It’s been more than a week since the Oakland Athletics selected Wake Forest first baseman Nick Kurtz with the fourth overall pick in the 2024 MLB draft, and while it was never a question of whether they’d sign him, it was a question of how much. The Athletics’ signing news has been slow to come, but the first significant domino fell when the team announced they had agreed to terms with Kurtz.
There was no official word on Kurtz’s signing bonus, but Jim Callis of MLB Pipeline has reported that the Athletics paid him $7,000,000. This is the largest signing bonus for a draftee in Oakland Athletics history, yet it is still $1,370,800 less than the fourth overall pick’s slot value. This will give Oakland plenty of money to spend, since the key signings of second-round pick Tommy White and competitive balance pick Gage Jump are still to come.
Kurtz was projected to be an under-the-slot signing, though I expected him to come in a little lower than $7,000,000. Still, it’s evident that the Athletics are excited about Kurtz and the profile he presents, and I agree that I believe he will be able to fit into the center of a major league lineup reasonably soon. Kurtz also gets great reviews for his first-base defense.
