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Wilson starts pro career with contract, Oakland day
7/19/2023 4:30:00 PM | Baseball, Paul Coro
GCU shortstop turns special Lopes career into reported $5.5 million signing bonus
You can take Jacob Wilson out of Grand Canyon with millions of dollars, but you can't take Grand Canyon out of the newest Oakland A's shortstop.
Fresh off being selected sixth overall in the MLB Draft eight days earlier, Wilson came to Oakland, California, on Monday for the biggest business meeting of his life wearing dress slacks, a dress shirt and a GCU Baseball backpack.
The Lopes star shortstop got to work, signing a contract with a bonus that MLB.com reported to be $5.5 million before donning the green and gold and moving to the Oakland Coliseum field. Wilson took batting practice, fielded pregame infield grounders, visited the A's clubhouse and was the subject of an in-game broadcast interview as the A's played the Red Sox.
"It's surreal," Wilson said on NBC Sports Bay Area. "Being able to be here today is a dream come true. Coming out here, hanging out with the guys, taking ground balls, hitting BP with my family on the field is pretty awesome to be a part of this and experience this."
Known for having the best bat-to-ball skills of any draft-eligible player, Wilson hit .412 last season for the Lopes while striking out five times in 217 plate appearances. He struck out 12 times in 492 plate appearances over his final two seasons at GCU, where the two-time Golden Spikes Award semifinalist started for three WAC championship teams and two NCAA regional qualifiers.
"We absolutely see him as a shortstop," A's general manager David Forst told MLB.com. "I saw him play a little bit in high school (in Thousand Oaks, California), and I'm not sure there was any (player) we saw more this spring. I was at his first and last college game and saw him in between. He can really play the position."
Wilson used his A's clubhouse time to pick the minds of fellow shortstop Nick Allen and outfielder Brent Rooker, who was in Seattle as a first-time MLB All-Star not long after Wilson was there taking the stage as the Lopes' first-ever player to be drafted in the first round
Wilson became the A's first top-10 draft pick since Arizona Cardinals quarterback Kyler Murray, a No. 9 pick in the 2018 MLB Draft.
"You can take mental notes on account of what these guys are doing in the pregame and how they're taking batting practice and how they're taking ground balls," Wilson told the A's game broadcast of what he was learning in Oakland. "These guys are really good at what they do. Being able to be out here and talk to them about certain stuff and to learn how they do their pregame stuff, how they handle their business and how seriously they take their business, it's pretty awesome to have those conversations to help me in the future."
Wilson's next stop could be at the same place where his GCU career ended – Hohokam Stadium in Mesa. Wilson is expected to join the Arizona Complex League Athletics later this week to begin play at the Rookie-ball level.
Asked by the A's broadcasters about what he was anticipating most in his pro career, Wilson said it was the opportunity to play a high number of games as a pro.
"When you fall in love with the sport, you find out you love to play the game a lot, so I'm just really excited to go out there every year and just be able to go play and be part of the organization and be able to represent them."
Fresh off being selected sixth overall in the MLB Draft eight days earlier, Wilson came to Oakland, California, on Monday for the biggest business meeting of his life wearing dress slacks, a dress shirt and a GCU Baseball backpack.The Lopes star shortstop got to work, signing a contract with a bonus that MLB.com reported to be $5.5 million before donning the green and gold and moving to the Oakland Coliseum field. Wilson took batting practice, fielded pregame infield grounders, visited the A's clubhouse and was the subject of an in-game broadcast interview as the A's played the Red Sox.
"It's surreal," Wilson said on NBC Sports Bay Area. "Being able to be here today is a dream come true. Coming out here, hanging out with the guys, taking ground balls, hitting BP with my family on the field is pretty awesome to be a part of this and experience this."
Known for having the best bat-to-ball skills of any draft-eligible player, Wilson hit .412 last season for the Lopes while striking out five times in 217 plate appearances. He struck out 12 times in 492 plate appearances over his final two seasons at GCU, where the two-time Golden Spikes Award semifinalist started for three WAC championship teams and two NCAA regional qualifiers.
"We absolutely see him as a shortstop," A's general manager David Forst told MLB.com. "I saw him play a little bit in high school (in Thousand Oaks, California), and I'm not sure there was any (player) we saw more this spring. I was at his first and last college game and saw him in between. He can really play the position."Wilson used his A's clubhouse time to pick the minds of fellow shortstop Nick Allen and outfielder Brent Rooker, who was in Seattle as a first-time MLB All-Star not long after Wilson was there taking the stage as the Lopes' first-ever player to be drafted in the first round
Wilson became the A's first top-10 draft pick since Arizona Cardinals quarterback Kyler Murray, a No. 9 pick in the 2018 MLB Draft.
"You can take mental notes on account of what these guys are doing in the pregame and how they're taking batting practice and how they're taking ground balls," Wilson told the A's game broadcast of what he was learning in Oakland. "These guys are really good at what they do. Being able to be out here and talk to them about certain stuff and to learn how they do their pregame stuff, how they handle their business and how seriously they take their business, it's pretty awesome to have those conversations to help me in the future."Wilson's next stop could be at the same place where his GCU career ended – Hohokam Stadium in Mesa. Wilson is expected to join the Arizona Complex League Athletics later this week to begin play at the Rookie-ball level.
Asked by the A's broadcasters about what he was anticipating most in his pro career, Wilson said it was the opportunity to play a high number of games as a pro.
"When you fall in love with the sport, you find out you love to play the game a lot, so I'm just really excited to go out there every year and just be able to go play and be part of the organization and be able to represent them."
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