Elephant Rumblings: A’s Have Made Nick Kurtz Long-Term Contract Offer

Morning A’s fans and happy Friday! Ready for a relaxing weekend with some A’s baseball?

The front office has been busy in recent months working out long-term extensions with key members of this core. First beginning with Brent Rooker’s 5-year, $60 million contract in January 2025, the team then turned to outfielder Lawrence Butler and came to a deal with him just a couple months after Rooker’s deal, inking Butler to a 7-year, $65.5 million contract. Things went quiet during the season but extensions continued this winter, first with left fielder Tyler Soderstrom signing a 7-year, $86 million extension and then with shortstop Jacob Wilson getting his own deal just a few weeks ago, a well-deserved 7-year, $70 million payout. This has been the largest and most expensive investment the front office has ever done for a core. While it’s a fantastic development and a great achievement to be locking down these guys, there was one name that A’s fans have been hoping to see sign his own extension sooner rather than later.

Getting first baseman Nick Kurtz locked down would be the cherry on top of all of these recent extensions, and the front office has reportedly been working on a deal all offseason long. There’s been some skepticism regarding Kurtz and an extension with the A’s, mainly because of agent Scott Boras. Boras isn’t known to advise his clients to sign early-career extensions, though that hasn’t been a hard-and-fast rule and he has seen some of his clients ink long-term deals before hitting the free agent market.

Kurtz could be the newest member of that small group. The lefty slugger is reportedly “definitely open and interested” in a deal to remain with the A’s and be a building block when the team opens the new Vegas stadium. Seeing all of his teammates get their money and getting comfortable seems to have made Kurtz a little jealous/anxious to get his own money coming his way soon. That is music to A’s fans ears because there’s little doubt that Kurtz prices himself out of the A’s budget in five seasons if they go year-to-year with him.

The front office recognizes that, which is why it’s no surprise that they’ve reportedly already made the first baseman a contract offer:

While none of the details have leaked out, it’s fair to assume it’s into the $100 million range. The record for a player with less than a full year of service time is Seattle Mariners center fielder Julio Rodriguez, who bagged himself a 12-year, $210 million in guaranteed money (with the potential to increase to 17/470 with bonuses and options). That comes out to $17.5 million average a season, which is looking like a steal of a deal at this point. Rodriguez was coming off his own Rookie of the Year campaign and also placed 7th in MVP voting. Kurtz’s rookie slash line was better in every category and he finished 12th in the MVP race in just over half a season, but he’s also a first baseman compared to a premium position like center field. Rodriguez’s deal might be a good idea of what it might take to lock Kurtz in for the long haul.

It’s important to remember that the A’s aren’t technically in any sort of time crunch to get a deal done. While he’s set to be earning the league minimum for the next couple of seasons, thanks to winning the American League Rookie of the Year award he was awarded a full year of service. That takes away some bargaining power but still means the Athletics have five seasons of control over their prized hitter and have time to work out a deal. The longer they wait though the more expensive any contract will likely become.

The 22-year-old later added near the end of his comments, “It’s just about timing.” If he’s one of those players that doesn’t like negotiations taking place during the season then any contract extension would be coming in the next few weeks. Signing Kurtz to a long contract would be a franchise-altering move. Fingers crossed we can see him put pen to paper before March 26th, which is just under a month away.

Have a good day everyone!

A’s Coverage:

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• Athletics Community Prospect List: 18th Spot Goes To Junior Perez
• A’s Make First Cut of Camp
• A’s Top Pitching Prospect Jamie Arnold Set to Debut Later This Week
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• A’s spending on $2B Vegas stadium passes $300m mark, is Fisher’s folly really happening?
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• See you later, soda: A’s Perkins ditches sugar for science
• Can The A’s Young Core Turn Defense Into a Strength?
• Pesky Drawback Of “Closer By Committee” (It Never Really Works)
• “Relievers Are Volatile”… But Why?
• Are The Final Two Rotation Spots Really Up For Grabs?
• Story Lines To Watch As Spring Training Unfolds

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• CC Sabathia to have number retired by Yankees
• Today in Baseball History

Best of X:

Need Lopez healthy for the season, so hopefully the A’s take their time with the lefty. Hoglund news is…. unsurprising:

Some performances from yesterday’s spring exhibition game:

Sneak peak of the next big thing coming:

Probably the guy who hit 36 as a 22-year-old rookie in just 114 games played:

Not enough!