10 Intriguing Opening Day Assignments To Begin 2025 MiLB Season
Image credit: White Sox LHP Noah Schultz (Photo by Bill Mitchell)
Triple-A games have been underway for a week, but now the other three full-season classifications are set to draw back their curtains on their 2025 campaigns. This means 90 more teams—and 90 more Opening Day rosters—to peruse for intriguing assignments.
Last year, the most eye-opening placements to begin the year included Padres catcher Ethan Salas, who was assigned to High-A Fort Wayne after finishing the previous season in Double-A San Antonio. The list also noted players like Reds catcher Alfredo Duno and then-Guardians lefty Alexander Clemmey skipping the complex league and heading straight to Low-A.
Now, here are 10 players with interesting assignments to begin 2025.
1. Braylon Doughty, RHP, Guardians
Assignment: Low-A Lynchburg
Much like Alexander Clemmey a year ago, Cleveland has shown confidence in one of its high-end prep picks by sending him to Low-A to open his first season as a pro. In fact, Doughty is slated to take the ball on Opening Night in Fayetteville. Doughty earned the assignment by opening eyes on the backfields this spring thanks to a combination of stuff and poise that could one day help him find his way into a big league rotation.
2. Ryan Sloan, RHP, Mariners
Assignment: Low-A Modesto
Sloan’s situation is similar to Doughty’s. He’s a high-end righthander who earned rave reviews this spring, including for a standout performance in his team’s Spring Breakout game against the Guardians. Scouts in Arizona saw a physical righthander with overpowering present stuff who looks every bit of a future star in Seattle’s system and the sport as a whole. As such, the Mariners reaffirmed their confidence in him by assigning him to Low-A Modesto to begin his professional career.
3. Jesus Made, SS, Brewers
Assignment: Low-A Carolina
In the grand tradition of Jackson Chourio, Luis Lara and Yophery Rodriguez, the Brewers have made the call to skip one of their brightest Latin American prospects over the Arizona Complex League and instead send him straight to Low-A Carolina. Made took the Dominican Summer League by storm in 2024 and currently ranks as not only the No. 1 prospect in Milwaukee’s system, but also as BA’s No. 16 prospect. He’s got a wealth of gifts and upside on both sides of the ball and could rise even higher with a strong season in the Carolina League.
4. Spencer Jones, OF, Yankees
Assignment: Double-A Somerset
Normally, if a player hits 30 doubles, 17 home runs and steals 25 bases during the course of a Double-A season, he’s likely to open the next year at Triple-A. When those numbers also come with 200 strikeouts, the calculus can change. That’s the case for Jones, who in 2024 finished with the most strikeouts by any minor leaguer in Yankees history. He has plenty of offensive upside, but Double-A pitchers have exploited his holes enough that the Yankees did not feel he was ready to move to the International League.
5. Caden Dana, RHP, Angels
Assignment: Triple-A Salt Lake
Over the course of the last few seasons, the Angels have proven time and again that they are willing to be aggressive with their prospects and have been known to let them finish their development in the big leagues. The latest example is righthander Ryan Johnson, who followed the path of Mike Leake and Garrett Crochet by making his big league debut without any minor league time. That’s why it’s so surprising to see Dana, who jumped from Double-A Rocket City to Los Angeles in 2024, be assigned to Triple-A Salt Lake to open 2025. It’s not a shock that Dana, who will pitch all season as a 21-year-old, has more polish to add. It’s a bit surprising that the Angels are having him do so in the minor leagues.
6. Thomas White, LHP, Marlins
Assignment: High-A Beloit
For two straight years, White has been one of the stars of the Marlins’ Spring Breakout game with the Cardinals. Last year, he followed the showcase outing with a whopper of a season split between both of Miami’s Class A affiliates. He spent the bulk of his season—62 innings—at High-A Beloit, where he worked to a 2.76 ERA and punched out 76 hitters. Now, he’s headed back to the Sky Carp. With most pitchers, expectations might be tempered in the frigid early portion of the Midwest League season. White is both talented and hails from Massachusetts, so in this case he might be the one putting the freeze on the competition.
7. Chase Burns, RHP, Reds
Assignment: High-A Dayton
Burns was the No. 2 pick off the board last summer after a collegiate career that saw him dominate with Tennessee and Wake Forest, two of the country’s best baseball programs. He was shut down after the draft and will make his pro debut on Opening Night with High-A Dayton. The assignment might seem a bit conservative for a pitcher with Burns’ track record of pedigree and performance, but he won’t be there for long if he pitches his to his scouting report.
8. Braden Montgomery, OF, White Sox
Assignment: Low-A Kannapolis
Montgomery was part of the massive haul of prospects the White Sox received from Boston in order to acquire lefthander Garrett Crochet. The product of both Stanford and Texas A&M was a two-way player at times in college but emerged as more of an offensive prospect toward the end of his amateur tenure. An ankle injury suffered in the 2024 college postseason kept him from making his pro debut afterward. Instead, he’ll be officially unveiled on April 4 with Kannapolis. Given his pedigree with two of college baseball’s highest-profile programs, it’s a little surprising that Montgomery is not starting at least at High-A. If he hits early, it shouldn’t be long before he moves to Winston-Salem.
9. Juan Valera, RHP, Red Sox
Assignment: High-A Greenville
Valera is one of the biggest up-arrow prospects in a system experiencing one of its biggest boom times in recent memory. The live-armed righthander tore up the competition in the Florida Complex and Carolina leagues last summer and ratcheted his stuff up a notch this past spring. Now, the Red Sox have signaled their faith in Valera by moving him to High-A after he spent just 23 innings at Low-A last year. A three-pitch mix fronted by an upper-90s fastball and backed by two potentially plus offspeed weapons tends to help a player move up the ladder at a faster rate than most.
10. Noah Schultz, LHP, White Sox
Assignment: Double-A Birmingham
Schultz is Chicago’s unquestioned top prospect and one of the very best pitching prospects in the sport. He spent last summer fricasseeing hitters for short bursts and worked to a 1.48 ERA with 73 strikeouts in 61 innings at Double-A Birmingham. Now, he’s headed back to the level for further seasoning. The only blemish on Schultz’s pro career has been health and durability, and he’s been handled carefully as a result. If he continues what he started in 2024, Schultz should be off to Charlotte in short order and might have a chance to make his big league debut before the summer is out.
