“Fast Movers” Might Be Key To Contention
· Yahoo Sports
For all the talk about resurgent players (Lawrence Butler, Zack Gelof, Jacob Lopez), back sliding players (Luis Morales, Jack Perkins), and a hitting core with elite talent but only decent results (Nick Kurtz/Shea Langeliers/Jacob Wilson/Tyler Soderstrom/Brent Rooker), the A’s fortunes in the near future may lie with some prospects who are fast-tracking themselves towards 2027 relevance.
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Without a doubt the A’s have a projected lineup for 2027-28 that could be imposing but so far has only been “middle of the pack” and with even less of a doubt the pitching has been bottom of the barrel in most statistical categories.
What the A’s are hoping to accomplish is to mirror, somewhat, the Chicago White Sox’ arc, rising from the depths of 100 loss territory to challenge for the division title soon after. On one hand, the White Sox did take 2 years, not 1, to go “last to first” but on the other hand they were coming from a record 121 losses.
This quartet of A’s prospects have in common that they would not normally be on a “2027 ETA” timeline and that they are very much poised to make an impact in 2027. And if they do, the A’s could be putting an awful lot of star talent on the field. In alphabetical order:
Jamie Arnold
Arnold is a key one to watch simply because he is a starting pitcher and nowhere is the need greater for the A’s than the front of the rotation. Arnold was just drafted in 2025 and only debuted in April, 2026 with an aggressive promotion to AA Midland.
Perhaps partly as a result of the aggressiveness of the assignment, Arnold sputtered some at the outset but he has come on like gangbusters of late and recently earned a promotion to AAA. With a 2.31 June ERA, a solid 3.54 ERA in July, and and a stellar 1.57 ERA in August, Arnold put a bow on his second half surge with 5 shutout innings in his PCL debut.
With a handful of AAA starts under his belt to end this season, it’s not inconceivable Arnold could vie for a spot in the A’s rotation out of camp in 2027, with the more likely outcome that he will be on the Gage Jump “first man up” track. Either way Arnold has a good chance to significantly impact the 2027 rotation, hopefully along side Jump, JT Ginn, and Jacob Lopez.
Drew Burress
2 months ago Burress hadn’t even yet been drafted by the A’s and yet his debut in Stockton has been so fantastic it’s not hard to envision a scenario where he begins the 2027 season at AA (or gets there within the first month) and forces his way up to the big leagues mid-season.
If this sounds overly aggressive, remember that Kurtz and Wilson shot through the minors at this rate and Burress matches their 1st round pedigree. In 26 games so far, Burress is crushing pitching to the tune of a .314/.453/.637 slash line with 7 HR and 14 stolen bases in 15 attempts.
The 28.5% K rate needs some work, and A ball is nowhere near MLB, but if Burress gets to AA in April and picks up where he is leaving off in September, he could well be in the big leagues sometime in 2027 giving the A’s another explosively athletic outfielder.
Leo De Vries
De Vries only started his pro career in 2024 and he did so at age 17, which would suggest a typical ETA of around 2029. But De Vries is no typical prospect, ranked top 3 in all of MLB.
Only injuries (finger, shoulder) stopped him from being a possible call up in 2026 and if he is fully healthy come spring training, the question will be “when” not “if” he will be called up to the big leagues in 2027.
Devin Taylor
Taylor is mashing and hasn’t let up all year, starting in A+, continuing in AA, and now making a mockery of AAA. At Lansing, Taylor earned a promotion by hitting .292/.425/.436 in 57 games. At Midland he found yet another gear, slashing .323/.409/.534 with 14 HR in 68 games. In 3 AAA games he’s 6 for 14 with 2 HR.
There are questions around Taylor’s LF glove, but if he can rake at the big league level the A’s can find a spot for the LH slugger even if it’s heavily utilizing the DH position, just as the Astros have done with the elite hitting/shaky fielding Yordan Alvarez and the Phillies have done with the similarly profiling Kyle Schwarber.
Already the A’s have quite a bit of enviable raw talent on the field with Kurtz at 1B, Wilson at SS, Langeliers at C, Soderstrom in LF, Henry Bolte in CF, Gelof somewhere on the infield and Butler looking, for the past half season, like the player the A’s saw and quickly inked to a multi-year extension.
Add Arnold, Burress, De Vries, and Taylor throughout the season and 2027 could have a plethora of star upside — upside that needs to be harnessed, mind you, upside that has to stay healthy. But in terms of potential to impact the AL West? These fast-trackers could be changing the landscape in a big way. Soon.