MLB Draft Recap for Collectors
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The MLB Draft has come and gone. The two day event took place from July 13-14 and saw hundreds of players drafted to big league teams. Now that the draft is completed I wanted to follow up on my previous article by discussing some of the implications of what players, where they were taken and how that might influence their future hobby markets.
In a surprise move, Eli Willits was taken first overall by the Nationals
Leading up to the draft there was still some uncertainty about who the Nationals would select with the first pick. The top names linked to the Nationals included top pitcher Kade Anderson of LSU and top ranked player Ethan Holliday. As it got closer to the start of the draft on draft day, reports started to trickle out that the Nationals were going to go in a different direction which is what ended up happening. Instead of taking Holliday or Anderson, the Nationals selected prep shortstop Eli Willits. Willits has drawn comparisons to Yankees shortstop Anthony Volpe for his hit over power profile with strong defensive abilities.
What this means for collectors: As discussed in my previous article, historically the top pick in the draft ends up headlining the same year’s Bowman Draft product (IE top 2024 MLB Draft pick Travis Bazzana was the headline pick and chase in Bowman Draft 2024. For collectors, it’s fair to expect Willits to be in Bowman Draft 2025. While it’s too early to say if he will be the top chase he will for sure be one of them although that depends on if Ethan Holliday makes his debut in Bowman Draft.
Ethan Holliday was drafted fourth overall by the Rockies as expected
One prediction did come true on Draft night was where Ethan Holldiay would be picked. As had been reported and expected, consensus top player Ethan Holliday was drafted by the Colorado Rockies. Although there was a possibility he would go first to the Nationals, he ended up going fourth where he was drafted by the team where his father Matt Holiday was a face of the franchise and multi time all star. Now Rockies fans and collectors hope Ethan Holliday will do the same.
What this means for collectors: The question for collectors is now which product Holliday will have his Bowman First chrome autos. If Holliday had been taken first he would for sure been included in Draft and would definitely be the top chase. Now based on recent history, it seems like Holldiay could be the headliner of Bowman 2026. Most likely, fans and collectors will have to wait a little longer to get Holliday’s first chrome autos.
A record number of shortstops were taken in the first round
A record 17 shortstops were drafted in the first round this year ( the previous record was 10 in 2021 and 2023) with 8 of the first ten picks being high school shortstops. Along with top pick Willits, JoJo Parker, Billy Carlson, Steele Hall and Gavin Klein were taken in the top fifteen picks. While not all will remain at short, many are projected to do so or have strong enough offensive projection to be difference makers regardless of position.
What this means for collectors: With so many shortstops, especially high school shortstops being drafted early, there will be a lot of boom or bust players available to collectors in Bowman Draft 2025 and Bowman 2026. The upside with these players is obviously high for collectors, but high school players tend to have the highest risk with position players being the second riskiest picks behind right handed high school pitchers. Hopefully for collectors and fans, one or more of these players will establish themselves as stars but as of right now it’s too early to tell which will.
