Who is going to go No. 1 in the Draft? Here are our odds

It's the final countdown! Draft Day is only a few days away.

The 2025 MLB Draft will take place over a two-day period from July 13-14 with opening night of the Draft on Sunday, broadcast live on MLB Network, MLB.com and ESPN at 6 p.m. ET from the Coca-Cola Roxy in The Battery Atlanta. Day 2 on Monday, will feature rounds 4 through 20 beginning at 11:30 a.m. ET on MLB.com. MLB Pipeline gurus Jim Callis and Jonathan Mayo will also be providing analysis on every pick from rounds 4-10.

And until we get there, the question on everyone's mind remains: Who will go No. 1 overall? While no one knows that answer for certain -- maybe not even the Nationals at this point -- our experts provided their insight by handicapping the top candidates on the latest MLB Pipeline Podcast.

It's become apparent that this has likely turned into a two-horse race between the top two Draft prospects, Ethan Holliday (No. 1) and Kade Anderson (No. 2). Still, Seth Hernandez (No. 3) remains in the conversation. And, rather than go with the field as a category this time around, Callis and Mayo narrowed the only remaining candidates with any consideration beyond this trio to Aiva Arquette (No. 6) and Eli Willits (No. 5).

Here is how they broke it down:

Kade Anderson, LHP, Louisiana State
Mayo: If I were to write my last mock right now, I would probably stick with Kade Anderson (to go No. 1 overall). It's still pretty close though, so I'm not going to go crazy. I'm going to say it's a 50% chance that it's Kade Anderson ... We don't have any intel. So, some of it is talking to other teams about what they think is going to happen and some of it is what makes the most sense if you're the Nationals. Kade Anderson makes a lot of sense because if you're the Nationals and you want to try to turn things around quickly, Kade Anderson could be in your rotation next year at some point, and he is the most advanced arm in this class. He's also very very good, so that might make a lot of sense for what they might be looking for.

Callis: I have a feeling we're going to wake up Draft day, on Sunday, and not have much certainty for who is going No. 1. But, we both think it's Kade Anderson. And I plotted mine out, and just to show my respect for Jonathan, I have written 50% next to Kade Anderson here in my notebook. I do still feel like it's Anderson or Holliday. Kade Anderson maybe fits their needs a little bit more, gets there quicker, and we're not hearing anything out of Washington that they've made their decision, but I think the teams behind them are believing more that it will be Kade Anderson than Ethan Holliday.

Ethan Holliday, SS/3B, Stillwater High School (OK)
Callis: I have Ethan Holliday at 40%, and I feel like I should allocate more than 90% for the top two guys. But because of my uncertainty I'm only going to 40% on Ethan Holliday.

Mayo: I am right there with you at 40%. Ethan Holliday is still the top-ranked player in the Draft. So if you're going to go the No. 1 guy at No. 1, he still makes a lot of sense. But he's a high school hitter, sometimes those guys could move quickly but there are some small question marks about him. And that's why I think he and Kade Anderson have really separated themselves as the two favorites.

Seth Hernandez, RHP, Corona High School (CA)
Mayo: 5%
Callis: 5%

Aiva Arquette, SS, Oregon State
Mayo: 4%
Callis: 3%

Eli Willits, SS, Fort Cobb-Broxton High School (OK)
Mayo: 1%
Callis: 2%