The young A’s duo impressed everyone this season, and got honored with Rookie of the Year votes.
On Monday night, Major League Baseball announced the winners for both the American League and National League Rookie of the Year. For the National League, Atlanta’s backstop Drake Baldwin won the award.
In the American League, A’s first baseman Nick Kurtz unanimously won the award after his unbelievable debut season. Heading into yesterday, Kurtz was a lock for the award, but it was going to be interesting to see if shortstop Jacob Wilson would finish in second place.
Jacob Wilson would receive 23 of the 30 second-place votes, as Boston’s Roman Anthony, Kansas City’s Noah Cameron, and Colson Montgomery of the White Sox would all get at least 1 vote for second place.
The vote tallies also had A’s starter Luis Morales receiving a fifth-place vote for the award from a local writer. He pitched very well in his nine starts with the green and gold this past season, holding a 3.14 ERA with a 1.151 WHIP.
For the entirety of the first half and even part of the second half, it seemed as if Jacob Wilson would have the Rookie of the Year locked up. That is, until Nick Kurtz would break out and turn into one of the league’s best hitters. The Big Amish would finish his ’25 campaign with 36 homers and a 1.002 OPS.
This would be the first time a team has had both of the top two players in American League Rookie of the Year voting since 1984, when Mariners’ Alvin Davis and Mark Langston finished first and second, respectively.
The feat has happened twice in the 21st century in the National League, as Craig Kimbrel and Freddie Freeman did the same thing in 2011, and Michael Harris and Spencer Strider with Atlanta in 2022.
Not only is this not something that happens often, it shows that the A’s will have a young core of players for the next slew of years. Having three guys getting votes for the award, and two of them finishing top 2, is very impressive and just a sign of good things to come.
This offseason it will be interesting to see if the A’s are able to add anyone to their infield to play alongside the young duo of Nick Kurtz and Jacob Wilson. The team has a strong foundation with these young players, but will need help if they want to get closer to a playoff push this upcoming season.
