The Willits baseball family gets its second draft headline

The Willits name showed up on the MLB Draft radar again, and this time it's the older brother making it official. Jaxon Willits, Oklahoma's shortstop and the Most Outstanding Player of the College World Series, has signed with the Los Angeles Angels after going in the 5th round.

Jim Callis

@jimcallisMLB

5th-rder Jaxon Willits signs w/@Angels for $650k (slot 141 value = $526,600). @OU_Baseball SS, Most Outstanding Player at College World Series. Averageish tools, high baseball IQ, strong work ethic. Son of former big leaguer Reggie, brother of 2025 No. 1 overall pick Eli.

The number that jumps out is $650,000. That's a solid chunk above the assigned slot value of $526,600 for pick No. 141, which tells you the Angels wanted to make sure this one got done and didn't nickel-and-dime a kid who just led his program to a national title. Willits helped Oklahoma win its first-ever national championship this past season and walked away with CWS Most Outstanding Player honors for his trouble, per On3 and Yahoo Sports' draft coverage.

Callis' scouting shorthand paints the picture: averageish tools, high baseball IQ, strong work ethic. That's not a toolsy first-round profile, it's a grinder profile — the kind of guy who gets overdrafted on makeup and instincts and then makes a front office look smart three years later. Oklahoma fans who watched him quarterback that CWS run will tell you the tools grading undersells the impact.

Then there's the family angle, which is the real hook here. Jaxon is the son of Reggie Willits, a former big-league outfielder who spent parts of his career with the Angels themselves — so there's a nice bit of symmetry in where the second Willits brother landed. And he's the older brother of Eli Willits, the shortstop the Washington Nationals took with the No. 1 overall pick in the 2025 draft, making him one of the youngest players ever selected at the top of the board.

Two brothers, two draft classes, two very different draft slots — but both now professionals. Eli's the bigger name and the higher ceiling, taken 140 picks ahead of where Jaxon landed a year later. But Jaxon's the one with a championship ring and an Outstanding Player trophy already in hand, which is its own kind of statement heading into pro ball. The Angels didn't get a blue-chip prospect here, they got a proven winner with a chip on his shoulder about being the other Willits — and that's often exactly the kind of guy who outperforms his draft slot.