Athletics sign first round pick Nick Kurtz

Kurtz comes in under slot, as expected

It’s been over a week now since the Oakland Athletics selected Wake Forest first baseman Nick Kurtz with the fourth overall pick in the 2024 MLB draft, and while there was never a question of if they would sign him there was the question of for how much. Signing news has been very slow to come out for the Athletics, but finally the first big domino fell with the A’s announcing they agreed to terms with Kurtz.

There was no official word told on Kurtz’s signing bonus, but thanks to Jim Callis of MLB Pipeline we have it reported that the Athletics gave Kurtz $7,000,000. That makes this the biggest signing bonus for a draftee in Oakland Athletics history, but it still comes in $1,370,800 below the fourth overall pick’s slot value. This will give Oakland plenty of money to spend as they have the big signings of 2nd round pick Tommy White and competitive balance pick Gage Jump yet to come.

Kurtz was expected to be an under-slot signing, though I will say I expected him to come down a bit further than $7,000,000. Still, it’s clear the Athletics feel strongly about Kurtz and they like the profile he brings, and I tend to agree that I think he is going to be a guy that can fit into the middle of a big league lineup relatively soon. Kurtz also receives high marks for his first base defense.