College Rankings Primer
It's board season! Here's what you need to know to get you ready for the first batch of rankings.
Two months. Eight weeks. 58 days. That's how close we are to putting a bow on the 2025 MLB Draft cycle. Now feels like the perfect time to start rolling out some player rankings! What do you think, is it time to get this ball rolling? Today's primer post will provide some important information relating to my rankings including the overall plan moving forward and what you can expect in terms of format, process, and methodology. Let's get started.
The Plan
As you might guess based on the title, I'll be starting off with a college only board. You can expect to see that sometime next week. A separate high school board will be released a couple of weeks after the college board. I'll have a fresh high school primer post prior to release.
Following the release of the college and prep boards, I'll merge them together to create a combined list. This overall board will incorporate a round of adjustments as I see more players, learn new information, and take into account valuable scout feedback. You can expect periodic updates and minor adjustments to the combined board as we approach draft day.
Format
The college board will rank 30-40 players with som final cuts included. If i decide to go 30 deep there will be more final cuts included, if I extend the rankings to 40 there will be less final cuts.
There will be a few other groups of names included that won't be ranked. The first group is a collection of UDFA (undrafted free agents) and underslot candidates (usually older players/seniors that get picked in the 8-10 round range). It can be a little tough to predict which of these types of players ultimately move on to pro ball, but I'll attempt to put together a thorough list of likely targets.
Group two will contain players who are dealing with injuries, making it difficult for me to rank them at this time. You can expect around ten names among this bucket ot players. Finally, I'll have 6-10 players designated as to be determined. Most of these guys are players I haven't seen and don't have much of a feel for. The TBD group will be heavily represented by D2, D3, and juco players. Both the injury and TBD guys should have draft interest to some degree and could be added to future boards
Details + Methodology
The college board will take into account players from D1 D2, D3, and juco.
Includes players from northeast states (MA, ME, NH, NJ, NY, RI, VT) and eastern Pennsylvania (no Penn State). There will be a heavier emphasis/focus from me towards the northeast compared to PA on both the college and prep boards. Canada is not included.
Player rankings and their accompanied write-ups are based on a combination of my impressions, taking into account live looks, video/streams, data, historical trends and information/ feedback from scouts.
Players are ranked on perceived talent level (how good the player is), not the likelihood of being drafted. This comes into play more when the college and prep lists are combined.
College ranks will be free. High school and combined ranks will have some kind of paywall involved.
LIMITATIONS
While I think I have a decent feel for the 2025 class there are going to be some blind spots. Some limiting factors in regards to this board include:
Limited/no access to valuable tools like synergy, trumedia, and data from several wood bat summer leagues.
Player info/data from the dozens of D2/D3/Juco schools in the region. Scouts are very good at hiding players from these levels. You can guarantee there are worthy non-D1 players that I'll miss.
Character, intangible qualities, and medical history all play a role in my rankings. Most of that information will be kept private as a sign of respect to to these young men.
FEEDBACK
I encourage and value feedback from all walks of life. All feedback is appreciated as long as it remains respectful and doesn't become personal. I'm always on the lookout for players that I may have missed. If you think I need to look into someone, don't hesitate to throw out their name. I'm happy to answer any questions and provide my honest responses for a specific player.
The best ways to reach me are through email and Twitter direct message.
Email: recca.brian@gmail.com
Twitter: @brian_recca