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Royals SS Bobby Witt Jr. (Photo by Mary DeCicco/MLB photos via Getty Images)
Award season in 2024 could have many implications for the 2025 MLB draft.
This season marks the third since the Prospect Promotion Incentive took effect, and for the first time MLB could have as many as three PPI picks added to the draft order as a result.
See also: Everything You Ever Wanted To Know About PPI
See also: Final 2024 Rookie Power Ranking, With PPI Eligibility
The most likely of the PPI draft pick additions will be the most unprecedented.
Royals all-world shortstop Bobby Witt Jr. has a virtually airtight case to finish top three in American League MVP voting. Because this is Witt’s third and final season with PPI eligibility attached, a top-three MVP finish will grant the Royals a draft pick after the first round in 2025.
Not often does a 24-year-old like Witt place top three for MVP, but when a player of his caliber reaches those heights, it is notable.
Mike Trout. Bryce Harper. Alex Rodriguez. Mookie Betts. Albert Pujols, Juan Soto. Derek Jeter.
Those are the types of players who finished top three in MVP voting at age 24 or younger in the past 25 years.
Since the introduction of PPI for the 2022 season, no player has triggered a draft pick for an award finish other than a Rookie of the Year win. If Witt finishes top three for AL MVP, the Royals would become the first team to add a draft pick for a top-three MVP or Cy Young award finish.
Three PPI draft picks have been awarded since the initiative launched in 2022. All three resulted from Rookie of the Year wins.
Julio Rodriguez netted a pick for the Mariners in 2023, while Corbin Carroll and Gunnar Henderson did the same for the D-backs and Orioles in 2024. Those extra draft picks were worth between $2.8 to $2.9 million in additional bonus pool money.
A number of 2024 rookies could yield 2025 picks, but those rookies are not currently viewed as betting favorites.
In the National League, a number of notable players would bestow a PPI pick with a Rookie of the Year win: Padres center fielder Jackson Merrill, Cardinals shortstop Masyn Winn, Cubs first baseman Michael Busch and Brewers third baseman Joey Ortiz.
The list in the American League looks like this: Orioles left fielder Colton Cowser, Yankees catcher Austin Wells, Red Sox center fielder Ceddanne Rafaela and Rangers left fielder Wyatt Langford.
While it’s entirely…