Inter Miami drew 2-2 against Palmeiras to qualify for the 2025 Club World Cup round of 16, emerging from Group A in second place with an unbeaten record.
Lionel Messi‘s team is the sole MLS representative to advance to the knockout phase, where they are set to face European champions Paris Saint-Germain, the club where the Argentina star spent two seasons (2021-2023).
Miami left-back Jordi Alba labeled PSG the “current best in the entire world.”
“I’m proud of the team and now we’re competing against a top team like PSG. It’s great, for me they’re playing the best football in Europe, and well, it’s obviously a very difficult match, but we’re going to try to compete,” said Alba after the match.
“Why not dream of beating the European champion? It will be very difficult. We know the quality of all the players, and for me, Luis Enrique is the best coach in the world. I know him very well.
“This is football, and it’s 90-something minutes, and well, why not dream?… They’re [PSG] the ones who play the best football today. They’re very versatile, with very good wide players, and guys in midfield who have the ball. Overall, they’re the most complete team for me. We’ll see how far we can go and try to compete.”
Miami established the early lead over Palmeiras in the first half with a goal from Tadeo Allende before Luis Suárez doubled the score in the 65th minute. The Major League Soccer side almost clinched first place in Group A, but ultimately let in two goals in the final minutes of the match to conclude with a draw.
The victory would’ve seen Inter Miami face Botafogo in the knockout round of the competition instead of PSG.
“We had it all there. For a moment, we already saw ourselves playing against Botafogo, but football is like this: you lose focus for 15 seconds, 30 seconds, and you pay dearly for it,” said Suarez.
“We know it’s going to be very difficult, very complicated, but we have the tools we need to compete.”
Messi will now face his former team for the first time since departing PSG in 2023 to join Inter Miami, while he alongside Suarez, Alba and Sergio Busquets reunite with manager Luis Enrique after playing under the Spaniard at FC Barcelona.
“But for me, he’s the best,” said Alba
“I think not only as a coach but also as a team manager. For me, they’re phenomenal. I’m also looking forward to seeing Rafel Pol, Joaquín Valdés, all their staff, and the players who play with them at Barcelona, and sharing them well. It’s 90 minutes, and well, I think we should be proud of how we’ve competed in these three games. Now, let’s compete against PSG.”
The Miami-PSG match will be played on Sunday, Jun. 29 at the Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, Georgia.
Celeb-Recommended Crochet Fashion Finds on Amazon for Summer. We included these products from Paige DeSorbo, Kyle Richards, Campbell Puckett and Gia Giudice because we think you’ll like their picks.
They’re a paid spokesperson for the Amazon Influencer Program. Our writers and editors independently determine what we cover and recommend. When you buy through our links, E! may earn a commission. Some brands featured in this article are partners of Amazon’s Creator Connections program, which means E! may make an increased commission on your purchase if you buy something through our links.Learn more.
Crochet is one of the trends of summer 2025, but celebs know there’s no need to break the bank to get the look. Stars from Kyle Richards to Paige DeSorbo have crochet Amazon fashion favorites that they’ve shared.
During a recent Amazon Live, Paige DeSorbo shared a chic dupe for a $4,000 crochet dress that’s been making waves everywhere, plus more crochet fashion faves. Campbell “Pookie” Puckett, Gia Giudice and more also have uber-affordable crochet wardrobe additions in their Amazon storefronts.
Crochet pieces make great swim coverups, plus they’re breezy for summer. From chic vests to flirty shorts, we’re hooked on the celeb recs we’ve found, and reviewers love them too. Shop celeb Amazon crochet favorites ahead. Some are even on sale now.
Family selling ‘idyllic’ island with ruined castle after 80 years. The castle was commissioned by a New Zealand-born adventurer in 1911
Eighty years after a mother walked into a London estate agency and bought a Hebridean island she had never seen in a bid to leave the city, her family is selling their historic home.
The Island of Shuna, which includes a now-ruined castle, working farm and a holiday accommodation business, has been home to the Gully family since 1945, but is now on the market for £5.5m.
Jim Gully, who was the second generation of the family brought up on the island, said its white sand beaches and rocky coves gave them an “idyllic” childhood.
Estate Agents Sothebys International Realty said the sale of the 1,000-acre island was a “truly rare offering”.
The wildlife haven has belonged to the the Gully family since the Dowager Viscountess Selby – a descendant of the politician Sir William Court Gully who was given the title on retirement as Speaker of the House of Commons – approached an estate agent after the war, asking if they had any islands on their books.
Jim Gully
The Dowager Viscountess Selby, pictured with her four children Xandra, Audrey, Michael and Edward
“Everyone was so traumatised by what had gone on in the war that they were looking for a fresh start,” her grandson Jim Gully told BBC Scotland News.
“Without ever having seen it she bought the island and moved her family up.”
His father Eddie, the fourth child in the family, was brought up on Shuna from the age of three months. He is now living on the Isle of Seil, which is linked to the mainland by road.
“He’s had 80 years of stewarding and looking after Shuna and trying to get all sorts of businesses going and has absolutely loved it the whole of his life,” Mr Gully said.
“My brother and I grew up on Shuna. We were home schooled by our grandfather [Donald Wells] on the island.
“It’s idyllic for a childhood being taught there, running the farm and the holiday cottages, and we still do that.”
Sothebys International Realty
The estate agents suggested the island could become a “wellness destination”
The Atlantic island’s position in the Hebridean archipelago protects it from the ocean swells, but occasionally brings inhabitants the challenge of navigating the Corryvreckan whirlpools.
“Quite often over the years we’ve had to go Corryvreckan with a boat laden with sheep, so that’s led to some exciting journeys,” Mr Gully said.
Over the past 12 years the island has been managed by Rob and Kathryn James, who live full-time on Shuna, but their plan to move into another role prompted the family to consider selling up.
Viewings start later this week, but in the meantime regular visitors are securing their stays for the rest of the year.
“It’s been a huge part for all of our lives and definitely sad that all of that is coming to an end, but tinged with relief for my father that it’s going to be slightly easier not having to manage all of that and getting over to the island three or four times a week,” Mr Gully said.
The castle was built with “no expense spared” by New Zealand-born adventurer George Alexander MacLean Buckley in 1911, just three years after he joined an Antarctic voyage on Nimrod with Ernest Shackleton.
The castle blueprints, and the architect who designed them, are believed to have been on the Titanic’s fateful voyage.
Sothebys International Realty
Shuna’s six holiday homes can house up to 52 people
“He was about to export the plans to America and build a lot more of them,” Mr Gully said.
“The plans for it went down with the Titanic and stopped lots of flat-roofed castles being built in America.”
The castle fell to ruins in the 1980s when its upkeep became too costly.
“I lived in there for my first 10 years and I can look in the old bedroom window and see the room where we were taught by my grandparents – it’s all very fresh in the memory,” Mr Gully recalled.
He said the children were taught “maths, English and lateral thinking” in the mornings, then “booted out” to explore the island.
By then the family was using only about a quarter of the castle as the rest of it was beginning to fall down.
“When we were moving the furniture around the room to find the bits where it wouldn’t fall through the floor, you knew your days were numbered,” Mr Gully said.
He added: “It still looks very impressive even though there are trees growing out of the windows.”
Jim Gully
Eddie Gully was born on the island 80 years ago
There have been human settlements on Shuna, one of the Slate Islands, for at least 4,500 years, evidenced by Stone and Iron Age burial mounds and ruined farms and houses.
Limekilns from the 18th and 19th Centuries remain dotted around the island and it is estimated that there was a population of about 80 people between 1750 and 1850.
Visitors to the island’s six holiday homes, which can house up to 52 people and are powered by sustainable energy supplies, are normally taken on a 20-minute boat trip from the pier at Arduaine on the mainland, but the island also has a helipad.
The estate agents suggested the property, one of two islands named Shuna near Oban, is “perfectly suited” to multi-generational living, a boutique hospitality venture or a “wellness destination”. So, Family selling ‘idyllic’ island with ruined castle after 80 years
A key Democratic committee voted Monday night to recommend Rep. Robert Garcia (D-Calif.) to lead the party on the powerful House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, lending a good deal of momentum to the second-term Californian heading into a vote of the full caucus on Tuesday.
Huddled in the basement of the Capitol, the Democratic Steering and Policy Committee sided with Garcia over three other Democrats on the panel: Reps. Stephen Lynch (Mass.), Kweisi Mume (Md.) and Jasmine Crockett (Texas). The seat had been held by Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-Va.), 75, who died last month after a short battle with esophageal cancer.
Lynch was the runner-up, followed by Mfume and Crockett.
The vote is not binding. While the Steering and Policy Committee is an influential panel, its votes are merely recommendations to the broader caucus, which will meet to decide the ultimate winner. That vote, by secret ballot, is scheduled for Tuesday morning.
In one prominent race in 2014, former Rep. Anna Eshoo (D-Calif.) won the Steering panel’s nod to lead Democrats on the Energy and Commerce Committee, but it was Rep. Frank Pallone (D-N.J.) who won the contest when the full caucus weighed in. Pallone remains in that seat more than a decade later.
Still, the Steering Committee is led by House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.), and it’s stocked with leadership allies, lending the panel outsized sway in the process of choosing committee heads to work with party leaders.
In winning Monday’s vote, Garcia bested two much more veteran members of the Oversight Committee — Lynch and Mfume — striking a blow to the seniority system that’s long guided Democrats in picking committee heads.
Lynch, 70, has been the interim ranking member of the panel since Connolly stepped out of that role in April, and he’s made the case that his long experience of investigative work on the panel makes him the best fit for the permanent position.
Garcia, 47, has been given a boost by an endorsement from the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, of which he is a member. He also has the advantage of hailing from California, which boasts the largest Democratic delegation in the House.
From the minority, Democrats are powerless to steer the Oversight Committee, which has broad jurisdiction over the federal government and the subpoena power to advance investigations. But the winner of Tuesday’s vote for the permanent ranking member spot would be in line to take the committee gavel in 2027 if Democrats can flip control of the House in next year’s midterms — a scenario that would lend the new chairman enormous powers to investigate the many controversies of President Trump’s second term.
Leaving Monday night’s vote, Garcia thanked his supporters but acknowledged that there was still one more vote remaining to seal the position.
“There’s still an election tomorrow, and there’s still obviously an important case to be made in the morning. And that’s the case I’m planning on making,” he told reporters. “And so we’re going to run through the tape.”
Smart lighting company Hue has released a new version of its Smart Button, one of the simplest ways of controlling Hue’s colorful smart lights. The new Smart Button has a bigger design and a bit of price hike — in the U.S., at least, where it now costs $32.99 compared to $29.99 for its predecessor. That’s significantly more than the UK and EU pricing for the new button — £19.99 and €21.99 respectively — possibly a sign of things to come.
A Zigbee device, the Hue button can be programmed to control any single or group of Hue light bulbs and fixtures through the Hue app. According to Philips Hue’s website, the button “allows you to trigger scenes based on time of day, or cycle through a selection. Press and hold to dim and brighten your lights, or even set it to start an automation.” This is the same functionality as the prior model, meaning all that appears to have changed is the design and the price.
The new button is almost twice the size, with a 45mm diameter (about 1.8 inches) versus 32mm (about 1.3 inches). It’s now more angular and flatter, versus the more bulbous style of the prior model. It also doesn’t come with a large plastic wall plate that resembles a standard light switch – handy for people who are used to using regular switches. Instead, it only comes with a small metal plate to magnetically attach the button to the wall, according to HueBlog’shands-on with the button.
The Hue button uses the same CR2032 battery, which, according to Hue, should last for two years. HueBlog called out the battery for being a lot easier to replace on this new button than on the previous one.
I reviewed the first generation of the button when it launched in 2019 for $24.99, and it’s long been one of my favorite easy ways to control Hue lights. An update in 2023 added more control options, including the ability to cycle through Hue’s natural light scenes based on time of day, so you could get the right type of tunable white light for the time of day with just one press.
I like the idea of a slightly larger design, which could be easier to use, but the fact that it’s more expensive in the States than in the EU and UK is a worrying sign.
Hue is already one of the most expensive smart lighting brands, and based on an email the company sent to users earlier this month, it may be getting even more expensive — at least for those of us on this side of the pond. According to the promotional message I got on June 9th, Hue’s “prices go up on July 1.”
The note about the price increase appears to have only been sent to US customers, indicating the increase may be due to Trump’s tariffs. We’ve reached out to Signify (Philips Hue’s parent company) to confirm and to find out which products will be affected.
The 2025 MLB draft is around the corner, with the first round beginning July 13.
There are a lot of challenges in baseball. Hitting sometimes seems impossible given the velocity and stuff from pitchers these days, and for those pitchers, throwing quality strikes is a test and staying healthy a huge challenge. But the most difficult thing in the sport might be drafting. It’s one thing to scout tools, it’s another to project an 18-year-old high school kid as a 25-year-old major leaguer. Finding the baseball players among the athletes or the velocity kings seems more difficult nowadays than ever.
How difficult is it? We went through the past 10 drafts, from 2015 through 2024, and redrafted the top 10 selections. Leaving aside the two most recent drafts, whose players are still very early in their evaluation, only 16 of 80 top-10 selections made the redrafted top 10. Two of the drafts are 0-for-10 in any of their top-10 selections ranking in the redrafted top 10. This helps explain why teams such as the Colorado Rockies, Pittsburgh Pirates and Miami Marlins remained mired in the muck of the standings: They haven’t drafted well (although the Pirates at least got the No. 1 pick in 2023 right last year and might have crushed last year’s top-10 pick as well).
Let’s go back through the past 10 drafts to see what the redrafts look like right now. View this through the lens of a specific moment in the baseball timeline. If we redo this piece in a few years, it will look much different than it does now, especially for the more recent drafts.
Best draft: Houston Astros. They crushed it by taking Bregman and Tucker with the second and fifth picks, plus eight others who made the majors, including Myles Straw and Patrick Sandoval. Indeed, while Bregman currently has about 17 more career WAR than Tucker, given that Tucker is three years younger, he might end up as the best player in this draft.
Honorable mention goes to the St. Louis Cardinals, who drafted Bader and Jordan Hicks in the third round and then DeJong and Helsley in Rounds 4 and 5.
Top pick that hasn’t worked out: Cornelius Randolph. Viewed as perhaps the top high school bat in the draft, Randolph ended up the second high school player selected after Tucker in a college-heavy first round. Randolph didn’t hit for average or much power and never made it past Double-A — although he’s still playing professionally in the Mexican League.
Overview: This wasn’t viewed as a strong draft at the time — Keith Law, then an ESPN analyst, had called it the weakest at the top since 2000 — and that has held true a decade later, with a dearth of stars and even some of the better players such as Swanson relying heavily on defense for their value.
The Astros had the second pick for failing to sign Brady Aiken the year before, and Bregman was in the big leagues for them a year later. Tucker was chosen with their regular selection at No. 5, and then they used another first-round pick to select Daz Cameron, who turned into one of the key players used to acquire Justin Verlander in 2017.
The oddest story out of this draft came courtesy of the short-lived Tony La Russa/Dave Stewart regime in Arizona. After selecting Swanson with the first pick, the Diamondbacks traded him and a good outfielder in Ender Inciarte (coming off a 5.0-WAR season) to Atlanta for Shelby Miller in December 2015.
“I think the Diamondbacks are nuts,” Law said at the time. “It’s one thing to win now. It’s another to just give away surplus value.”
The deal backfired for Arizona when Miller immediately got hurt to start the 2016 season and struggled thereafter, contributing to the team going 69-93, which cost La Russa and Stewart their jobs.
2016
1. Philadelphia Phillies
New pick:Will Smith | Original pick: Mickey Moniak Where new pick was originally drafted: 32
Best draft:Los Angeles Dodgers. The Dodgers snagged Lux with the No. 20 pick and then college catcher Smith with the 32nd selection — and 12 others who have reached the majors. Gonsolin and Dustin May are two of those players and have shown flashes of success interspersed with many injuries, but both remain on the Dodgers’ roster (Gonsolin is currently injured again). Another honorable mention to the Cardinals for their midround magic, taking Gallen in the third round and Edman in the sixth, although Gallen was traded alongside Sandy Alcantara to the Marlins as part of the Marcell Ozuna trade.
Top pick that hasn’t worked out: Riley Pint. A high school right-hander from Kansas, Pint routinely hit 100 mph — topping out at 102 — and was regarded as perhaps the hardest-throwing high school pitcher of all time. The Rockies took him with the fourth pick, with some viewing him as possessing the highest ceiling in the draft. Alas … that was not the case.
“Despite his clean arm action, he has a head-jerk at release that could make it hard for him to throw consistent strikes,” Law wrote on ESPN. Pint did have trouble throwing strikes, and while he retired temporarily in 2021, he at least managed to briefly reach the majors with the Rockies in 2023-24.
Overview: In a draft that lacked a clear-cut No. 1 selection, the Phillies went with California high school outfielder Moniak, regarded as the best pure hitter in the draft. He has made more than 1,000 plate appearances in the majors but has never mastered the strike zone and has a career on-base percentage under .300.
He’s not the only first-round pick who didn’t make it big, however. In fact, the top 30 picks have combined for just one All-Star appearance — Ragans, the 30th selection, made it last year with the Royals. But that doesn’t mean there wasn’t talent available. The 10 players we redrafted above have combined for 18 All-Star appearances and two Cy Young Awards, from Burnes and Bieber. They were both fourth-round picks, Burnes out of Saint Mary’s College and Bieber out of UC Santa Barbara. Burnes just underwent Tommy John surgery, though, while Bieber is on the mend from his TJ surgery last year, so their career values might now be more limited.
Best draft: Minnesota Twins. The Twins drafted three players who made our top-10 redraft list in Lewis (whom they did choose with the first overall pick), Rooker (No. 35) and Ober (a 12th-round pick), although Lewis’ ranking remains more speculative in the hopes that he can figure out a way to remain healthy and produce some offense. He hasn’t done either so far in 2025.
Top pick that hasn’t worked out: Keston Hiura. While other picks — such as McKay and Wright — were sidetracked by injuries, Hiura quickly reached the majors in 2019 and looked like a future star after hitting .303/.368/.570 in 84 games. A lot of players had phony numbers that season, however, and his high strikeout rate caught up to him in 2020. He has spent most of the past three seasons in the minors.
Overview: In the 2015 overview, we pointed out that year’s draft class was viewed as the worst since 2000. Well, 2017 was viewed at the time as perhaps even weaker than 2015.
“You’ve probably heard by now, from me or from others who cover the draft, that this year’s class is weaker than normal,” Law wrote in his draft rankings. “I still believe this is true, perhaps even more today than I did a month ago.”
While there is still time for some players here to improve, they’re running out of time: The college players are now 29 or 30 years old, and the high school draftees are in their mid-20s. The only players with even 10 career WAR so far are Varsho and Greene, with Ober getting close. Heck, Taylor Walls, a player with a career average under .200, actually ranks fourth in career WAR thanks to his outstanding defense — but that merely confirms how weak this class has been.
In fact, at the time of his ranking, Law wrote that even the 2000 class had produced eight players with 30 WAR (it’s now nine). That class also has two potential Hall of Famers in Yadier Molina and Chase Utley, a 200-game winner in Adam Wainwright and Cy Young winners in Cliff Lee and Brandon Webb (plus some great hitters in Adrian Gonzalez, Edwin Encarnacion and Jose Bautista). While the first round in 2000 was weak, there was plenty of talent later in the draft. The 2017 draft was weak in both areas — and maybe will go down as the weakest draft of all time.
2018
1. Detroit Tigers
New pick:Tarik Skubal | Original pick: Casey Mize Where new pick was originally drafted: 255
Best draft: Seattle Mariners. You could go with the Tampa Bay Rays, who showed their penchant for identifying pitchers with Matthew Liberatore (first round), McClanahan (first round), Taj Bradley (fifth round) and Ryan (seventh round). The Tigers also got Mize, Skubal and Parker Meadows. But we’ll go with Seattle’s draft, even though it’s just two players in Raleigh and Gilbert. Given the scarcity of good catchers, Raleigh has a case as the potential No. 1 pick in a redraft, especially with what he’s doing in 2025, but Skubal might be on his way to a second straight Cy Young Award, giving him that first selection in our redraft.
Top pick that hasn’t worked out: Kyler Murray/Carter Stewart. This draft had two of the more curious outcomes in recent draft history. Murray’s story is well known. The A’s pulled a mild surprise in taking him ninth overall even though he had played just one full season of baseball at Oklahoma. They gave him a $4.66 million signing bonus and agreed to let him play one more year of college football before beginning his baseball career. Murray won the Heisman Trophy that fall and ditched baseball for the NFL.
Stewart’s story is less known. A big high school right-hander from Florida, Stewart was up to 98 mph with a high-spin curveball. He was No. 2 on ESPN’s draft board and No. 5 on MLB.com’s, and he went eighth to the Braves. A wrist injury reportedly caused the Braves to lower their bonus offer, which Stewart declined to sign and he enrolled in junior college instead. Rather than waiting for the 2019 draft, however, he signed to play in Japan with the Fukuoaka Soft Bank Hawks on a six-year deal worth a reported $6 million — becoming the first U.S.-born first-round pick to sign his first professional contract with a Japanese team.
After some time in the Japanese minor leagues, Stewart had a breakout season in 2024, posting a 1.95 ERA in 120 innings. Along the way, he signed a two-year, $10 million extension. He has been injured so far in 2025 and hasn’t pitched, but he would still be just 27 when he becomes an unrestricted free agent after 2026.
Overview: While this draft hasn’t necessarily produced a long list of big stars, the overall depth is impressive — even though the top 10 selections have been underwhelming, with India leading that group with less than 7 career WAR. Mize was the no-doubt top pick after a dominant junior season at Auburn and, after a slow start to his career and Tommy John surgery in 2022, is having his best season in 2025. The Giants would have been better off selecting a different ACC catcher than Bart (Georgia Tech) as the Mariners got Raleigh (Florida State) in the third round.
The steal of the draft, of course, has been Skubal, a ninth-round pick out of Seattle University. He had Tommy John surgery in 2016 and missed the 2017 season, although he returned to throw some bullpens before the draft. The Diamondbacks took him in the 29th round, but he returned to school. Even though he was up to 95 mph, his wildness scared teams off.
A key to the long-term value of this draft will be the health of the pitchers. Mize, Rasmussen and Bubic have already returned from injuries (multiple Tommy John surgeries in Rasmussen’s case). Bradish, McClanahan and Rodriguez have yet to pitch in 2025, and Gilbert is currently on the injured list as well.
Best draft: Baltimore Orioles. Rutschman was the consensus top player after a stellar career at Oregon State that saw him hit .411/.575/.751 his draft year, and the Orioles ended up going chalk by taking him at No. 1 after some smoke they might go in a different direction. Henderson was the first pick of the second round out of an Alabama high school, with concerns about his ability to stay at shortstop and ultimate power upside, but he has proven skeptics wrong on both accounts. The Orioles also got Kyle Stowers later in Round 2 and Joey Ortiz in Round 4, both later traded for pitching help.
The Diamondbacks drafted eight players who have since made the majors, including Carroll out of a Seattle high school with the 16th pick. Another honorable mention to the Braves, who got Harris in the third round, Langeliers in the first round (part of the Matt Olson trade) and Vaughn Grissom in the 11th round (traded for Chris Sale).
Top pick that hasn’t worked out: Andrew Vaughn. The third pick out of Cal, Vaughn was viewed as a sure thing, a polished college hitter on par with Rutschman. In college, he combined a high average with power and plate discipline (104 walks to 51 strikeouts his sophomore and junior seasons), but he has hit just .248/.303/.407 in the majors. The White Sox finally gave up and recently traded him to the Brewers, who sent him to the minors. His plate discipline didn’t translate to the pros and a slow bat has limited damage on contact.
Overview: Witt gets first slot in the redraft over Henderson. Witt was second or third on most predraft boards, although there was some concern that he was already 19 years old at draft time — a big red flag for teams who follow draft models that view older high schoolers as a negative. Obviously it wasn’t, and Witt is now one of the game’s biggest stars. I have Greene ahead of Rutschman in the redraft on account of age — he’s three years younger — and current level of production. You could make a similar argument for Abrams. Brown is climbing this list, while Harris burst on the scene with a Rookie of the Year season in 2022, but his offense has stagnated the past two seasons due to a hyper-aggressive approach that has him with one of the highest chase rates in the majors.
Still, after the mediocre returns from the 2015-17 drafts, this looks a little more like what you might think a top 10 should look like, with at least three major stars in Witt, Henderson and Carroll leading the way. It’s not a historic class, but it’s a reminder that most drafts aren’t loaded with future stars.
Best draft: Atlanta Braves. In a draft shortened to five rounds because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Braves selected three major leaguers in their four picks, including Strider in the fourth round and 2023 All-Star Elder in the fourth. Strider had undergone Tommy John surgery at Clemson in 2019 and made just four appearances in 2020 before the pandemic, so scouts had a limited post-surgery look at him. The Orioles could also be here with Westburg, Kjerstad and Mayo, but the latter two have yet to do any damage in the majors despite their high prospect rankings.
Top pick that hasn’t worked out: Jordan Walker. The Cardinals took Walker with the 21st pick, and it soon looked like he might end up as the top player from this draft after he zoomed through the minors and reached the majors in 2023 at age 21, hitting a more-than-respectable .276/.342/.445 with 16 home runs in 117 games. But he has been unable to come close to that production the past two seasons as he has struggled to make contact. The raw tools — bat speed and projectable power — are still there and he’s still just 23 years old, but it has been a frustrating two years.
Overview: The 2020 draft was always going to be unpredictable as college seasons shut down after a few weeks because of the pandemic and some high school seasons never even got going, so scouts had limited spring viewings of prospects. The draft was limited to five rounds, and teams focused on college players early, with eight of the first 10 picks from the collegiate ranks.
Still, even by these difficult measures, we haven’t seen great results from those first 10 picks, with only Torkelson making the redraft top 10 — and even then, you could argue for Tyler Soderstrom, defensive stalwart Patrick Bailey or Cade Smith, who has excelled as a reliever after Cleveland signed him as an undrafted free agent. There remains a lot of unknowns for some of the players in the redraft top 10: Jared Jones had Tommy John surgery this season, Evan Carter had a breakout postseason in helping the Rangers win the World Series in 2023 but had injury issues last season, and Harrison was just traded to the Red Sox.
There’s no doubt about the top guy at this particular moment, however, as Crow-Armstrong, on his way to a possible 40-40 season in his first full year in the majors, leaps over Crochet and Strider. Unfortunately for the Mets, who drafted him 19th overall out of famed Harvard-Westlake High School in Los Angeles, they traded him to the Cubs for Javier Baez in 2022.
2021
1. Pittsburgh Pirates
New pick:James Wood | Original pick: Henry Davis Where new pick was originally drafted: 62
2. Texas Rangers
New pick: Jackson Merrill | Original pick: Jack Leiter Where new pick was originally drafted: 27
Best draft:San Diego Padres. The Padres are often unpredictable in the draft, but they love high-upside talent and might have gotten the two best players from this draft in Wood and Merrill. Merrill was the 27th overall pick, the highest-drafted Maryland high school player this century. He was a late riser whom many scouts hadn’t even seen until a couple weeks before the draft. Wood went with the 62nd pick out of IMG Academy in Florida, and scouts knew all about his power but had concerns about his hit tool. Well, he has figured out the hit thing and will be headed to the All-Star Game … as a member of the Nationals, after he was traded in the Juan Soto deal.
Honorable mention to the Mariners, who drafted collegiate pitchers Miller in the fourth round and Woo in the sixth, with both rising quickly to the majors and having immediate success in Seattle (although Miller is currently injured). Catcher Harry Ford was their first-round pick, and he’s a consensus top-50 prospect playing well in Triple-A, while second-round pick Edwin Arroyo was a key player dealt to Cincinnati in the Luis Castillo trade.
Top pick that hasn’t worked out:Henry Davis. There was no consensus best player in 2021, so the Pirates went with Louisville catcher Davis and signing him to a below-slot bonus to spread their pool money around (four of the next five picks each received a higher bonus). Davis was viewed as having the highest floor of the potential top choices, but he just hasn’t hit in the majors and is the backup catcher for the Pirates with a sub-.200 career average. With the savings on Davis, however, the Pirates did give third-round pick Bubba Chandler $2 million above slot to pull him away from a Clemson football scholarship, and he’s now the top pitching prospect in the minors.
Overview: This draft looks like it will be pretty deep in talent, especially on the pitching side — depending on long-term health. For now, I’ve slotted the pitchers who have proven themselves in the majors ahead of the ones who haven’t, but in a few years, it’s certainly possible that Chandler and Painter will be the top pitchers from this draft.
Wood or Merrill for the top player? There’s a case to be made for Merrill, because he plays center field while Wood is in left, but Wood’s bat is already special, with huge raw power and a good eye at the plate. He could be on his way to a 40-homer season in his age-22 season. Merrill is more aggressive, which might ultimately limit his OBP upside in comparison to Wood. If Wood was a bad corner outfielder, you might still go with Merrill, but at least for now Wood still runs well and plays an above-average left field.
Mayer slots in third. He was the top player on some draft boards and has played well in the minors with the range to play shortstop (although the Red Sox have used him at third base since his callup). Shortstop Carson Williams of the Rays, a late first-round pick, had helium entering 2025 but has struggled to make contact in Triple-A, he so falls out of the top 10 redraft — though, he has the talent to eventually climb back in. Lawlar ranked seventh on Kiley McDaniel’s recent top 50 prospects update, but he has had some injury issues in the minors and is 4-for-50 in a couple of major league trials. He merits consideration for the top 10, although he’s now blocked at shortstop in Arizona by Geraldo Perdomo.
Best draft: New York Mets. Williams, the 14th overall pick, is one of the top shortstop prospects in the minors while Tong, a seventh-round pick out of Canada, is having a monster season in Double-A averaging more than 14 K’s per nine. Third-rounder Blade Tidwell has also reached the majors. Kevin Parada, a catcher from Georgia Tech taken three spots ahead of Williams, has struggled to hit, however.
Top pick that hasn’t worked out: Elijah Green. The 2022 draft featured several talented high school position players, with Holliday, Jones, Johnson and Green all going in the top five picks. Holliday quickly became the top prospect in the minors and is playing well for the Orioles, but the other three have all struggled to live up to the hype so far. Green was always the riskiest of the group but had physical tools that drew comparisons to Ronald Acuna Jr. Concerns about his contact rate have proven true, however, and after whiffing 206 times in Single-A in 2024, he’s hitting under .200 in High-A this year.
Overview: While the top high school bats have yet to perform, the Red Sox got Anthony at the end of the second round with the 79th pick. His status as the top prospect in the minors before his recent call-up earns him the top slot in this redraft. Just to show how difficult drafting is, however: The Red Sox drafted two high school shortstops before they selected Anthony.
I have Neto ahead of Holliday for now, in part because Neto is a shortstop while Holliday has had to move to second base (and not just because of Gunnar Henderson — Holliday’s range and arm wouldn’t play at shortstop). Holliday is three years younger and just 21 years old, so there’s still plenty of time for his bat to improve. Neto was the 13th pick out of Campbell, in the Big South Conference — a late riser his draft year. He reached the majors with the Angels in 2023, and his power has been even better than projected, with 23 home runs in 2024 as part of an impressive 5.1-WAR season. You’d like to see him improve his strikeout-to-walk ratio, but he’s the best Angels draft pick since Mike Trout.
Best draft: Detroit Tigers. Certainly, it’s way too early to tell here. Maybe it’s just the Pirates with Skenes. The Red Sox got Campbell in the fourth round with first-rounder Teel going to the White Sox in the Garrett Crochet trade. But let’s go with the Tigers as Clark and McGonigle, both high school selections, have hit well in the lower minors and could be excellent all-around players if their power develops. Second-rounder Max Anderson is having a big season in Double-A, and fifth-round pitcher Jaden Hamm, out of Middle Tennessee State, has also been in Double-A all season after having a strong year in 2024 in High-A.
Top pick that hasn’t worked out: Dylan Crews. By no means are we writing Crews off — we still have him going seventh in the redraft — but his early scuffles in the majors, including a .196 average in 2025, are surprising given the numbers he put up at LSU (.426/.567/.713 as a junior). The plate discipline he had in college hasn’t translated to the pros, and he didn’t tear up the minors in 2024. His MLB numbers also pale in comparison to Langford, who went two picks later. Still, we need more than 300 plate appearances before passing final judgment.
Overview: Remember, it was a slam dunk for the Pirates to take Skenes. Pitchers come with their obvious injury risks, while Crews and Langford were two of the more accomplished college hitters in recent years. But still, they clearly made the right choice.
Wilson was a bit of a surprise pick at sixth overall for the A’s. Scouts loved his elite contact ability coming out of Grand Canyon University, but you don’t project anyone to hit .350 in the majors and Wilson has a chance to do that. His power has been the biggest surprise, as he’s already exceeding the Nico Hoerner comparisons. He’s not going to be a Gold Glove shortstop, but he’s competent enough there to slot ahead of Langford in the redraft at No. 2. The ultimate strength of this draft will rely on the talented group of high school hitters — Clark, Jenkins, Emerson, McGonigle, Miller, Eldridge, Nimmala and others — who look good so far with some of them starting to get tested in the upper minors. Eldrige is super intriguing: The 6-foot-7 slugger is just 20 years old and already in Triple-A for the Giants.
New pick: JJ Wetherholt | Original pick: Hagen Smith Where new pick was originally drafted: 7
6. Kansas City Royals
New pick: Travis Bazzana | Original pick: Jac Caglianone Where new pick was originally drafted: 1
7. St. Louis Cardinals
New pick:Cam Smith | Original pick: JJ Wetherholt Where new pick was originally drafted: 14
8. Los Angeles Angels
New pick: Bryce Rainer | Original pick: Christian Moore Where new pick was originally drafted: 11
9. Pittsburgh Pirates
New pick: Hagen Smith | Original pick: Konnor Griffin Where new pick was originally drafted: 5
10. Washington Nationals
New pick: Charlie Condon | Original pick: Seaver King Where new pick was originally drafted: 3
Other notable players from 2024: Slade Caldwell, Theo Gillen, Braden Montgomery
Best draft: Kansas City Royals. It’s way too early to do anything but guess here, but the Royals are obviously ecstatic getting Caglianone with the sixth overall selection. He has a chance to be the power hitter from this draft and a potential star to line up next to Bobby Witt Jr. Second-round high school lefty David Shields has impressed early in Single-A, while a couple of pitchers out of the University of Tennessee, Drew Bream and A.J. Causey, could advance quickly.
Top pick that hasn’t worked out: Charlie Condon. As with Crews, we need to give Condon a lot more time, but after one of the most dominant seasons in NCAA history at Georgia (.433, 37 HRs), Condon’s initial returns in pro ball have raised concerns — especially given what Caglianone and Kurtz have done to already reach the majors. In 25 games in High-A after getting drafted, Condon hit .180 with 34 strikeouts and four walks. He then fractured his wrist in spring training. He’s back at High-A Spokane and has hit better (.333/.457/.457) and at least improved his walk and strikeout rates (22 walks, 24 strikeouts). Still, High-A isn’t much of a challenge for an SEC performer like Condon, so the Rockies will need to get a read on him in Double-A.
Overview: We did a lot of moving around in the top 10 redraft, but this already looks like one of the most interesting drafts in a long time. Really, you could already make the case for five or six different players now going first, including Bazzana, the actual top overall pick.
Would Caglianone really go No. 1? Maybe not, given the bias against first basemen going first overall, but we’re at a moment when it appears Caglianone might have the highest ceiling of any player given his plus-plus-plus power potential. Kansas City is trying Caglianone in right field, and that is a work in progress, but it would be a huge boon to the Royals if it did work out, as they’re desperate for outfield power and Vinnie Pasquantino is locked in at first base. Caglianone’s high chase rate remains an issue, but he has already been improving from his college days and is striking out just 20% of the time in the majors (compared to 32% for Kurtz, who has tapped into more power so far than Caglianone).
Griffin is also an exciting player to watch. A two-way talent from a Mississippi high school where he was the national player of the year, Griffin had perhaps the highest ceiling in the draft and is showing that so far, hitting .344/.408/.552 in Single-A, already earning a promotion to High-A and looking good at shortstop so far.
As for Bazzana, he’s currently out because of an oblique strain, but his pro numbers have been underwhelming, hitting .238 last year in 27 games at High-A and .252 with 39 strikeouts in 33 games so far in Double-A this year. At the same level, Wetherholt has hit .322 with more walks than strikeouts and has the defensive chops to remain in the infield (most likely at second base, especially with Masyn Winn entrenched at shortstop in St. Louis) while Bazzana might end up moving from second base to left field.
Still, with Smith already performing for the Astros after the Cubs traded him in the Kyle Tucker deal and Kurtz producing for the A’s, plus Caglianone and Moore in the majors as well, the early returns from this draft look excellent. Besides Griffin, some of the other high school selections such as Rainer, Gillen and Caldwell look promising.
Tom Cruise didn’t mind making a pit stop to Brad Pitt’s F1 premiere.
In fact, the 62-year-old had high praise for his former Interview With the Vampire costar following their reunion at the June…
US President Donald Trump took a gamble by inserting the US into the worsening conflict between Israel and Iran, but it may have paid off – at least for now.
Trump announced on Tuesday evening that the two countries had agreed to a ceasefire that he said could lead to a lasting peace.
If the American president has in fact ended what he labelled the “12 Day War”, it would make for a significant step back from the brink of a conflict that seemed on the verge of engulfing the region, along with pulling America further in after US airstrikes hit Iranian nuclear facilities on Saturday.
“Provided that the Israeli regime stops its illegal aggression against the Iranian people no later than 4 am Tehran time,” Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said in a statement, “we have no intention to continue our response afterwards.”
It may not be called a ceasefire, but as the 04:00 deadline arrived in Tehran the Israeli attacks reportedly came to a halt. The two parties appear to be on the verge of turning down the heat.
This development comes after a tumultuous day in the region, when Iran followed through on its promise to retaliate for Saturday’s US strike.
According to early reports, all the Iranian missiles directed at the massive US base in Qatar were intercepted and there were no American casualties or damage.
During his address to the nation on Saturday night, President Trump warned that there would be an overwhelming American answer to any Iranian attacks on US interests. He promised that there were more targets that could be struck by American forces if needed.
For more than 24 hours, the world waited to see what Iran would do. Once Iran had acted, attention swung back to the US president and, after a few hours, he had his first say.
“Iran has officially responded to our Obliteration of their Nuclear Facilities with a very weak response, which we expected, and have very effectively countered,” Trump posted on his social media site.
He said that Iran had gotten it out of their “system” and added that “perhaps Iran can now proceed to Peace and Harmony in the Region”.
While the damage is reported to limited, Trump seemed inclined to hold his fire in the hope that the Iranians would be willing to negotiate in earnest. And, behind the scenes, the White House says he was talking to Qatari mediators and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to work out the details of the ceasefire.
Trump’s weekend attack on Iran was a high-risk manoeuvre, but a scenario in which the pay-offs are already coming into view.
A similar dynamic played itself out in January 2020, when Trump ordered the targeted killing of Iranian Revolutionary Guard leader Qasem Soleimani in Baghdad.
Iran launched missiles at military bases in Iraq, injuring more than 100 American soldiers, but the US chose not to escalate. Cooler heads ultimately prevailed.
According to US media, in their latest attack on Monday, Iran fired a number of missiles at American bases equal to the total number of bombs US warplanes dropped during its weekend attack.
That, along with the advance notice Iran provided to the Qatari government prior to the launch, for which Trump said he was grateful, suggests the Iranians are seeking proportionality, not escalation.
For most of the day, Trump was more focused on the price of oil, American media coverage and a suggestion by former Russian President Dimitry Medvedev that an outside nation provide Iran with nuclear weapons.
US officials have stated that this president follows through on his threats, in contrast with some of his predecessors.
If Iran were to launch another round of attacks – and there were American deaths or significant damage – pressure would mount for Trump to respond.
For the moment, however, he is seemingly eyeing an off-ramp to more fighting and both countries appear willing to entertain it.
Vice President Vance said Monday that President Trump wants “to build a long-term settlement” to ensure Iran does not rebuild its nuclear program.
“While we have obliterated the Iranian nuclear program, our hope and our expectation is that they’re not gonna try to rebuild that program,” Vance told Fox News’s Bret Baier on “Special Report.”
“And I think that’s what the president is really trying to figure out here, is to build a long-term settlement here, to where we can have peace in the region, where our regional allies, and of course, the American people, most importantly, can be secured, but where we can ensure that the destruction of the Iranian nuclear program that has already happened, is not something they try to rebuild,” he added.
President Trump announced Saturday that the United States had bombed three Iranian nuclear sites, stepping into a conflict between Iran and Israel that began earlier this month.
Tensions in the Middle East were already high when the recent conflict between Iran and Israel broke out, due to Israel’s war in Gaza and Iran’s nuclear capability.
Iran said it paused attacks on Israel Monday, but also stated it had not come to a “final decision” on a ceasefire, after Trump had said earlier in the day that Israel and Iran had “fully agreed” on “a Complete and Total CEASEFIRE,” on Truth Social, adding that it was going to start “in approximately 6 hours from now, when Israel and Iran have wound down and completed their in progress, final missions!”
