Welcome to Thursday A’s fans!
There has been a report making the rounds online that young shortstop Jacob Wilson could be on the trade block this offseason thanks to USA Today’s Bob Nightengale:
That’s
begun a larger-than-expected debate about Wilson’s trade value and whether or not the Athletics would really consider trading him. On it’s face it seems like a far-fetched idea for the A’s to even consider moving Wilson, let alone pulling the trigger on a trade to eject their starting shortstop. The A’s are one year away from making the move to Las Vegas. Don’t we want some core players around when the new stadium opens?
Wilson will be turning 25 at the beginning of next season. That’s around the time a lot of players even make it to the big leagues, let alone establish themselves. Establishing himself is an understatement for Wilson after he started the All-Star Game in 2025 as a rookie. That earned him a nice contract extension, getting $70 million early to tie him to the A’s for the next seven years. Granted, his sophomore campaign wasn’t as thrilling as his rookie season but a lot of that can probably be chalked up to fluke injuries. Wilson was having a fine campaign before the All-Star break, and dumping him now would be at a sell-low point for a young player locked into a long-term deal.
On the other hand, there are obvious reasons to consider a swap if it makes sense. Wilson did after all have a tough second half, and then to cap his year off he underwent major shoulder surgery. While the expectation is that he’ll be fully healed and good to go come Spring Training, shoulders have been known to be tricky sometimes. If the club believes that his shoulder could become a recurring problem that they don’t want to deal with regularly, they could be more amenable to moving him we think.
While it sounds far fetched, it really does make sense to at least consider it on paper. The contract isn’t especially onerous, even for small-market teams. He’s affordable for even the lowest-payroll teams and that broadens the potential market if the A’s really wanted to make Wilson available. New President Taylor Smith isn’t connected to Wilson at all and might not be as enamored with him as other teams may be. Wilson’s contact-oriented approach would make lots of slugging teams more balanced.
And then you have the roster fit. The A’s best prospect and one of the best in the entire sport, Leo De Vries, is on the cusp of making his big league debut, which will almost certainly come in 2026 (if there is a season). And he happens to be a shortstop. There’s been some debate over whether Wilson moves off to second base or De Vries to third to fit them both in the lineup, but a trade of Wilson would free up De Vries to take his natural spot.
Overall the chances of a swap coming together are probably small. The A’s would need pitching, pitching, and more pitching in exchange, and that’s not really a debate. This organization is starving for quality arms and Wilson could be the one that’s dangled to get them, but it just doesn’t seem likely at this point. Not with the move to Vegas almost here, Wilson coming off a down season and already signed to the team long-term. What do you guys think? Would/should the A’s consider making Wilson available?
Have a great Friday Junior everyone.
A’s Coverage:
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MLB News & Interest:
- Astros hire Brad Ausmus as next manager
- Miz adds NL Cy Young Award to World Series title
- Schlittler caps 1st full season with Yankees’ 7th AL Cy Young Award
- Source: Tigers agree to 1-year deal with reliever Emilio Pagan
- Brewers’ Murphy 3-peats as top NL manager; White Sox’s Venable wins AL honors
- Giants’ Randy Rodríguez shut down after brief AFL stint
- Chris Martin Retires
- Hot Stove rumors: Seager, Skubal, OF trade candidates, Yanks, Cubs
- Mets Eyeing Left-Handed Relievers
- Braves GM emphatically shuts down Ronald Acuna trade speculation: ‘We need him’
- Cubs’ Ben Brown undergoes successful spine surgery, GM says
- Yankees Interested In Alec Bohm
- 4 known teams, 2 mystery clubs to meet with Skubal
- Dodgers Reportedly Prefer Short-Term Deal In Skubal Bidding
- Blue Jays eye Skubal, but how realistic is a deal?
- Today in Baseball History
Best of X:
And that’s a wrap on the AFL:
Well that would not be good:
That’s not a no for two potential trade targets:
Great point. Where has the spending been these last two years? And when will the wallet open up?
times ahead indeed!
Ricky Tiedemann? Chase Dollander? Rhett Lowder?
