MLB Draft: Oakland A’s select Jacob Wilson, son of former big leaguer, at No. 6 overall
After becoming the first casualty of MLB’s new draft lottery, the Oakland A’s watched five of the best prospects in baseball get drafted ahead of them on Sunday night.
Despite having the second-worst record (60-102) last year, the A’s drew the sixth selection in the 2023 MLB Draft in the inaugural lottery, then chose Jacob Wilson, a 21-year-old shortstop from Grand Canyon University in Arizona, where GCU shared the same spring training site as the A’s.
“It’s pretty crazy, pretty surreal to be a part of this,” Wilson said on a conference call shortly after the pick. “It’s all sinking in right now.”
Wilson went to high school at Thousand Oaks High School in Southern California and was teammates with Max Muncy, the A’s first-round pick two years ago.
“I’ve heard so many good things about the A’s,” Wilson said.
His father is former big league All-Star Jack Wilson, a spectacular defensive shortstop who played 12 big league seasons, including nine with the Pittsburgh Pirates. Jacob was 10 when Jack retired and spent time in MLB clubhouses while growing up. Jack coached Jacob at Thousand Oaks.
“I’ve taken everything from him,” Jacob said. “Growing up he was coach since Day 1. Being able to learn from him on a daily basis, getting to pick his brain a little bit, I can talk to him every day and continue to learn.”
Wilson hits and throws right-handed and is considered a solid overall player who can hit for power and average, has average speed and is an acceptable defensive shortstop, though some think he could eventually shift over to third base.
“I’m a natural shortstop, learning from my dad growing up,” he said. “Whatever the organization needs to me to do, I’ll do that, but at heart I’m a natural shortstop and I believe that’s where I’m going to stay.”
Here’s part of the scouting report on Wilson from MLB.com: “He might be one of the better pure hitters in the class, one who consistently finds the barrel and struck out just seven times in 275 plate appearances as a sophomore. He’s starting to tap into his power more consistently as well, smashing 12 homers and slugging .585 in 2022.”
At GCU this season, Jacob Wilson hit .411 with a 1.096 OPS. He was the toughest batter in the nation to strike out in each of the last two seasons. The 6-foot-3, 190-pound infielder fanned just 31 times in 620 career at-bats over three years.
He said he’s tried to model his approach after that of his dad, who never struck out more than 74 times in a season.
“When I go back and watch him play, the thing that sticks out a lot is defense,” Wilson said. “I love learning from him and being able to compete with him on groundballs. We have the same hitting approach, just trying to make good contact put the ball in play.”
Jack Wilson was with his son in Seattle for the draft. He was interviewed on MLB Network shortly after the pick.
“It’s the best feeling I’ve ever had,” Jack said. “It’s just an amazing moment. I’m still kind of numb. It’s something you dream about, something he’s been working so hard for. Where he came from and where he is now, it’s been an amazing journey.”
The slot signing bonus for the No. 6 overall pick this year is $6.6 million.
The A’s had a 16.5% chance to get the No. 1 pick after their terrible season in 2021, but the lottery balls didn’t fall their way. The Twins, who had the 13th-worst record last year, picked in front of the A’s at No. 5.
This year’s draft was largely considered one of the deepest in years, with all of the top-five picks considered No. 1 caliber players by draft experts on MLB Network.
Jacob Wilson was considered the 10th-best prospect in the draft, according to MLB.com’s rankings.
The A’s haven’t picked in the top-six since 2017, when they drafted outfielder Austin Beck. Beck, currently out for the year with an ACL tear, has a career .688 OPS in the minors and has played only 29 games above the High-A level.
All seven of the A’s first-round picks since 2017 have yet to make the big leagues. They haven’t drafted a first-round player to generate at least 2.0 WAR since they took Matt Chapman at No. 25 overall in 2014.
The A’s haven’t drafted a pitcher in the first round since 2016, when they took lefty A.J. Puk at No. 6 overall. They traded Puk to the Marlins for outfielder JJ Bleday in February. Bleday, the No. 4 overall pick in 2019, has a .690 OPS in 50 games with the A’s this year.
Some A’s fans chanted “sell the team” when MLB commissioner Rob Manfred announced the A’s pick at Lumen Field in Seattle.
The A’s have two more picks on Day 1 of the draft and will select No. 39 overall (a competitive balance pick) and No. 41 overall (their second-round selection).