A's Hitting Prospect of the Year Could be Big Part of 2025 Team

Jason Burke | Oct 19, 2024

Jun 14, 2018; Oakland, CA, USA; General view of the Oakland Athletics helmet in the dugout before the game against the Houston Astros at the Oakland Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: Stan Szeto-Imagn Images / Stan Szeto-Imagn Images

The A's are set at a number of positions heading into this offseason, but one that they could potentially be looking for someone new is in left field. Luckily for the A's, they have someone on the inside that may be worth a look, and he was just named the team's Hitting Prospect of the Year: Colby Thomas.

Thomas, 23, was selected by the A's in the third round of the 2022 MLB Draft out of Mercer college, and MLB Pipeline currently has him ranked as the A's No. 7 prospect. They had this to say of Thomas:

"A member of our all-prospect second team, Thomas is close to making an impact on the big league team after splitting the year between Double-A and Triple-A in 2024. He was fourth among all Minor Leaguers with 31 homers and among the leaders with 400 plate appearances in SLG (.563) and ISO (.287)."

Not only did he hit 31 homers, but he also swiped 15 bags. Though, to be fair, he was just 3-of-6 on steal attempts in 73 games in Triple-A. The rest of his stat line seemed to hold up fairly nicely between Double-and-Triple-A, but the stolen bases suffered. He did also strike out 30.3% of the time with the Aviators, which isn't ideal. The A's will surely be looking for improvements on that front heading into the 2025 season.

Thomas's path to the big leagues is fairly straightforward, but also just a touch complicated. The route there is basically by claiming left field, which could possibly be an open spot next season, especially if the team decides to move on from Seth Brown and/or Miguel Andujar, while also feeling that Esteury Ruiz could use some more development. All of those decisions are very much in play.

Those factors, plus the fact that Thomas is not eligible for the Rule 5 Draft this winter make it a little trickier for him to land with the A's out of camp. If he were Rule 5 eligible, the A's would have to add him to the 40-man roster, which would be his direct path to being in the inner circle of options in the outfield. Until he is on the 40-man, there is always a chance that someone else will get the chance in left field before him.

Thomas is likely to start the season in the minors, but it would not be surprising if he makes his big-league debut early in the season, depending on how the A's attack this offseason.