The day of the 2025 KBO rookie draft showdown has finally come. With the expectation of a first-round pick pouring in from various places until the day before the event, other clubs are paying attention to the choice of the Samsung Lions, who are agonizing over two left-handers until the last minute. On top of that, attention is being paid to whether the middle and lower ranks of the first round will completely change amid an atmosphere in which Doosan Bears are likely to nominate Park Joon-soon, the biggest fish for fielders.
KBO will host the 2025 KBO Rookie Draft at Lotte Hotel World Crystal Ballroom in Seoul at 2 p.m. on September 11.
This year’s rookie draft targets total 1,197 people, including 840 prospective high school graduates, 286 prospective college graduates, 56 early draft applicants, and 15 other players, including amateurs and professionals abroad.
The 2025 KBO Rookie Draft will be conducted through an all-out draft method. Nominations will be made from the first to the 11th rounds. Nominations will be made in the order of Kiwoom-Hanwha, Samsung-Lotte-KIA, Doosan-SSG-KT-LG, which will be in the reverse order of the 2023 team rankings.
Kiwoom, which received the nomination right through the previous trade under the agreement that allowed the club to exchange the nomination right with the player next year, will exercise the first and third round nominations that NC had and the third round nominations that SSG had, while LG will exercise the fifth round nominations that Lotte had.
As a result, if all clubs exercise all nomination rights, Kiwoom will appoint 14 players, LG 12 players, SSG and Lotte 10 players, NC 9 players, and other clubs 11 players, a total of 110 players will wear KBO League team uniforms.
This year’s draft composition has been clearly set in the second and third round. The second round is Deoksu High School left-hander Chung Hyeon-woo and Jeon high school right-hander Jung Woo-ju. Kiwoom and Hanwha are likely to share Chung Hyeon-woo and Jung Woo-ju, respectively. Kiwoom will get a complete left-hander selection resource, while Hanwha can take another right-hander fireballer after Moon Dong-ju and Kim Seo-hyun.
Three of them are Daegu High School left-hander Bae Chan-seung, Gwangju Il High School left-hander Kim Tae-hyun, and Deoksu High School right-hander Kim Tae-hyung. Which of the three players Samsung, which holds the third-place nomination right overall, will ultimately influence the latter’s choice of Lotte and KIA.
Samsung seems to be keeping quiet about the nomination for the first round this year. However, Samsung is reportedly showing more interest in Bae Chan-seung, who pitched well at the 13th Asian Youth Baseball Championship, which took place recently, with the choice between Bae Chan-seung and Kim Tae-hyun. Lotte, which needs immediate power from the right-hander afterwards, naturally weighs heavily on the nomination of Kim Tae-hyung. If Samsung takes Bae Chan-seung and KIA takes Kim Tae-hyun, it will likely give the impression that the first nomination has been revived.
Doosan, which has the sixth overall nomination right, has been confirmed to be the most likely to be named Park Joon-soon, the largest fielder. In terms of hitting, it is difficult to see it as a type of immediate power, but Doosan, which is in urgent need of a generational change of infielders due to team circumstances, is more attractive to the nomination of Park Joon-soon, who has excellent basic skills and defense capabilities. Park Joon-soon played in 34 official games this year and recorded a batting average of 0.442/50 hits/5 home runs/33 RBIs/22 steals/0.569 on-base hit ratio/0.681.
If Doosan nominates Park Joon-soon, Kiwoom, SSG and KT will also make decisions based on the order of candidates. Kiwoom reportedly puts more weight on the nomination of right-hander Kim Seo-joon and SSG Kangnung High School catcher Lee Yul-ye. KT and LG seem to be closely monitoring Seoul High School pitchers Kim Young-woo and Kim Dong-hyun. The mood has drastically changed in recent years.
As the nomination date approaches, the middle and lower ranks of the first round have been shaken greatly, and attention is being paid to the outcome of the 스포츠토토 KBO League clubs’ deep concerns.