A's content with 11th pick, despite Draft Lottery ineligibility

DALLAS -- There was a lot less anxiety than usual inside the suite of the Athletics' front office for Tuesday night’s 2025 MLB Draft Lottery.

After experiencing the heartbreak and agony of falling outside of the top three picks despite being tied for the best odds to land the top overall selection in each of the previous two Draft Lotteries, the A’s entered this year’s process knowing that they would come away with a pick no earlier than 10th. This was the result of changes to the Draft through the most recent Collective Bargaining Agreement, which prevents teams that receive revenue-sharing payouts, referred to as “payee clubs," from landing a lottery pick three years in a row.

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There was a nightmare scenario in which the A’s could move even further down in the Draft order, odds which general manager David Forst still had not fully calculated at the time the Draft Lottery began. Luckily, the A’s stayed put and received the No. 11 pick, right behind the White Sox, who were also ineligible for this year’s Lottery.

"We would have needed like four teams to jump up,” Forst said. “So, that didn’t happen."

Forst jokingly referred to the Marlins as “the A’s of this year’s Draft Lottery” after Miami came away with the seventh overall pick despite entering tied with the Rockies for the highest odds for the No. 1 selection. Meanwhile, the American League West rival Mariners jumped up 12 spots to secure the No. 3 pick, while the Angels will pick second.

"The Mariners needed a break,” Forst said with a grin. “Good for them."

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While the Draft Lottery has not been kind to the A’s in terms of pick slots, they still have managed to come away with a positive feeling from the players added to the organization since its implementation ahead of the 2023 MLB Draft, especially their two first-round picks.

Jacob Wilson, selected sixth overall in '23, fast-tracked his way to the Majors last season. Ranked the A’s No. 1 prospect and No. 24 overall prospect in baseball by MLB Pipeline, Wilson enters 2025 expected to be the club’s everyday shortstop.

Nick Kurtz, whom the A’s picked fourth overall in '24, ranks right behind Wilson as their No. 2 prospect and the No. 45 overall prospect in baseball by MLB Pipeline. After reaching as high as Double-A in his first season of professional baseball and posting impressive numbers in the Arizona Fall League, Kurtz appears on a similar trajectory taken by Wilson.

The power-hitting first baseman is a candidate to reach the Majors as soon as 2025.

"I feel like our system is in a really good place,” Forst said. “We’ve had a lot of graduations over the last two years and guys getting their feet under them in the big leagues. The group that’s coming … we’re in really good shape in the system.”