After all the mock drafts, the previews, speculation, and consternation, the 2025 MLB Draft has concluded. The MLB Draft is always a tense couple of days because of the mix of pure joy and frustration that it brings. This year, the draft, as it often does brought both good news and bad news for the Longhorns.
Before jumping into the deep end, here is a list of all Longhorns (current, commits, and transfers) that heard their name called. As a reminder, this list is subject to change until July 28th at 5pm, when the signing deadline hits. Until that time, teams can negotiate deals and sign players to undrafted free agents.
- 3B Gavin Fien – Round 1, Pick 12 – Texas Rangers
- SS Kayson Cunningham – Round 1, Pick 18 – Arizona Diamondbacks
- OF Max Belyeu – Round 3, Pick 74 – Colorado Rockies
- OF Jack Moroknek – Round 11, Pick 321 – Washington Nationals
- LHP Jared Spencer – Round 11, Pick 322 – Toronto Blue Jays
- SS Jalin Flores – Round 11, Pick 330 – St. Louis Cardinals
- LHP Luke Dotson – Round 11, Pick 333 – Arizona Diamondbacks
- C Rylan Galvan – Round 13, Pick 376 – Chicago White Sox
- LHP Xavier Mitchell – Round 13, Pick 379 – Los Angeles Angels
- UTIL Kaleb Freeman – Round 16, Pick 466 – Chicago White Sox
- RHP Grayson Saunier – Round 17, Pick 516 – Houston Astros
- RHP Grayson Boles – Round 18, Pick 548 – Kansas City Royals
Gavin Fien and Kayson Cunningham were locks to be drafted early in the first round and as expected they were. In fact, Fien went about three picks earlier than expected as most had him mocked to the Boston Red Sox at pick 15, as they had shown a ton of interest in the prep hitter. There were some mixed mocks on Cunningham, some having him down at 24 to the Detroit Tigers, but at the end of the day, the San Antonio native landed with the Diamondbacks. While both have been committed to Texas, neither was ever expected to make it to campus.
Max Belyeu was the first Longhorn currently on the roster to be taken, landing with the Colorado Rockies in Round 3. Belyeu will join former Horns such as Jared Thomas, Lebarron Johnson Jr, and Skyler Messinger in the Rockies org, as they coveted his hit tool.
Overall, it was a fairly quiet Day One of the MLB Draft as the emphasis was on HS prep short stops with an astounding number being taken early. Day Two was not a quiet one for the Horns though, especially later in the day. Rounds 4 through 10 saw no current Longhorns, transfer portal commits, or HS commits taken. The biggest surprise early on Day Two was that catcher Rylan Galvan did not hear his name early on, as he was projected to be a Round 5-7 selection.
The first surprise for many was Butler OF Jack Moroknek being selected by the Washington Nationals. While there had been increasing noise in the two weeks leading up to the draft about his signability, the consensus was that he would stick to his pledge and join the Horns in 2026. Unfortunately, the noise was right and Moroknek will sign and get his professional career started.
LHP Jared Spencer and SS Jalin Flores were the next two selections in Round 11 to the Blue Jays and Cardinals respectively. Both are solid spots for the current Longhorns. Flores will join Pete Hansen and Mike Antico in the Cardinals organization, while Spencer will join recent Longhorn Peyton Powell in the Toronto organization.
The Horns bullpen took its first hit in the 11th Round as Mississippi State transfer LHP Luke Dotson was selected by the Arizona Diamondbacks. A hard throwing lefty, Dotson was expected to contend for innings and would bring SEC experience to the team, but he is expected to sign his professional contract.
Catcher Rylan Galvan finally heard his name called in the 13th Round, which was surprising considering the advances he had made behind the plate defensively, while continuing to show his hit tool to scouts. There was some concern from scouts about the pitch selection and chase rate, but regardless, Galvan was the first off the board in the 13th and will sign a professional contract with the Chicago White Sox. LHP Xavier Mitchell, a Texas signee out of Prestonwood Academy, was then selected by the Los Angeles Angels in the 13th Round. The athletic lefty has been heavily scouted over the past couple of years, especially during his time with Team USA, but was seen as a hard commit to Texas. Unfortunately, the draft changed that and he is expected to sign.
The 16th Round brought possibly the biggest surprise and most painful one at that. The Chicago White Sox selected UTIL Kaleb Freeman, a Georgia State transfer with the 466th overall pick. Freeman was expected to bring power hitting and on-base percentage to the Texas lineup, but will begin his professional career as he will sign with the Sox, leaving a sizeable hole in the Longhorn lineup that the staff will now need to address.
The last two Longhorns taken were RHP Grayson Saunier (17th Round by Houston Astros) and high school signee RHP Grayson Boles (18th Round by Kansas City Royals). Neither came as a surprise by Texas fans as Saunier looked to take the next step in his career and had looked good on the Cape this summer, while Boles was a very signable Texas commit.
Overall, Texas had 12 players selected during the 2025 MLB Draft, all of whom I expect to sign their professional contracts. The biggest losses were the two transfers, Moroknek and Freeman, as both were expected to be starters for the Longhorns and provide power to the 2026 lineup.
All is not lost though as the Horns did get some good news from the draft.
RHP Sam Cozart, RHP Brett Crossland, OF Anthony Pack Jr, and LHP Jack McKernan were not selected. Each of these players are expected to play a role for the Horns in the 2026 season. Cozart has elite stuff on the mound and is about as plug and play as it gets for throwing strikes and getting outs, as evidenced by his performance in the MLB Draft League this summer. Brett Crossland has a big arm and a very bright future under the tutelage of Max Weiner. Jack McKernan has been described as nasty and a savage on the mound and his stuff plays up and could help the backend of the pen for the Horns in 2026. Lastly, after losing a pair of potential OF to the draft, getting an athlete like Anthony Pack provides an outstanding candidate for a future OF position in the lineup. The other piece of good news from the MLB Draft is that late rising high school senior RHP Michael Winter did not hear his name called and committed to the Longhorns, choosing Texas over the likes of Arkansas, Texas A&M, and a host of other top competition.
The Texas staff continues to build the roster through talented HS ranks in the 2025 and 2026 classes, which will raise the talent level overall on the team and reduce the dependency on the transfer portal.
The roster likely won’t be set until early August as the staff will evaluate transfer portal options to replace Moroknek and Freeman, but one thing is sure, the Texas pitching talent is as high as it has been in quite a few years and they have a solid core of hitters to build around.
