains to be seen, but even if he's a third baseman, he can easily become a 30+ home run hitter who gets on base at an elite level. Playing half his games at altitude-aided Coors Field will only help him, and Matt being his dad will only help Rockies PR. The Holliday selection alone makes the Rockies one of the draft's biggest winners.
1) Seattle Mariners
When the Washington Nationals fired GM Mike Rizzo, most believed they'd take the safest player available, former LSU ace Kade Anderson. When they passed, most assumed that the Los Angeles Angels, a team that's prioritized the best college talent available in recent years, would take him. But somehow, L.A. landed on Tyler Bremner, leading to the Seattle Mariners selecting the southpaw. Getting the No. 3 overall pick was lucky enough, but getting to select arguably the best pitcher in the draft, and get him at under slot value as well, is an insanely awesome outcome.
Anderson is the latest addition to an already electric Mariners pitching factory, and it would not be shocking to see him become a multi-time All-Star in the Pacific Northwest. It might not have been the bat that Mariners fans wanted, but if anything, this selection might free the team to trade a starter and not break a sweat knowing Anderson will join the big-league rotation sooner rather than later.