Arizona
6 Arizona players among Baseball America’s Top 2025 MLB Draft prospects
Arizona ended up having its entire weekend starting rotation and its closer taken in the 2024 MLB Draft, while on the recruiting front only one member of its 2024 class was selected and there’s a good chance he’ll make it to campus.
A lot can happen in the next year, but 2025 figures to be an even bigger year for the Wildcats in the draft.
Baseball America has released its top 100 high school and college prospects list for the 2025 MLB Draft, and the UA has a trio on each.
Outfielder Brendan Summerhill is ranked as the No. 8 draft-eligible college player for 2025, with shortstop Mason White at No. 18 and catcher Adonys Guzman at No. 98.
Summerhill, who had a breakout sophomore year in which he led the UA with a .324 average while hitting eight home runs and 59 RBI, has kept that going in the Cape Cod League. He’s batting .323, has struck out only nine times in 19 games and has 10 stolen bases on 13 attempts.
White led the Wildcats in homers (19) and RBI (65) as a sophomore, while Guzman was stellar behind the plate in his first season after transferring from Boston College and is listed by BA as having “the best arm of any catcher in the class.”
On the prep side, there are three players the Wildcats have commitments from who are expected to be drafted a year from now:
- RHP Jack Lafflam (No. 38)
- OF Caleb Danzeisen (No. 77)
- RHP Dylan Wood (No. 83)
Lafflam, who plays for Brophy Prep in Phoenix, is 6-foot-6 and has been compared to lanky Cleveland Guardians righty Triston McKenzie. He’s ranked by Perfect Game as the No. 84 player in the 2025 recruiting class.
Danzeisen, who plays for Chandler Valley Christian, hit .524 with seven homers and 52 RBI as a junior. He is a left-handed hitter who could be a starting corner outfielder for Arizona in 2026 if he makes it to campus.
And Wood, from Elk Grove, Calif., is a 6-foot-2 arm with an array of pitches who would likely thrive under the guidance of UA pitching coach Kevin Vance.
Arizona had two signees ranked among the Top 250 overall draft prospects for 2024 but only one got picked. Lefty Mason Russell, considered a top-100 player, went 599th overall in the 20th round to the Cincinnati Reds and has until Aug. 1 to sign a pro deal or he’ll be coming to Tucson, while righty Smith Bailey went undrafted and will be a Wildcat next spring.