Jacob Wilson Predicts Where A's Teammate Nick Kurtz Will Rank in Top 100

Nick Kurtz figures to be ranked near the top of the list, right?

Aug 17, 2025; West Sacramento, California, USA; Athletics first baseman Nick Kurtz (16) celebrates as he rounds the bases after hitting a solo home run against the Los Angeles Angels during the third inning at Sutter Health Park. Mandatory Credit: Neville E. Guard-Imagn Images | Neville E. Guard-Imagn Images

This week, MLB Network is unveiling their list for the "Top 100 Players Right Now," and in the first night of action, they slotted A's catcher Shea Langeliers No. 92, and DH Brent Rooker right in front of him at No. 91. We mentioned yesterday that Jacob Wilson would likely be coming up in Wednesday's 80-61 show, given where Luis Arraez finished a year ago, and that's exactly where Wilson ended up.

On Wednesday, MLB Network slotted Wilson as the No. 76 player in baseball coming off of a season in which he hit .311 with a .355 OBP and finished second in the AL Rookie of the Year voting behind teammate Nick Kurtz.

Wilson, always down for an interview, appeared on MLB Network to take a few questions after his name was called, and the final question he took was a doozy: "Give me a number where Nick Kurtz will be placed at on our top-100 countdown."

Wilson hyped up his teammate, was realistic, and also didn't necessarily answer the question.

"I think he's definitely a top-20 baseball player in the big leagues for sure. He could be higher, he could be somewhere in that range. I think, for me, he's one of the best players in baseball. Just being able to watch him each and every day, the kid's unbelievable.

"It's unbelievable to just be his teammate. He shows us what he can do on a daily basis, and it's pretty spectacular to be able to be his teammate and watch what he does."

✅ All-Star
✅ AL Rookie of the Year runner-up
✅ Top 100 Right Now debut

Let's hear from @Athletics rising star Jacob Wilson, who put the exclamation point on an incredible rookie campaign by checking in at No. 76 on the #Top100RightNow! pic.twitter.com/HTS7tfcSey

— MLB Network (@MLBNetwork) January 15, 2026

It was nice that he didn't do the cop-out answer and say he's No. 1. For someone that hasn't been in the big leagues for terribly long, this was a very good way to answer this question while also giving a real answer.

He's also right. We'd also have Kurtz pegged somewhere in the top-20, perhaps even in the top-10 if we had to guess. At the same time, a lot of that is based off of his 117-game debut season, so there is some extrapolation that comes with any discussion of Kurtz.

He knocked 36 home runs and drove in 86 RBI in that span, too, so he could easily be one of the top three to five bats in baseball in 2026 if he continues on that type of trajectory. In fact, he was just one of three players with over 400 plate appearances, joining Aaron Judge and Shohei Ohtani, to finish with an OPS above 1.000. Not even Cal Raleigh, who hit 60 home runs, had an OPS that high.

Kurtz finished with 4.6 fWAR last season, ranking him 25th among offensive players last season, despite not playing a full season and not getting a ton of help from his defensive numbers. There were only nine pitchers that finished with 4.6+ fWAR in 2025, so the worst that Kurtz could seemingly place would be around No. 35, and that's based solely on the total, not the output per game.

It'll be interesting to see how Kurtz fares against some of those top pitchers, though, given that they make between 30-32 starts. The same argument that you use for Kurtz you can use for them to a degree. Of course more playing time isn't really an option for the starters, but if you're going by impact while on the field, it'll be interesting to see how that plays out.

We'll put Kurtz at No. 12 overall. You can make the case that there are only two bats better than him (Ohtani and Judge), but there will probably be a few more that sneak ahead of him like Bobby Witt Jr. and Cal Raleigh, both thanks to their defense. Twelfth just seems like a good landing spot for Kurtz. We'll have to wait a couple of days to see if he ends up above or below that number.