Staff Draft 1.0: Predicting The First 40 Picks

Plus: The return of Statcast Standouts & Week 7 top 25 rankings

March 31, 2025

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Baseball America Staff Draft 1.0

Several weeks ago, we did our first in-season mock draft of the year. Last week, we unveiled our first in-season draft rankings update. 

Today, we’re bringing you our first staff draft of the year.

Baseball America draft writer Carlos Collazo is joined by four other BA staffers to make player selections for the first 40 slots. As always, the staff draft is not a mock draft. In our mocks, we attempt to project what teams will do on draft day. This exercise is purely based on who we personally would take with each pick.

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THE RETURN OF STATCAST STANDOUTS

Robert Stock, Luis Mey Headline 10 Statcast Standouts (Opening Weekend)

Welcome to a brand new season of baseball. With it comes the return of Statcast Standouts for a second season.

Every Monday morning, Eli Ben-Porat will highlight 10 players who stood out over the previous week based on underlying Statcast metrics. This week’s list includes:

  • A 35-year-old Red Sox righty who hasn’t given up on his dream

  • A Reds RHP who throws 102+

  • The ‘Forever Prospect’ with an eye-popping new metric

  • A potential backup plan for Vlad Jr.?

  • A Nationals OF adding more raw power

Week 7 College Baseball Top 25 Rankings

After posting their worst collective win percentage of the season last week (59%), Top 25 teams improved in Week 7 with a 62.4% win percentage. 

Six teams (Tennessee, Texas, Georgia, LSU, UC Irvine and UCLA) produced perfect weeks. While no group went winless, five (Oregon, Auburn, Vanderbilt, Florida, Stanford) recorded losing records. 

Two teams—Florida (19-11; 1-8 SEC) and Stanford (16-9; 5-7 ACC)—fell out of the Top 25. No. 23 Kansas and No. 25 Virginia Tech joined the Top 25 and made their 2025 rankings debut.

The Hot Sheet Show airs new episodes every Monday at 3:30 p.m. ET on the Baseball America YouTube channel.

Join Hot Sheet Show host Scott Braun and BA staffers J.J. Cooper, Geoff Pontes, Carlos Collazo and Ben Badler live each week for the latest baseball news, prospect analysis, player interviews & lots more.

TRENDING NOW AT BASEBALL AMERICA

💪 Jacob Rudner compiled 15 standout arms for this weekend’s Ace Report.

📈 J.J. Cooper & Geoff Pontes highlighted eight Triple-A teams with rosters worth watching in 2025.

👀 Expect to see Craig Yoho on the Brewers’ big league roster sooner rather than later.

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FROM OUR FRIENDS AT FOUL TERRITORY

ESPN's Jeff Passan joins the FT Crew for a loaded MLB Round-Up. Passan breaks down the Tigers' pitching staff, Dodgers' spending habits, salary cap fights and more.

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