The A’s nightmarish 2023 season actually began with a few weeks left in 2022, when the team went into the inaugural MLB Draft lottery in early December with designs on the top pick, only to slide all the way to six. Over the next seven months, a consensus top-five prospects emerged from this draft class. On Sunday, all five of those players would go off the board before the A’s made their first selection.
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But on a day when the A’s were welcoming in new talent, there wasn’t much point to looking back on what might have been.
“As we tell the players, focus on the things that you can control,” A’s general manager David Forst said Sunday night. “That wasn’t one of the things (the A’s could control). We’ve known since December this is where we were picking. We’re really excited with how it shaped up on Day 1 and we’re looking forward to the next few days.”
Read Keith Law’s report card for the A’s MLB Draft picks and other AL teams
The A’s had three picks on Day 1 of the 2023 MLB Draft, and they used all three selections on position players — Grand Canyon University shortstop Jacob Wilson (No. 6), St. Joan of Arc Secondary School (Mississauga, Ontario) infielder Myles Naylor (No. 39) and Rutgers center fielder Ryan Lasko (No. 41).
Wilson, the son of longtime big-league shortstop Jack Wilson, is the A’s first top-10 pick since 2018 when they selected Oklahoma outfielder Kyler Murray. Wilson came into the draft ranked 24th overall in Keith Law’s top-100 draft prospect ranking and 10th on MLB.com’s list.
A strong defender with above-average athleticism — Law called Wilson “one of the better defenders in the college class” — Wilson’s biggest strength offensively is his bat-to-ball ability, which he used to hit .412 in 49 games for Grand Canyon this season. He struck out only five times in 217 plate appearances and drove in 61 runs. In 10 games in the Cape Cod League last summer, Wilson hit .278 with a .381 OBP with five strikeouts in 42 plate appearances. He puts a strong emphasis on his two-strike approach, acknowledging that he consciously prioritized making contact over swinging for power at GCU.
“I like putting the ball in play and doing whatever I can to help my team win,” Wilson said after he was selected by the A’s. “I felt like when I had less strikeouts, we had a better chance of winning.”
The Oakland A’s have selected SS Jacob Wilson. Hit .412 this season with 17 2B and 6 HR. 31 strikeouts across 697 collegiate plate appearances. Elite bat-to-ball skills. Approach is off the charts. Will more than likely stick at SS. pic.twitter.com/PV2PwIIW0Q
— Peter Flaherty III (@PeterGFlaherty) July 9, 2023
The 21-year-old Wilson ticks a lot of familiar boxes for an A’s draft pick as an up-the-middle athlete with strong bloodlines and a high baseball IQ. Wilson went to high school at Thousand Oaks, where his dad was the head coach and he played alongside 2021 A’s first-round pick Max Muncy up the middle. Wilson, who was one of seven players to attend the draft in person, said he’s looking forward to teaming up with Muncy again in pro ball.
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Industry consensus seems to be that Wilson has a big-league floor. The biggest question was whether he would hit the ball hard enough to be an impact player at the game’s highest level. Law said Wilson had a “tough profile,” comparing it to two other contact-oriented infielders who went in recent first rounds, Nick Madrigal (No. 4, 2018) and Kevin Newman (No. 19, 2015). “He is someone who projects to play in the big leagues with very, very high probability, but who may not have the ceiling of a regular,” Law wrote.
The A’s believe the power will come as Wilson fills out his 6-foot-3, 190-pound frame.
“He mentioned to us his dad didn’t let him lift weights until he got to college, and that he really feels like there’s so much room for him to grow from a strength standpoint,” said Forst, who added that philosophically, the team believes that power develops later for many hitters.
“You go all the way back to Jason Giambi, you draft hitters and they develop power,” he said. “We think Jacob has a lot of room for growth when it comes to that.”
Forst praised Wilson’s defensive instincts and his sure hands, saying he didn’t believe he saw Wilson even bobble a ball in any of the games and practices they watched him in leading up to the draft. Wilson says he took a lot from his dad defensively, but he also closely studied former Pirates star Neil Walker and current Cubs star Dansby Swanson.
“It was a combination of the routine plays and the ability to make a special play that makes you feel like he can play shortstop at the highest level,” Forst said.
Forst was impressed with Wilson’s thought process and feel for the game when he spoke to him in pre-draft interviews.
“It is a different stance and approach and you really feel like he has the ability to slow the game down,” Forst said. “He’s a leader out in the field at shortstop and again, you can’t put a value on the way he grew up and his dad having played the position for 12 years in the big leagues.”
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There are perhaps no more impressive bloodlines in this draft class than those of the A’s second pick, Myles Naylor. Naylor’s two older brothers — Josh and Bo — are teammates on the Cleveland Guardians, and Naylor’s first cousin is A’s outfield prospect Denzel Clarke. The youngest Naylor played a lot of shortstop and second base in high school, but the A’s announced him as a third baseman. A 6-2, 200-pound right-handed hitter, Naylor drew the A’s attention for his offensive potential.
“What stood out about Myles was his own potential, his own talent,” Forst said. “This kid hit the ball as hard as any high school player that was in this draft. He’s strong, he’s physical. The swing is there. We love the bat, and it certainly doesn’t hurt that you’ve got two big brothers to learn from.”
I don’t even have a scouting comment here. Just turn the volume up. Myles Naylor, everyone. @OntarioBlueJays @CPBLeague @PG_Scouting #PGDraft @vcervinoPG https://t.co/9akqoQdIvS pic.twitter.com/eAFWTyr8MQ
— Brian Sakowski (@B_Sakowski_PG) May 11, 2023
Naylor, who turned 18 on April 15, has a commitment to Texas Tech. He was considered the top Canadian draft prospect in this year’s class and was the first from the country to come off the board. He wasn’t in Law’s top-100 list but came in at No. 64 on MLB.com’s list.
The A’s finished Day 1 with Lasko, a center fielder from Rutgers considered one of the top defensive outfielders in this year’s draft class. The 6-foot right-handed hitter and thrower batted .330/.428/.528 with 11 home runs and 18 stolen bases in 56 games for the Scarlet Knights this season. He has power potential and above-average speed, but he comes into pro ball with questions about his hit tool. Lasko batted just .239/.326/.274 in 34 games on the Cape last summer.
There are no questions about his defensive abilities, however, and Forst says the A’s liked that Lasko improved every year he was at Rutgers.
“He’s a guy we really think is on the up,” Forst said. “He really, really helps the athleticism in our system.”
We know one thing for sure. The @Athletics got themselves an absolute DAWG in Ryan Lasko. #TCD pic.twitter.com/XLjchYQqpV
— Rutgers Baseball (@RutgersBaseball) July 10, 2023
It will be a busy night for the A’s, who pick second in every round from here on out, meaning they will have plenty of conversations overnight with essentially the entire remaining draft pool available to them at pick 72. The third round has traditionally been a spot where teams can go over slot to take a player who slid out of the first two rounds. Some of the top names left on the board include Virginia Tech outfielder Jack Hurley, Hamilton (Ariz.) HS shortstop Roch Cholowsky, Round Rock (Texas) HS right-hander Travis Sykora and Tennessee shortstop Maui Ahuna.
(Photo of Jacob Wilson: Rick Scuteri / Associated Press)
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