Angels miss out on No. 1 pick in MLB Draft Lottery but are still in great shape

Evan Roberts

2024 NCAA Division I Baseball Championship / Peter Aiken/GettyImages

The Angels had the third best odds to win the number one pick in the 2025 MLB Draft. They landed the number two pick in the Draft. They leap-frogged the Rockies and Marlins, but were leap-frogged themselves by the Washington Nationals who will select first.

Among the potential candidates for the Angels at the #2 spot are Jace LaViolette, Ethan Holliday, Jamie Arnold, and Tyler Bremner...just to name a few. The upcoming college and high school baseball seasons will obviously factor in to how the order shakes out. The draft is reported to be heavily loaded with high school prospects. The Angels normally drift towards win-now college players-- guys like LaViolette rather than guys like Holliday. It will be interesting to see if the Angels will go over-slot value with the second pick, as they have recently shown a penchant for going under-slot in the first round to over-spend in later rounds (like they did to pick Ben Joyce). Given that they are picking second, they will likely go chalk with their selection. As it was reported on MLB Network, this is the highest draft selection for the Angels since 1995 when they took Darin Erstad first overall.

The Angels have spent their recent draft picks on high-upside talent like Christian Moore, Nolan Schanuel, and Zach Neto. In 2021, they famously took pitchers only. However, that draft strategy might not have worked exactly how they wanted. Other than Sam Bachman and Chase Silseth, the draft class is really struggling (and Bachman and Silseth themselves aren't exactly lighting it up). The Angels were represented on the Draft Lottery dais by one of their new Assistant General Managers, David Haynes.

The Angels' division rivals, the Mariners, miraculously jumped all the way up to number three in the Draft. It was somewhat reminiscent of the Guardians somehow winning the 2024 Lottery despite a 2% chance of doing so. The Rockies and Marlins each had the best odds of winnings the Draft Lottery, and the Rockies are instead picking fourth and the Marlins seventh.

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Evan Roberts

Evan Roberts worked in professional baseball for 5 years, after pitching collegiately at Davidson College for 4. After graduating in 2018, he worked with the Boston Red Sox at their Pawtucket affiliate for the 2019 season as a Player Development Intern. He picked up with the Chicago White Sox in 2020, but after the Minor League season was canceled he worked with Team USA Baseball at their National Training Complex as a Trackman Stringer/Operator. From 2021-2023, he worked with the Los Angeles Angels as a Game Planning Strategist at their Arizona (ROK League), Salt Lake (AAA), Rocket City (AA) affiliates. He attended the Angels' last 2 Major League Spring Trainings. During Rookie Ball games, he coached 1st base and assisted the players & coaches in the dugout.