The A’s have extended another member of their young core, announcing a seven-year contract, plus a club option for an eighth year, for shortstop Jacob Wilson. The PSI Sports Management client will reportedly be guaranteed $70MM.
Wilson, 23, was the sixth overall pick in the draft in 2023. He made his big league debut with a late cup of coffee the following season but broke out as an All-Star in 2025. The second-generation star — his father is longtime Pirates infielder Jack Wilson — finished second in American League Rookie of the Year voting behind his own teammate, Nick Kurtz. Wilson slashed .311/.355/.444 with 13 home runs, 26 doubles, five steals and a tiny 7.2% strikeout rate.
Wilson’s pure hit tool is nearly unrivaled. Among the 560 big leaguers who took even 40 plate appearances this past season, his 7.5% strikeout rate was the second-lowest, behind multi-time batting champion Luis Arraez. Like Arraez, the quality of contact when Wilson puts the ball in play is generally not great. He averaged just 84.6 mph off the bat with a paltry 2.2% barrel rate and 24.1% hard-hit rate. That penchant for weak contact hasn’t stopped him from racking up singles. His hitter-friendly home park in West Sacramento probably overstates his modest power, but Wilson did connect on six round-trippers away from Sutter Health Park and could be reasonably projected to hit around 10 homers per season.
Though he doesn’t post off-the-charts chase rates, Wilson does swing more often than the average hitter (both off the plate and within the zone). He’s an aggressive hitter whose preternatural bat-to-ball skills lead and frequent swings lead to plenty of early contact. That limited Wilson to just a 5.2% walk rate in his first full season, which is pretty well in line with the 5.9% walk rate he’s posted in his limited minor league time thus far. Even if he never posts a high walk rate, though, Wilson figures to continue posting strong on-base percentages simply due to his knack for collecting hits.
Defensive metrics don’t paint him in an especially favorable light at shortstop. He was dinged for minus-10 Defensive Runs Saved and minus-2 Outs Above Average in his first full season of shortstop work at the major league level. Statcast credits him with well above-average arm strength but below-average range.
An eventual move to second or third base might yield better defensive results, but that likely won’t happen until lauded prospect Leo De Vries pushes for a look at shortstop. He’s still only 19 years old with just 21 Double-A games under his belt, so at least for the time being, Wilson will be expected to reprise his role as the Athletics’ shortstop. Questions about his range have persisted since his prospect days, but scouting reports praise his solid hands and he showed a clear knack for flashy, acrobatic plays during his debut campaign.
The A’s already controlled Wilson for another five seasons. Today’s agreement locks in two free-agent years and gives the team an option over what would have been a third. Wilson wouldn’t have been arbitration-eligible until the 2027-28 offseason.
The seven-year, $70MM term aligns closely with but also surpasses recent extensions for Rockies shortstop Ezequiel Tovar (seven years, $63.5MM) and Wilson’s own teammate, Lawrence Butler (seven years, $66.5MM) when both were in the same service bucket in which Wilson currently resides (between one and two years). His $70MM guarantee falls a bit shy of Michael Harris II’s $72MM deal over in Atlanta, but that was an eight-year pact compared to Wilson’s seven.
As can be seen in MLBTR’s Contract Tracker (available to Trade Rumors Front Office subscribers), Wilson’s extension stands as the eighth-largest guarantee ever made to a player with under two years of big league service. It’s the second-largest deal in Athletics franchise history, trailing only the recent seven-year $86MM extension for teammate Tyler Soderstrom, who scored a larger deal due to the fact that he has an extra year of service time over Wilson.
Wilson’s extension is the latest step in the Athletics’ ongoing effort to lock up their exciting core of position players. Wilson, Soderstrom, Butler and slugger Brent Rooker (five years, $60MM) have all put pen to paper on long-term deals over the past 15 months. The A’s picked up control of multiple free agent years for each of those players.
The A’s have yet to come to terms on a deal with the aforementioned Kurtz, whose price tag will surely be higher. Kurtz played in just 117 games and took 489 plate appearances but still bashed 36 home runs while logging a sensational .290/.383/.619 slash line (170 wRC+). Even if the A’s can’t come to terms on a long-term deal with the 2024 No. 4 overall pick, he’s under control for another five seasons. Plus, this slate of affordable long-term deals for his young teammates will make it easier to stomach what will surely be enormous arbitration paydays if Kurtz continues on his current trajectory.
With several young players now under contract for the long haul, the Athletics shouldn’t have to worry about any potential grievances regarding their use of revenue-sharing funds. The A’s reportedly needed to push their CBT payroll up to $105MM or more last winter or else face potential ramifications, but they’re now at $139MM in that regard, per RosterResource.
Impressive as the Athletics’ collection of young bats is, the team’s pitching still leaves plenty to be desired. They’ll hope to change that this coming season when top prospects like Gage Jump and Jamie Arnold make their climbs through the system. Both rank within the game’s top 50 or so prospects. Jump, a 2024 second-rounder, already reached Double-A this past season. Arnold has yet to throw a professional pitch, but the Florida State standout was one of the top arms in last year’s draft class, coming off the board with the No. 11 pick.
The Athletics still have another two seasons to play in West Sacramento before their targeted 2028 move to their new home on the Las Vegas strip. So long as the group of Wilson, Soderstrom and Butler remain healthy, the A’s should have an exciting young core to market as they look to attract new fans in their new home.
ESPN’s Jeff Passan first reported the agreement and the terms of the contract.
Well done!
Easy to do when you’ve got a ton of young controllable talent on the roster and you know a salary floor might come in. Had how long in Oakland to do these kinda moves but never did now they move and all of a sudden the owner has money to spend
Absolutely outstanding.
Soderstrom, Rooker, Wilson and Butler are locked in.
Unlikely for Kurtz because he was so good and unlikely Shea.
Medium rare!
Nice!
The extension apparently buys out what were two potential free agent years and my napkin math says they paid ~40M for those two years. Considering what Bo Bichette just got paid this is a great deal for the A’s and nice one Jacob for not being greedy and getting a deal done. He’s still going to be a free agent when he’s 30 if he does want to cash out one more time.
Then teams will tell him he’s not worth as much, because he’s 30. Clever of owners to keep free agent total contract values down this way.
Even in the event he performs like a Corey Seager or Trea Turner, he’ll never see close to what they did. Surprised the MLBPA doesn’t say “Sure, buy out the arb years, but forget buying out free agent years”
Spending on their youth, finally.
Good for him. I’m definitely gonna go to a new A’s when they come to Las Vegas.
The A’s are going to be a really good team pretty soon they have quite good players they just need some pitching help.
Hoping Sacramento sees it’s first and probably only World Series.
It would be quite hilarious, and embarassing for MLB, if Sacramento was to host World Series games.
Great for Sacramento though.
A’s vs Rays ALCS is necessary before either team moves back into an MLB Stadium. The owners wouldn’t allow that sadly.
Sad to say but if the A’s make it to a WS in the next 2 years, all the games probably will be played in the NL team ball park. Or the Giants ballpark.
That makes a lot of sense. Loan Depot Park in Miami has hosted many iconic World Baseball Classic games, so the Rays would probably play there in the playoffs if they make it.
Man, the A’s are ON IT. Crap on ownership all you want, but they’re making certain that they have a competitive core ready by the time they land in Vegas. I give them some credit for that.
Had they done this while in Oakland, they’d still have a fan base and a team there.
You’re absolutely correct. I’m certainly not justifying the A’s ownership alienating their fanbase in Oakland; just giving the team credit for their activity in retaining their strong core.
They we’re winning 95-100 games and couldn’t even draw 10k fans to the coliseum. Nobody wants to admit this but, there was no fan base in Oakland.
Yeah, they also didn’t draw all that well when they were winning the 3 World Series in a row back in the day.
@Hank
Would that be the 70’s team? I had no idea it went back that far. I just remember watching the Olson/Chapman team playing in a sea of empty seats game after game, year after year, thinking damn what does this team have to do to get people to show up and support them. It’s crazy to have a team this good not be able to sell tickets.
If I was playing on the team I would not want to resign with them knowing that know matter how good I play and how much we win that people aren’t gonna come to the games.
It wasn’t the team, it was always the stadium.
Thank you for pointing this out – I’m convinced that ownership got really frustrated with their team winning nearly 100 games multiple seasons in a row in 2018 and 2019. Suddenly in 2021 Las Vegas is mentioned for the first time
They wanted a stadium though. Actually needed a stadium. For a long time. And it didn’t get done. Not the first team to leave Oakland makes me think it’s a Oakland problem.
@ AI GM
Facts!
Yeah like everyone got rid of their cookie cutter 70s stadium 25 30 years ago. That team should have left 20 years ago.
Wow! West coast Braves
hey at least we win a little bit more.
Draft target for me in March. Hoping I can get him on the cheap.
You should unless you are playing in a average heavy league with a bunch of amateurs.
30 year very deep league of hardened players and obp, slug cats.
Smart move As
That’s a really good core to have moving into a new market. I would imagine they’ll have much better chances of signing some decent free agent pitching to play in Vegas with the benefit of a good position playing core intact. Next few seasons of watching the A’s will be fun for an outside fan looking in.
A’s spending money waaaat
Now get Nick Kurtz locked up. I know it will be a lot harder, but he is the guy they need for his entire career.
I’d say around 5-8 years and 90-160m dollars for him.
I would love for this to happen but Kurtz is represented by Boras, so unlikely. I think there is a good chance Kurtz will be a MVP candidate in 2026 and may even challenge Judge for AL home run leader. I could easily see Kurtz hitting 60 plus homers in a season as long as he stays healthy.
Kurtz is represented by Excel, not Boras. Shea is represented by Boras though.
Kurtz is not represented by Boras, but leys lock him up 10 years 250M (better than paying 600M later!)
It’s going to cost more than what Anthony got from Boston and it all depends on if Kurtz is willing to sign. He may decide he wants to test the market at age 28 which he is totally free to do.
Wow – 7 years! This could turn out to be a bargain contract for the A’s. Wilson’s rookie numbers were impressive, but I think his power will improve as he played injured for part of last season with a left forearm fracture.
Big fan of this kid. Really like the A’s recent moves and drafts.
Should be an exciting team to follow the next few years.
IF he really is the player that he was in 2025, this could be like a Freddy Peralta extension level steal!
They stole him, he’s gonna be a very good player. Good for the A’s and good for Wilson
Seems like a win win. Don’t see either side happy or upset just very meh. Seems spot on to me. He got his $ now and I prefer his side but fair contract.
This guy’s the real deal. I suggest purchasing a PSA graded 10 gem mint card of him. Autographed if you can.
Honestly, a a small market team (for now in the A’s case), this is exactly how you get and remain competitive. Buying out pre-arb and arb years for a minimal back end cost is a win. Even if the young player doesn’t turn out, the annual cost doesn’t kill you.
Agreed and you also need to maintain a strong farm system that’s producing impact talent annually. There’s no reason you can’t find/draft an All Star every year and promoting one from your system every year. The guy in ’24 was Wilson, ’25 was Kurtz, ’26 could be one of LDV/White/Bolte/Jump.
Smart move now he can afford to live in Vegas
He reminds me so much of a younger Bo Bichette. Great contact hitter who hits the ball hard and good for tons of extra base hits, runs the bases well and below avg defensively at SS.
Very similar players. One thing I would say is Bichette doesn’t have the arm that Wilson does but yeah it’s pretty damn close.
Wilson might move to 2B when Leo De Vries enters the bigs.
Smart. This guy is a stud and one of my favourite players to watch.
I don’t know what Wilson is thinking here. I guess he’s got some cushion if his stats fall off a cliff. Still think he’s selling himself short for an Ownership group that was heavily criticized 2 years ago.
He’s thinking about the $70 million he and his family will be getting. For a guy whose carrying tool is batting average that’s not a bad deal at all.
This is the best thing happening in baseball. Dodgers know nothing about building from scratch. They just overpay established stars.
They also happen to have one of the best farm systems in baseball.
Great move A’s.
Probably won’t be able extend Kurtz on the cheap, but maybe go after Langeliers now?
Langeliers had a great 2025 season, obviously overshadowed by Cal Raleigh as far as AL catchers so maybe didn’t get much national attention. Unfortunately he is represented by Boras so an extension might be a long shot.
It’s a really good core, so might as well lock em up. I’ll give it to the A’s for recognizing they finally have something worth holding on to.
They got some serious bats in that lineup. In a few years with some pitching the Athletics are gonna be a force to be reckoned with.
Can’t attract free agents to play in Sacramento next 2 years so at least locking up their young hitters. It superficially elevates payroll to avoid grievance
How is the payroll elevated superficially versus just regular ole elevating?
He’s not wrong. If they’d gone year-to-year with Wilson, his luxury tax hit in each of the next two seasons would’ve been under $1MM. It’s now $10MM annually (the AAV of his contract).
When the A’s were reportedly being pressured to up their payroll last offseason, it was the CBT payroll that they needed to push up rather than the actual cash payroll. (Same as the Marlins this year, though they apparently are more comfortable ignoring any threats of a potential grievance).
Wilson isn’t going to make $10MM each season. The contract will be backloaded to mimic what he’d have earned going year to year. But the A’s will have a heavier CBT payroll as a result of it
In essence, they’re getting the same payroll boost they would have by signing Seranthony Dominguez for the same 2/20 the White Sox gave him, but spending nothing extra up front.
.361 avg in college, .393 in the minors, and he was hitting .330 in the majors before an injury affected his swing late last year. played thru it instead of hitting the DL.
he’s a perennial batting champ in the making. plus he plays in a little league park so there’s pop in his bat too
Damn, I was really hoping he’d be forced out due to finances and he Yankees would acquire him. Love this guy’s game
That’s an absolute steal! Only 10 million AAV is nuts for how good he is. This contract will look so cheap by the time it’s over.
I wish the Orioles would extend some of their young players!
Something is seriously wrong with Oakland if the A’s are suddenly doing better elsewhere. I blame politics.
$70M dang, that’s better than Tucker! Wait, what! My bad, carry on 🤣