Latest 2025 MLB Draft update leaves Mariners, Jerry Dipoto with no excuse

The Seattle Mariners got lucky back in December, as they landed the No. 3 pick in the 2025 MLB Draft despite finishing last season with the league's 14th-best record. And now we know this was just the beginning of their good fortune.

As Jim Callis of MLB.com reported on April 23, the Mariners will also head into the Draft — which will be held on July 13 and 14 — with the largest bonus pool of any team at a total sum of $17,074,400. It is the fourth-highest bonus pool that any team has had since 2012.

Clearly, the stars have aligned for the Mariners to crush it in the 2025 MLB Draft, thereby adding to an already elite farm system. It's just up to president of baseball operations Jerry Dipoto to make it happen.

Jerry Dipoto has a rare opportunity to make the Mariners' farm system truly one of a kind

Let's give Dipoto this much credit: If there's one thing Mariners fans already trust him to do, it's cultivate talent from within the organization.

Since Dipoto took charge of the front office in 2015, the Mariners have drafted, signed, and developed core stars such as Julio Rodríguez, Cal Raleigh, Logan Gilbert, George Kirby, Bryan Woo, and Bryce Miller. And the prospect wheel just keeps spinning, as in Seattle's farm system right now are as many as nine top-100 prospects.

Yet as much as it would seem like the Mariners can't possibly mess up this year's Draft, you have to wonder if they'll pursue a sound, yet risky strategy that could set them up for failure.

As an example, remember when the Texas Rangers had the No. 3 pick in 2022 and used it on Kumar Rocker? That shocked everyone, and the club's grand plan was ultimately revealed to involve signing Rocker on a below-slot bonus and eventually drafting Brock Porter, a higher-ranked prospect, in the fourth round and signing him to an over-slot bonus.

In effect, the Rangers got two first-round talents 106 picks apart from each other. It looked like a smart play at the time, and the Mariners will be in an even better position to pursue a similar strategy this year. After the No. 3 pick, they'll pick again at No. 35 and No. 57.

There is a cautionary tale at play here, however. Three years later, Rocker's pro career has more misses (i.e., 6.54 ERA in the majors) than hits and Porter's prospect stock has deflated entirely. Whereas MLB Pipeline had Porter rated as the Rangers No. 4 prospect in 2024, he's now outside the top 30 in 2025.

Granted, prospects are always breaking hearts and the history of the MLB Draft is loaded with seemingly sure things that quickly became unsure things. But as a general rule, the best thing a team can do with any given pick is simply take the best player available.

With the No. 3 pick, the Mariners might have a shot at landing the best player in the draft class. That is prep shortstop Ethan Holliday (brother of Jackson and son of Matt) if you ask MLB Pipeline, whereas Baseball America favors Florida State left-hander Jamie Arnold.

Either one would help solidify the Mariners' farm system as the best in the league, if it isn't already. And as such, the Mariners reaching for someone else if given a chance to draft Holliday or Arnold would be disappointing — heck, maybe even foolish considering how weak this year's draft class is considered to be.

It could be a while before the Mariners get another opportunity this good to bolster their farm system through the Draft. Even setting aside the size of their bonus pool, they've picked in the top three of the Draft only 11 times in their history. And the last of those came all the way back in 2012.

The Mariners must therefore not try to get cute with their advantages in the 2025 Draft. The only goal should be to make them count.