This story was excerpted from Martín Gallegos’ A’s Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.
Something curious is going on with Leo De Vries.
For the entirety of his Minor League career, De Vries – the Athletics’ No. 1 prospect and MLB’s No. 4 overall prospect per MLB Pipeline – had only played shortstop, excluding five games at second base during the 2024 Arizona Fall League while in the Padres’ system.
On Wednesday night, De Vries was featured as the starting third baseman for Double-A Midland. Just in case you thought that might be a one-off, the 19-year-old super prospect was back at third for a second straight day on Thursday.
Since the day the A’s acquired De Vries as the headlining prospect in a package from San Diego for Mason Miller, the obvious question everyone asked was, what long-term position would he play? After all, the A’s already have an All-Star shortstop in Jacob Wilson, whose defense has risen to elite levels this season, locked up to a seven-year, $70 million contract extension signed in January.
Do we finally have that answer? Not quite.
Part of the reasoning behind De Vries’ move to third base is a chain reaction driven by need. As a result of Max Muncy landing on the injured list this past week, Brett Harris was recalled from Triple-A Las Vegas. That led to third baseman Tommy White (A's No. 9 prospect) getting promoted from Midland to Las Vegas.
Still, the A’s could have easily just replaced White with Joshua Kuroda-Grauer (A's No. 10 prospect), who has already played six games at third for Midland this season.
During his weekly segment on A’s Cast this week, general manager David Forst referred to De Vries playing third as a chance to expand his versatility, something the A’s have always liked to do with most of their infield prospects for years now. He also mentioned that, with uncertainty as to how long Muncy might be out with his hand fracture, having De Vries learn third base gives them an extra option to call on should another need at the position arise in the big leagues.
“Ultimately, we have to look at the longer term,” Forst said. “Hopefully, Max is back soon. But these things have a tendency to linger. … You just never know where the opportunity is going to come from. And Leo’s been great. He said from the day he got to big league camp, ‘I will play anywhere you want if it helps my path to the big leagues.’”
Speaking with Forst this week about the position change, De Vries even threw out catcher as something he’s willing to play if needed.
“I was like, ‘No, don’t need that, Leo,'” Forst said. “But you want to be prepared. The last thing you want is to get caught with having a spot [open] but a guy has never played there. So why not give him some opportunity there?”
By no means is this a knock on De Vries’ defensive abilities at shortstop. He’s been touted as a strong defender at the position, and the club has been impressed so far. At some point, though, the A’s will have to decide how they’ll line up their infield once Wilson, De Vries and perhaps even White and Kuroda-Grauer are all on the same roster, which could come sooner rather than later.
“It’s a really good problem to have,” Forst said. “We have an All-Star shortstop [in Wilson] here who is now legitimately playing Gold Glove-level defense, then a 19-year-old who can play the position in Double-A and hitting over .300. These are first-world problems. We’ll figure it out, but it makes sense to give [De Vries] some opportunity at some other spots.”
De Vries’ Major League arrival is fast approaching. He’s only strengthening his case at Double-A, where he's hitting .293 with an .850 OPS, four homers, four doubles and 13 RBIs in 24 games.
Based on what manager Mark Kotsay saw in Spring Training, he’s confident De Vries is athletic enough to adapt to any position on the diamond.
“The ability to play multiple positions can accelerate your path to the big leagues,” Kotsay said. “We’ve got a third-base position that Muncy started out at, and injury has taken that opportunity away from him. You’ve seen [Darell] Hernaiz there now for the last couple of days, he’s getting that opportunity.
“JKG, Tommy and Leo are all going to be big leaguers. It’s just a matter of when, and not if. That’s exciting to have three young, talented infielders right now at Double-A or above that you have confidence in that they can come up and help at some point.”