Four A’s players make ESPN’s Top 100 list

As spring training rolls on and Major League Baseball inches closer to the regular season, the Athletics are already generating national attention.

With Opening Day now just three weeks away, ESPN has released its new edition of MLB Rank 2026: Ranking Baseball’s Top 100 Players, and multiple familiar names made the cut.

Here’s a look at which Athletics players were included among the best 100 talents in baseball.

ESPN’s Top 100 Players: Four Athletics Make The Cut

29. Nick Kurtz | 1B

If this ranking seems aggressive for a player with only 159 days in the big leagues, well, consider the company he keeps in baseball’s best statistical neighborhood. Kurtz generated a wRC+ of 170 last season, and the only two hitters who were better than that were Judge (204) and Ohtani (172).

Like Ohtani, Kurtz is a left-handed hitter, and think about the triple-slash numbers each of them produced against right-handed pitching last season:

Kurtz: .336/.439/.714
Ohtani .283/.416/.661

Season prediction: Kurtz will have more competitive results against left-handed pitchers this year and join Judge, Ohtani and Schwarber in the 50-homer club. — ESPN’s Buster Olney

66. Brent Rooker | DH, OF

A first-round pick of the Twins in 2017, Rooker was a throw-in in a trade with the Padres in 2022, who then traded him to the Royals for Cam Gallagher.

The Royals waived him at the end of the season, the Athletics claimed him and Rooker went on to become one of only eight players with at least 30 home runs each of the past three seasons.

More or less a full-time DH now, Rooker has managed to cut his strikeout rate from 32.7% in 2023 to 22.2% in 2025, helping him to bash 40 doubles and 73 extra-base hits last season, tied for ninth in the majors.

Season prediction: Rooker’s home run rate didn’t increase as might have been expected in the move to Sacramento, but his improved strikeout rate is a good sign.

He’ll reach 30 home runs for the fourth year in a row, the first A’s player to do that since Mark McGwire. — ESPN’s David Schoenfield

75. Shea Langeliers | C

Langeliers had a breakout year at the plate in 2025, even if his homer total and expected wOBA barely changed from 2024.

His batting average jumped over 50 points, helping his OPS jump over 120 points, though some of those gains included lucky balls-in-play outcomes.

Langeliers’ defensive improvement was real — framing and blocking improved by a combined 14 runs — so even with some contact regression, there’s a wide base of skills. He should be one of the better hitters in an improved A’s lineup and with the most defensive value of any of those candidates.

Season prediction: I see a 3.0 WAR season, with less contact but still 25-plus homers and solid defense. — Kiley McDaniel

94. Jacob Wilson | SS

Wilson is such a throwback player with his supreme ability to put the ball in play that you half expect him to be out there with a dirty wool uniform, batting with his hands split apart on the bat, and tobacco juice dripping down his chin. As a rookie in 2025, he hit .325 in April, .368 in May, .323 in June and was the surprise starter in the All-Star Game.

He suffered a fractured forearm and sat out time after that, but still finished with a batting average of .311, the first of what should be many .300 seasons.

Season prediction: It’s not an insult to suggest he shouldn’t be starting All-Star Games in a league that has Bobby Witt Jr., but Wilson’s bat-to-ball skills make him the new Luis Arraez, although with a little more power. That should translate to batting championships, with the first of those arriving in 2026. — ESPN’s David Schoenfield

More MLB content from Sactown Sports

• Athletics GM: ‘Always open’ for Kyler Murray if he returns to baseball
• Buster Olney predicts a massive 2026 for Nick Kurtz
• Is Sacramento a legitimate possibility for MLB Expansion?
• Bryce Harper says he was ‘close’ to joining Giants in 2018
• Report: A’s offer 1B Nick Kurtz long-term extension

Upcoming Athletics & MLB Offseason Schedule

• February-March: Spring Training
• Friday, March 27th – @ Toronto Blue Jays – 4:07 PM PT (Opening Day)

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