A's 2029 Lineup Projection Provides Glimpse at Future Potential

With a loaded farm system, how will the A's lineup be formed in 2029?

Jul 13, 2025; West Sacramento, California, USA; Athletics first baseman Nick Kurtz (16) celebrates with shortstop Jacob Wilson (5) after hitting a two-run home run against the Toronto Blue Jays during the fifth inning at Sutter Health Park. Mandatory Credit: Dennis Lee-Imagn Images | Dennis Lee-Imagn Images

In the coming months, the A's could have an interesting decision on their hands, and perhaps the answer was laid out for us when the club acquired Jeff McNeil from the New York Mets.

Over at Baseball America today, they released the A's top-30 prospects, along with the team's 2029 projected lineup. The players slotted in there are who you would expect, but the positions are what caught our eye.

At catcher, they have Shea Langeliers and first base is obviously Nick Kurtz. At DH they have Brent Rooker, and in the outfield they have the projected starters for this upcoming year—Tyler Soderstrom, Denzel Clarke and Lawrence Butler from left to right—still in those same spots.

But where things get interesting is second, shortstop and third base.

Right now, the A's have Jacob Wilson at short, McNeil at second and they're set to figure out third base with an internal option this spring. In 2029, Baseball America has Leo De Vries, the No. 3 prospect in MLB, at shortstop. His arrival would move Wilson to third base, while Max Muncy is the projected second baseman.

This is an interesting solution to a problem that may surface as early as 2026. De Vries should see time in Triple-A Las Vegas this season, and could even begin the year there, so he's not terribly far from making his MLB debut if he continues to progress at the rate that he's shown.

De Vries is said to be the best defender at shortstop of the bunch, so keeping him at his natural position seems like the smart play. It would also be beneficial to not heap too many expectations onto him when he arrives, like learning a new position on top of being a top prospect and getting acclimated to the big leagues. SImplifying his arrival seems like the smart play.

Slotting Wilson at third is also interesting, because that's an area of need for the club at the moment, and so when De Vries arrives, they could have a readymade long-term solution on hand. Muncy does seem to have the highest upside of the players attempting to claim third base this spring, so slotting him over at second long term makes some sense on a pure skill level.

Trades incoming?

Given that there weren't many surprises to the lineup in the 2029 projection, and that most of the players listed are already on the roster, could that mean that the A's will be busy making trades in the coming months as well?

Obviously having depth is part of the key to any successful club, as that depth helps to withstand injuries, but there is no Junior Perez, Tommy White or Henry Bolte in that projected lineup. They could easily be depth pieces on the bench, or they could be trade bait as soon as the A's start seeing some of the returns from their pitching staff.

As we wrote last week, the A's have a lot of young, unproven starting pitching depth at the moment, and this year could be when we start getting glimpses of what those guys can do. This will be a big year for J.T. Ginn, who can either solidify a role on the club, or be seen as an expendable trade piece by season's end.

Arms like Braden Nett, Gage Jump, Chen Zhong-Ao Zhuang, Henry Baez and Kade Morris are all knocking on the door to the big leagues, and we should see at least a glimpse from each of them in 2026.

Once the A's have a better grasp on which arms they can count on in the big leagues moving forward, we could see the team making some moves from that offensive depth in order to get a couple more arms.