The Athletics introduced they’ve signed fourth general decide Nick Kurtz. MLB.com’s Jim Callis experiences (on X) that the previous Wake Forest first baseman receives a $7MM bonus. That’s nicely shy of the approximate $8.37MM slot worth, releasing up an honest chunk of cash for Oakland to spend on their later picks.
Kurtz has been considered the most effective offensive gamers within the class for the final two years. The left-handed hitter reached base at an absurd .510 clip over his school profession. He’s coming off a .306/.531/.763 slash line in his draft yr. Kurtz walked at an enormous 30% clip whereas placing out 16.2% of the time as a junior. He popped 22 residence runs in 54 video games.
Listed at 6’5″ and 240 kilos, Kurtz has apparent energy potential. He’s an exceptionally patent hitter, though FanGraphs wrote of their pre-draft report that his strategy borders on passive. FanGraphs ranked Kurtz because the #17 prospect within the class. Baseball America, Kiley McDaniel of ESPN and The Athletic’s Keith Regulation every had him within the again half of the highest 10. The first concern is in Kurtz’s restricted defensive profile. Whereas he’s a top quality defender at first base, he’s already on the backside of the defensive spectrum. The latest monitor file for highly-drafted school first basemen (i.e. Andrew Vaughn, Spencer Torkelson) hasn’t been nice.
