"The Bird's Nest" fantasy drafts the 2025 Orioles

The top two picks were obvious. 

Gunnar Henderson was always going to be the first selection in “The Bird’s Nest’s” 2025 Orioles fantasy draft. 

As Annie Klaff and I attempted to construct two teams of the upcoming season’s top contributors, Henderson was a slam dunk. Fresh off a fourth-place AL MVP finish and a 9.1 bWAR season, the superstar carried my 2024 iteration of this exercise. 

Adley Rutschman was always going to be the second pick. Despite down numbers in the latter half of last season, Rutschman has as much upside as anyone. A perennial All-Star, the catcher has been mashing his way through spring training, primed for another stellar campaign. 

With the third pick in our snake-order draft, Annie, who lost our coin toss and thus received the second and third picks, was left with a decision to make. 

Would she select Jordan Westburg fresh off an All-Star campaign? Colton Cowser and his glove sure to be golden? The O’s Opening Day starter Zach Eflin? Or Félix Bautista, who is one of the most dominant pitchers in baseball at the peak of his powers? 

This is where the draft truly began. 

Which Orioles flew up our draft boards? Who were the steals of draft day? You can check out our rosters below, but be sure to watch the podcast to see where players were selected and why. Watch the full episode here: https://masn.me/16tjaw8v

The premise of the draft is simple: select the players that you think will put up the best numbers in an Orioles uniform in 2025. Each team is composed of eight position players plus a designated hitter, four starting pitchers and two relievers. Here’s how the teams shook out: 

Brendan’s Team 

C: Gary Sánchez 

1B: Ryan Mountcastle 

2B: Jordan Westburg

3B: Coby Mayo 

SS: Gunnar Henderson 

LF: Ramón Laureano

CF: Colton Cowser

RF: Tyler O’Neill 

DH: Ryan O’Hearn 

SP1: Grayson Rodriguez

SP2: Charlie Morton 

SP3: Albert Suárez

SP4: Kyle Bradish 

RP1: Yennier Cano

RP2: Gregory Soto 

Annie’s Team 

C: Adley Rutschman

1B: Emmanuel Rivera 

2B: Jackson Holliday

3B: Ramón Urías

SS: Jorge Mateo

LF: Heston Kjerstad

CF: Cedric Mullins

RF: Dylan Carlson 

DH: Samuel Basallo

SP1: Zach Eflin

SP2: Tomoyuki Sugano 

SP3: Dean Kremer

SP4: Cade Povich

RP1: Félix Bautista

RP2: Seranthony Domínguez

Who drafted the best team? Comment with your thoughts down below. 

Of course, we won’t truly know the results of this draft until after the season concludes. But two “Bird’s Nest” fantasy drafts down means that we’re almost at the finish line of the offseason.