Cardinals Predicted To Add 'Slam Dunk' With Yankees Ties

With all of the speculation about the trade deadline going on across Major League Baseball, it seems many have forgotten that the 2025 MLB Draft will come beforehand.

The action will kick off on July 13th and that's going to be the next opportunity for the St. Louis Cardinals to add another future star to the franchise. Not all picks work out, obviously, but the Cardinals will have a chance at landing high-end talent with the No. 5 overall pick in the draft.

Last year, the Cardinals used the No. 7 pick to take JJ Wetherholt and it has worked out to the poiint where he was just promoted to Triple-A already. The Cardinals haven't picked this high since taking outfielder JD Drew.

Who will be the next first-rounder for St. Louis? The Athletic's Keith Law predicted that the Cardinals will end up rolling with high school shortstop Eli Willits.

"Eli Willits," Law said. "School: Fort Cobb-Broxton HS (Okla.), Bats: B, Throws: R. The top four seem likely to be those four aforementioned names in some order, which might make the Cardinals’ lives a little easier as they can negotiate with a larger group of players, knowing that they’re the high water mark for all of those players. I think Willits, Jamie Arnold, and Kyson Witherspoon are near the top of their list, but they’re unlikely to take Hernandez (or any HS pitcher)."

Landing a guy like Willits would be nice, obviously. He's currently ranked as the No. 5 overall prospect in this draft class by MLB.com.

"Willits comes from a baseball family, with father Reggie playing in the big leagues before coaching with the Yankees and returning to his alma mater as the associate head coach at Oklahoma -- where Eli's brother, Jaxon, is starring as a sophomore," MLB.com said. "Willits also is committed to the Sooners but is unlikely to get to Norman because he's a slam-dunk early first-rounder after reclassifying from the 2026 class.

"He draws some comparisons to Anthony Volpe with better physical tools at the same stage, and he'll likely be the youngest true prospect in the 2025 crop at 17 years, 7 months on Draft Day. In three years at Fort Cobb-Broxton HS, he won six state Class B championships (three fall, three spring)."

He's coming out of high school so the Cardinals would have time to develop him. The Cardinals already have some infield pieces for the future but adding a guy like this would only take the farm system to another level.

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