The Athletics’ future is bright, and their talent speaks for itself. In a year when the Oakland Athletics were stripped of their name and home park—forced to play in a minor league stadium in Sacramento as part of their move away from Oakland—the team made the most of the opportunity by showcasing its young talent. For them to leave the Colosseum was the nail on the coffin for a disastrous four years in the gutter led by owner John Fisher. Through one chaotic trade after another, the Athletics have seemingly rebuilt their future—and the future is now. It’s a reassuring sign for a fanbase that has endured years of scrutiny, heartbreak, and the sting of an owner known more for penny-pinching than investing in the team. With the talent this team currently holds it only makes you wonder what a couple decent pitchers would do towards pushing this team towards postseason contention. The young studs that are making the best impact early in their careers are surprisingly all position players. The players are listed below-

1. 1B Nick Kurtz
2. SS Jacob Wilson
3. LF Tyler Soderstrom
4. RF Lawrence Butler

These young guys are all 24 years or younger and all rank in the top five for their team in terms of wins above replacement. Some are more exciting than others but all four of them have excelled in the spotlight and have shown their worth down the stretch for the club. Also worth noting two of these rookies are competing against each other for the ‘American League Rookie of the Year award’. Let’s dive into each of them.

1. Let’s start with Nick Kurtz who has absolutely shoved this season. After an electric 67 start to his MLB career he is now the frontrunner for the AL ROY after taking over the odds from his teammate Jacob Wilson. In 67 games this season, Kurtz has 75 hits, 23 home runs and is slashing .309/.378/.683/1.061 for an OPS+ of 187. If he had enough plate appearances he would only be behind Aaron Judge and Shohei Ohtani for how hard he slugs the ball. Kurtz recently gained national attention after his four homer game against the Houston Astros. He was the first player since Eugenio Suarez of the Diamondbacks in 2025 to hit four home runs in a game and only the 20th in Major League history! Kurtz went 6/6 with 6 runs scored, 4 home runs and drove in 8 RBIs! He also accumulated 19 total bases tying Shawn Green’s 2002 feat for the MLB record. He started that night with a career 2.6 WAR and gained 0.8 WAR from that one game! Kurtz has played a total of 88 professional games in 2025 with 21 of them being in the Athletics triple AAA park, in the 88 games he has played through minor leagues and MLB he has hit 31 home runs. Stretch that over a full 162 season and he is hitting 45+ home runs on the year. Kurtz is an incredible player who has put the Athletics on his back as they battle through the storms of bad baseball.
2. Next up on the list is shortstop Jacob Wilson. The son of former Pirates shortstop Jack Wilson, Jacob has excelled in the early stages of his MLB career. In 94 games this season Wilson has accumulated 115 hits, 10 home runs, 45 RBIs, 46 runs and is slashing .312/.354/.439/.793 for an OPS+ of 120. Wilson’s early season success saw him batting over .350 for 60+ games and in doing so earned him his first all star selection and the first start for an Athletic since Josh Donaldson started at 3rd in 2014. It has also been nearly 55 years since the last Athletic shortstop to start in the All star game with the last one being Bert Campaneris in the early 1970s. Jacob Wilson has already reached 2.1 WAR and is showing everyday why the Athletics believed in him so early and gave him the keys to succeed at shortstop. Although Wilson has hit around .181 the past month, there is nothing more to say about the successful season he is having and although he may not win the ROY he certainly is playing like he deserves it.
3. Tyler Soderstrom is the next man to discuss and although he isn’t rechially a rookie this is his clear best season to date for the young left fielder. In 106 games this season, Soderstrom has 1.7 WAR while having 98 hits, 19 home runs, 53 runs, 60 RBIs while slashing .331, .454/ .785 for an OPS+ at 116. He has slammed the over on his career total for home runs with 19 this year which beats his old record of 9 home runs he had in 2024. Soderstrom fits well in this lineup, not only does he provide stellar offense but he gets the job complete. A .991 fielding percentage over 104 games and only four errors in 429 chances is much better than his defensive metrics last year where he gave up 24 errors in 61 games. He will play well for the future of this club and has officially removed himself from trade conversations as the Athletics look to build around these three young players.
4. After a rough 42-game stretch in 2023, where a 22-year-old Lawrence Butler posted a -0.5 WAR and a 62 OPS+, he quickly turned things around. In 2024, he bounced back with a 3.0 WAR season over 125 games, hitting 22 home runs with a 131 OPS+. Now, in 2025, Butler has continued his ascent, cementing himself as one of the bright spots in the Athletics’ lineup. In 102 games this year that already has Butler with 2.0 WAR, he has accumulated 95 hits, 15 homers, 17 stolen bases for a slash line of .238/.421/.732 for an OPS+ a bit above league average at 102. He is better than his stats suggest as he is still performing as one of the strongest right fielders on the game. To top off the talent that has been showcased by Butler he has received a contract extension to stay with his team till 2031.  A 7-year, $65.5 million contract extension with the team. 

I am excited with the immense talent the Athletics have and excited to see a future push for the playoffs. Look through the dark clouds that roam over this franchise, through ridicule and defeat this team constantly stays on their feet and never lets internal problems get ahead of the production on the field. Now is the time to start batting an eye on what is going on in Sacramento, it’s only in due time until the team starts making serious noise in the MLB.