Tis the Season For Mock Drafts and Draft Boards
The 2025 MLB draft takes place in a little over two months. Several individuals and publications have been creating mock drafts and draft prospect ranking boards for a good while now. However, as the draft is getting closer and closer those boards and mock drafts are being published more frequently. We are starting to get an idea of who the Texas Rangers might select at pick number twelve.
As a Rangers fan, I have always enjoyed taking in as much draft prospect information as I can. I think it is interesting to see how the “experts” rank these guys and who they pick for the Rangers in their mock drafts. I also find it intriguing to study the way these players are ranked on draft boards when compared to the mock drafts. For instance, in their current mock draft, MLB has shortstop JoJo Parker mocked to the Rangers with the 12th pick, but on their draft board they have shortstop, Marek Houston ranked 12th. In their mock draft they have Marek Houston going 19th to the Orioles.
Draft Prospects Who Are Mocked to the Rangers at Pick Number Twelve
Baseball America(Carlos Collazo) - Kruz Schoolcraft, LHP/1B, Sunset (Ore.) HS
Baseball America(Staff Draft) - Steele Hall, SS, Hewitt-Trussville (Ala.) HS
MLB Pipeline - JoJo Parker, SS, Purvis (Miss.) HS
Keith Law - Wehiwa Aloy, SS, Arkansas
USA Today - Kyson Witherspoon, RHP, Oklahoma
Bleacher Report - Xavier Neyens, 3B, Mount Vernon (Wash.) HS
Prospects Live - Kayson Cunningham, SS, Johnson (Texas) HS
Perfect Game - Marek Houston, SS, Wake Forest
Sportsnaut - Brendan Summerhill, OF, Arizona
Bleacher Nation - Kyson Witherspoon, RHP, Oklahoma
Draft Prospects Who Are Ranked 12th on Various Draft Boards
MLB Pipeline - Marek Houston, SS, Wake Forest
Keith Law - Brendan Summerhill, OF, Arizona
Prospects Live - Wehiwa Aloy, SS, Arkansas
Future Star Series - Xavier Neyens, 3B, Mount Vernon (Wash.) HS
Fangraphs - Marek Houston, SS, Wake Forest
Sportsnaut - Billy Carlson, SS, Corona (Calif.) HS
In the ten mock drafts, only one name showed up twice. That shows that there is no real consensus as to who the Rangers will select. The one prospect who showed up on two different mock drafts, showed up on both the USA Today mock draft and the Bleacher Nation mock draft. He is RHP Kyson Witherspoon from the University of Oklahoma.
The six draft prospect ranking boards also only had one name that showed up twice at number 12. The prospect who was ranked 12th by two different services is shortstop Marek Houston from Wake Forest University. Overall, the draft boards did not show very much agreement, as well.
If you combine both lists there are other players besides Witherspoon and Houston who show up more than once. Those include shortstop Wehiwa Aloy from the University of Arkansas, third baseman Xavier Neyens from Mt. Vernon High School in Mt. Vernon, Washington, and outfielder Brendan Summerhill from the University of Arizona. Marek Houston is also on both lists, in addition to being listed twice on the draft board lists, so he is the only prospect that was mentioned three times on these two lists combined.
Marek Houston is a 6-foot-3, 205-pound junior at Wake Forest. He is slashing .346/.457/.574 this season with 10 home runs. As good as his offensive numbers are, he is best known for his fielding. Some consider him the best defensive shortstop in the draft. He has been known as a glove-first shortstop, but his improvements at the plate are beginning to change that label. If he continues to hit well the rest of this season, he may position himself to be picked before the Rangers get the chance to draft him.
Kyson Witherspoon could be the first college RHP taken in this draft. He has a mid-90s fastball that touches 98mph. He has 100 strikeouts in 72 innings this season while only walking 17. His ERA is an impressive 2.13 and his WHIP sits at 0.89. He leads SEC pitchers in overall ERA and in conference games ERA (2.57). His fastball grades out at 65 while both his slider and cutter grade out at 60. He also throws a curveball and a changeup, although his changeup is a work in progress.
There are several other guys to like that should go in the range of picks close to where the Rangers draft at number twelve. Some of those guys are LHP Kruz Schoolcraft, LHP Kade Anderson, SS Jo Jo Parker, C Ike Irish, OF Brendan Summerhill, SS Wehiwa Aloy, and 3B Xavier Neyens. As the draft approaches I will try to highlight some of those guys, and maybe another draft prospect or two, as the mocks and boards change over the course of the next nine weeks.
