The 2025 Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) Draft was held on October 23, , for the 61st time at the Grand Prince Hotel Takanawa to assign amateur baseball players to the NPB. It was arranged with the special cooperation of Taisho Pharmaceutical with official naming rights. The draft was officially called "The Professional Baseball Draft Meeting supported by Lipovitan D ". It has been sponsored by Taisho Pharmaceutical for the 13th consecutive year since 2013.
Format The first round of the draft is conducted via a bid lottery, where every team submits bids for players they'd like to draft. Players who receive multiple nominations result in a drawing of the lots between the nominating teams. The losing teams of the lottery resubmit selections until they get a player without any nominations. Starting from the second round, teams will select in reverse order of the standings, alternating between Central League and Pacific League teams. This year, the Central League will have priority. From the third round the order was reversed continuing in the same fashion until all picks were exhausted. The draft ends when all teams are "selected" or when the total number of selected players reaches 120.
On August 29, 2025, NPB Commissioner Katsuhiko Nakamura announced that players eligible for the upcoming 2026 Major League Baseball draft draft were also eligible for the 2025 NPB draft. Most notably, this includes Rintaro Sasaki, who opted to play college baseball at Stanford instead of entering the NPB draft. Nakamura commented that "we have also confirmed with MLB. He will be eligible for our (draft), and if MLB selects him the following year, it will be possible to negotiate with either side. We have confirmed this. We have answered inquiries from each team. There was a question at the executive committee meeting in July, so we have provided an explanation to all 12 teams."
First Round Player namePositionTeams selected byFirst NominationINFCarp, Fighters, TigersFirst NominationRHPBuffaloes, MarinesFirst NominationRintaro SasakiINFBayStars, HawksFirst NominationRHPEaglesFirst NominationTaiga KojimaCLionsFirst NominationAyuto MatsushitaINFSwallowsFirst NominationRHPDragonsFirst NominationKazuyuki TakemaruLHPGiantsSecond NominationOFCarp, FightersSecond NominationRHPBuffaloesSecond NominationINFBayStarsThird NominationRHPFighters Bolded teams indicate who won the right to negotiate a contract following a lottery.
List of selected players.
Selected Players +Key*Player did not sign
The order of the teams is the order of second round waiver priority. Bolded After that, a developmental player who contracted as a registered player under control.
Chiba Lotte Marines Selections PickPlayer namePositionTeam1RHP2LHPMeiji University3LHP4INF5RHP6C7RHPDevelopmental Player Draft1RHP2RHPTokushima Indigo Socks3OFAichi Gakuin University
Chunichi Dragons Selections RoundPlayer namePositionTeam1RHPAoyama Gakuin University2RHPTohoku Fukushi University3RHPTokushima Indigo Socks4OF5INFTohoku Fukushi University6OFToyo UniversityDevelopmental Player Draft1LHPNiigata Albirex Baseball Club2INF3OFEhime Mandarin Pirates
Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks Selections RoundPlayer namePositionTeam1Rintaro Sasaki*INFStanford2RHPKyushu Kyoritsu University3RHPOsaka University of Commerce4RHPGifu Kyoritsu University5INFDevelopmental Player Draft1C2INF3RHPChukyo University4INF5OFCLUB REBASE6RHP7OF8RHPChuo University Semi-Hardball Baseball Club
Hanshin Tigers Selections RoundPlayer namePositionTeam1INFSoka University2INFNihon University3OFUniversity of Tsukuba4RHP5RHPNiigata Albirex Baseball ClubDevelopmental Player Draft1RHP2OF
Hiroshima Toyo Carp Selections RoundPlayer namePositionTeam1OFSendai University2RHPAsia University3INFKindai University4RHPHokkai Gakuen University5RHPBukkyo University6INF7RHPChukyo UniversityDevelopmental Player Draft1CJosai University2INFTokushima Indigo Socks
Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters Selections RoundPlayer namePositionTeam1RHPMeiji University2OFOsaka Gakuin University3Ruan OhtsukaINFTokai University4INF5CDevelopmental Player Draft1INFHokkai Gakuen University2LHPAomori Chuo Gakuin University
Orix Buffaloes Selections RoundPlayer namePositionTeam1RHP2RHPOsaka Tōin High School3LHP4OF5RHPHokkai Gakuen University6*LHP/OFGeorgia7CDevelopmental Player Draft1OF2RHP3INF4LHPSendai University
Saitama Seibu Lions Selections RoundPlayer namePositionTeam1Taiga KojimaCMeiji University2Hakua IwakiLHPChuo University3OFChukyo University4RHPTohoku Fukushi University5INF6OFDevelopmental Player Draft1INFHachioji Academy2INF3RHPTokushima Indigo Socks4LHPKawawa High School5LHPJapan University of Economics6RHPSophia University7OFTokushima Indigo Socks
Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles Selections RoundPlayer namePositionTeam1RHPHanazono University2RHPWaseda University3INFChuo University4C5LHP6RHP7OFKindai UniversityDevelopmental Player Draft1OF2OFIshikawa Million Stars3RHPHakuoh University4INFKanagawa University5CEhime Mandarin Pirates
Tokyo Yakult Swallows Selections RoundPlayer namePositionTeam1Ayuto MatsushitaINFHosei University2INFJosai University3RHPSoka University4LHP5LHP6Takumi IshiiINF7RHPDevelopmental Player Draft1LHP
Yokohama DeNA BayStars Selections RoundPlayer namePositionTeam1INFAoyama Gakuin University2Shunya ShimadaRHPToyo University3Asahi MiyashitaINFToyo University4LHP5INFDevelopmental Player Draft1INFKyoto International High School
Yomiuri Giants Selections RoundPlayer namePositionTeam1Kazuyuki TakemaruLHP2Ren TawaRHPWaseda University3LHPAsia University4OFChuo University5INF6INFDevelopmental Player Draft1LHP2RHPRissho University3C4LHPAichi Gakuin University5OFNiigata Albirex Baseball Club
References
External links 2025年プロ野球ドラフト会議 supported by リポビタンD - NPB.jp Nippon Professional Baseball