While the Athletics are trying to win games at the MLB level, their scouts and front-office executives are preparing for the 2026 MLB Draft, which will take place July 11–13 in Philadelphia. For the sixth straight year, the draft will set the stage for MLB’s All-Star Game, scheduled for July 14. With this summer marking America’s 250th anniversary, MLB could not have picked a better city to celebrate both the game’s current stars and its future ones.
Unlike the NBA and NFL drafts, MLB draft picks
do not immediately join their organization’s big-league club. Most spend at least a year or two in the minors, with notable exceptions like Nick Kurtz, Jacob Wilson and Pittsburgh Pirates pitcher Paul Skenes, all of whom were considered too advanced and dominant to remain in the minor leagues for long. As a result, teams usually select the best player available rather than drafting for need.
Past Draft History
In 2025, the A’s selected left-handed pitcher Jamie Arnold out of Florida State University with the 11th pick in the MLB draft. Despite enduring a losing season the year before, MLB rules prevent revenue-sharing small market teams from receiving a top-six lottery pick in three consecutive drafts. In the previous two drafts, the A’s chose current starters first baseman Kurtz and shortstop Wilson with the fourth and sixth overall picks, respectively.
Arnold, who was considered one of the top college pitching prospects in his draft class, has begun his professional career at Double-A Midland, bypassing the A-ball levels entirely. If he pitches well, the left-hander has a chance to join Kurtz and Wilson on the Athletics’ big-league roster later this season or sometime next year.
2026 Draft Outlook
This year, the team once again suffered bad luck in the draft lottery as the San Francisco Giants and Kansas City Royals jumped them despite entering the lottery with lower odds for the first pick. As a result, the A’s will pick eighth, a slot that is not ideal, but does makes sense as the team finished with the eighth-worst record in the league last season.
Like the past few draft classes, this one features a handful of elite prospects at the top of the rankings, most of whom will probably be off the board by the time the A’s are on the clock. The Chicago White Sox are widely expected to select UCLA shortstop Roch Cholowsky, the consensus top player in this draft class, with the No. 1 pick.
Additionally, it is doubtful that the draft’s top pitching prospect, Jackson Flora, a right-hander out of University of California, Santa Barbara, will still be available when the A’s pick.
Potential A’s Options
With A’s starting catcher Shea Langeliers eligible for free agency after the 2028 season, Georgia Tech’s catcher Vahn Lackey is an appealing option for an A’s organization largely devoid of catching prospects.
The team once had a promising catching prospect in Daniel Susac, its first-round pick in 2022. Yet, for reasons that remain unclear, the A’s chose not to add Susac to their 40-man roster. He was subsequently selected in the Rule 5 Draft and is now off to a strong start in his rookie season with the San Francisco Giants.
As a result, the A’s may once again look to address the position in this year’s draft, though Lackey will assuredly be off the board by the time they are on the clock. If the team wants to pop a catcher in the first round, Arkansas catcher Ryder Helfrick is the name to watch. The Northern California native, widely considered the top defensive catcher in this class, has been mocked to the A’s in multiple draft predictions.
Given the number of infield options already on the A’s big-league roster, not to mention promising minor-league infield prospects Leo De Vries and Joshua Kuroda-Grauer, the team would be better off avoiding college infielders like Chris Hacopian (Texas A&M) and Eric Becker (Virginia).
Having not drafted a high school player since Max Muncy in 2021, the A’s have a chance to buck that trend this year. Apparently they have been scouting center fielder Eric Booth Jr. from Oak Grove HS (Miss.), but experts doubt he will fall this far. Alternatively, the A’s could select Georgia Tech outfielder Drew Burress or LSU outfielder Derek Curiel with this pick.
Or, the team could draft a pitcher in the first round for the second straight year. They will have an abundance of options to choose from. Left-hander Gio Rojas, from the same high school that former A’s pitcher Jesus Luzardo attended, could be an option as could college right handers Cameron Flukey (Coastal Carolina), Liam Peterson (Florida) and Cade Townsend (Mississippi). Although the A’s pitching staff has held its own so far this season, pitching still remains a long-term concern for the team, so this might be a good avenue to explore.
Who do you want the Athletics to target in this summer’s draft? Let’s get the discussion rolling in the comments.
