Nick Kurtz
#16 1B · Athletics
Silver Slugger '25ROY '25All-MLB 2nd Team '25
Height
6'5"
Weight
240 lbs
Age
23
College
Wake Forest
Draft
2024, Rd 1, #4
Experience
1 yrs
Bats/Throws
L/L
A+
B+
—
Fan Verdict
Grade this player:
Career StatsA+
| Year | Team | GP | AVG | HR | RBI | OPS | SB | H |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Career |  | 144 | 0.2815534 | 41 | 98 | 0.97598314 | 5 | 145 |
Current Contract
Length
1 year
Total Value
$785K
Guaranteed
$471K
AAV
$785K/yr
Guaranteed %60%
Performance Analysis
A+
FCA+
Nick Kurtz grades as a near-elite performer among MLB first basemen, earning a A- Performance grade. He is hitting with a 0.290 batting average and a 1.002 OPS (well above the league average of .720, an elite mark) this season. With 36 home runs and 86 RBI through 117 games (a 50-HR, 119-RBI pace over a full season), he brings elite power production to the lineup. As a rookie at 23, Nick is a key contributor for the Athletics.
Fan & Media Sentiment
B+
Positive
NegativeNeutralPositive
Nick Kurtz has emerged as one of the more compelling young narratives in baseball right now, and the public sentiment surrounding him reflects that — sitting at a confident B+ with no signs of cooling. The media framing is unambiguously bullish: a slow spring that reversed into hot form heading into the 2026 season opener reframed any early skepticism as a non-story, and the "Big Amish" nickname has given Kurtz a personality-driven identity that resonates well beyond box scores, fueling fan engagement and fantasy attention in equal measure. That sentiment grade is actually underselling the on-field story — his A+ performance grade, backed by a 2025 Rookie of the Year award, Silver Slugger, and All-MLB Second Team selection, establishes him as one of the premier young first basemen in the American League, not just a promising prospect. The reported approximately $130M contract offer from the Athletics signals that the organization views him as a cornerstone, and that kind of institutional commitment from a franchise actively reinforcing its roster — adding Jonah Heim behind the plate, bringing in Brent Rooker, and signing Max Muncy — suggests Oakland is building around Kurtz rather than just alongside him. With the A's sitting at 18-17 and holding the No. 2 seed in the AL West, the narrative surrounding Kurtz is that of a 23-year-old first baseman already operating at franchise-caliber production levels with the organizational backing to match. The only reason sentiment trails performance is the inherent skepticism that comes with a limited major-league track record — but if the hot form carries, that gap closes fast.
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About this player
Nick Kurtz is a player on a rookie-scale contract listed at 1B for the Athletics. FanVerdicts maintains four independent grades for every MLB player on an active roster — Contract Value Index for the deal itself, Performance for on-field production, Sentiment for media and fan reaction, and Fan Verdict for community voting. Current grades for Nick Kurtz: Contract Value Index pending, Performance A+, Sentiment B+, Fan Verdict pending.
Every grade refreshes on its own cadence as new data lands. Performance recalculates when MLB game stats post; Sentiment updates with new media coverage and fan discussion; Contract Value Index recomputes when contract terms change; Fan Verdict reflects live community voting on this profile. Contract details below show the structure (years, total value, average annual value, guarantees) the Contract Value Index grade is computed against.
For league-wide context, the MLB hub has team rankings, GM report cards, the transactions feed, and live scoreboards. The MLB player rankings page sorts every active player by performance and contract value within their position.