Nick Kurtz's Comments Don't Make an Extension with A's Seem Likely This Offseason

The A's first baseman is focused on winning

Sep 19, 2025; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA; Athletics first baseman Nick Kurtz (16) in the batting cage before the game against the Pittsburgh Pirates at PNC Park. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images | Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images

The A's had some of their key players in Sacramento doing community events over the weekend, highlighted by going to the ice rink downtown and meeting Sacramento Kings season ticket members. They also worked in some time to meet with the media in their home clubhouse at Sutter Health Park to help close out a jam-packed weekend.

It was during that media session that AL Rookie of the Year Nick Kurtz was fielding plenty of questions, but it was this one from MLB.com's Martín Gallegos that was particularly intriguing. "You're a long ways away from even thinking about free agency, but are [teammate's extensions] something that is on your mind at all? Something you'd be open to? Being one of those guys who commits long-term?"

Kurtz gave a very professional answer.

"I would never say it's out of the picture, but it's not really the full focus. I'm young. I'm so happy for [Tyler Soderstrom]. He deserves that wholeheartedly. My main focus is on winning one. And then winning the second one. If we win games, everyone's going to get paid. That's the biggest thing for me. Let's put it out on the field, and then we'll deal with everything else later."

Another season of A's baseball is around the corner. AL Rookie of the Year Nick Kurtz met up with us in the clubhouse today. His thoughts on handling his rise to fame, carrying over last year's confidence to a new season, plus a lot more. Some of his teammates have already signed… pic.twitter.com/BDd49E2uqF

— Brandon Benitez (@BranitezSports) January 19, 2026

If you want to look at his body language while he answers the question, it's at roughly the 5:45 mark in the video above.

While he doesn't explicitly say that an extension is off the table right now, as we've said plenty of times this offseason, it just doesn't make sense for Kurtz to lock his earnings in just yet. He is coming off a season where his comparable players in terms of OPS were Aaron Judge and Shohei Ohtani, with Kurtz being the only other player to finish with an OPS above 1.000.

He's already projected to be one of the best first basemen in baseball in 2026, and the one guy above him, Vladimir Guerrero Jr. signed a 14-year, $500 million contract in April of last year. Judge is at nine years and $360 million, while Ohtani is sitting at 10 years and $700 million.

These are upper echelon contracts that he could be eyeing, and hitting free agency at the earliest date possible will be key in maximizing those future earnings. In signing an extension, he wouldn't be touching those dollar amounts, because arbitration years (and a couple more at league minimum) would be baked into a deal.

This is also not mentioning that the A's have never handed out a contract worth more than even $100 million, let alone the $360 million Judge is commanding, or the $700 million for Ohtani.

We also have a new CBA on the horizon, which could change the landscape a bit in the coming years. It may not be wise to lock into a deal before knowing what the state of baseball is going to be in the coming years.

In addition, all players will be paying attention to the arbitration case between the Detroit Tigers and Tarik Skubal, which could land them more earnings in arbitration in the coming years. In other words, why would a player of Kurtz's talent level be looking for any reason to potentially cap his earning power?

There are plenty of unknowns left at play, which just doesn't make this the right time to lock himself in. Even without an extension, the A's will still have team control over Kurtz through the 2030 campaign. The team's best bet to locking him up would be to have some deep postseason runs and a successful beginning in Las Vegas, which could be enough for a (slight) hometown discount.