On Sunday July 13, MLB will hold the first three rounds of the 2025 player draft and the San Diego Padres will have pick #25, no pick in the supplemental rounds or the second round, and pick #99 in the third round.

On July 14, the rest of the rounds will be held with the Padres picking #130 in the fourth round and #160 in the fifth round. In all rounds after the fifth round they will have the ninth pick in each round.

The first day the draft will be shown live on ESPN and MLB Network at 3 pm PT. The second day of the draft will be on MLB.com beginning at 8:30 am PT. The draft goes 20 rounds and any undrafted players still have opportunities to sign as undrafted free agents with teams.

The mock drafts from baseball writers and evaluators don’t have a consensus for who is going first, much less who the Friars will be choosing at 25.

The Washington Nationals have the first pick in the draft and have just fired their general manager, so it is even more confusing at this point. Through several weeks of evaluation, with players going through combines and showcases, the two top picks are felt to be college LHP Kade Anderson or high schooler SS Ethan Holliday. Depending on who you consult, the beginning of the draft should be heavy with high school shortstops or college pitchers, as both are taking up the first 15-20 slots at the top of the draft boards.

Jim Callis, who does the mock draft for MLB.com, listed his latest picks on July 3. He has Anderson going first and the Padres picking Slater De Braun, a high school outfielder from Oregon. Scouts feel he will stick in center field, has a plus hit tool and has a possible comp in Corbin Carroll of the Diamondbacks.

Keith Law of The Athletic published his latest mock draft ranking on July 8 and also has Anderson going first to the Nationals with the Padres picking high school infielder Xavier Neyens from Washington. He is considered one of the best power hitters in the draft but whiffs at pitches in the zone. His defense is well regarded with a plus arm and is probably best suited as a third baseman.

Other possible picks that could be available when the 25th pick comes along include:

Josh Hammond, a third baseman/RHP out of a high school in North Carolina, was a strong two-way player in tryouts but most likely projects as a position player. He could end up at third base but has a plus arm and good tools on defense so could be tried as a shortstop.

Kayson Cunningham, a high school shortstop out of Texas, has plus bat control and stays in the zone with his swing. He has a good arm for short and plus hands.

These are just four of the players considered for the Padres pick in the 25th spot. One thing AJ Preller and his team are known for is valuing players differently than other organizations. They also play their cards close to the vest so these picks are based on what the rumor mill has generated as information.

With their bonus pool at $6,656,100 due to signing Nick Pivetta, the Padres rank 27th in baseball with their draft pool. This is a similar situation that they had in the 2023 draft after signing Xander Bogaerts and are confident they can still get good players.

Chris Kemp, Padres scouting director, was quoted in AJ Cassavell’s pre-draft article on MLB.com:

“Any time we’re making moves to get an All-Star and get this team better, keep 40,000 coming here every night — if we lose a pick or lose some Draft pool money, I don’t care,” Kemp said. “We’ll find depth to draft guys. It’s a good challenge. We like it.”

In that same article, Kemp said the Padres interviewed 120 players at the Draft combine last month and feel they have done the work and will be ready. It is historically true that they have taken high school players first in every draft since 2016 but don’t be surprised with anything Preller and his scouting group chooses to do.