Leo De Vries’ season is over before it really got rolling.
The Athletics’ top prospect is set to have right shoulder surgery and is expected to miss the rest of the minor-league season, with an eight-month recovery ahead, according to a team source who spoke Tuesday on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss an upcoming procedure publicly.
De Vries, the centerpiece return in the 2025 trade that sent closer Mason Miller to the San Diego Padres, hasn’t played since mid-August. He was eventually placed on the 60-day injured list because of a shoulder issue. The 19-year-old shortstop started the season at Double-A Midland and put together a strong year, finishing with a .836 OPS, 13 home runs and 21 doubles in 93 games.
His prospect stock remains among the game’s best. In Keith Law’s updated top-70 rankings, De Vries came in at No. 3, behind Seattle Mariners right-hander Kade Anderson and Milwaukee Brewers shortstop Jesús Made. Law also wrote, “De Vries and Made are both outstanding prospects, and I would be fine with putting De Vries at No. 2 over Made, given their different skill sets but similar superstar upsides,”
The position question around De Vries is still part of the conversation, too. He’s listed as a shortstop now, but he’s expected to move somewhere else eventually, most likely third base.
His path to this point has already included plenty of movement. The Padres signed him out of the Dominican Republic for $4.2 million, following up their 2023 signing of catcher Ethan Salas for $5.6 million. Salas reached the majors earlier this month and became the youngest player to catch a major-league game since Iván Rodríguez in 1991.
After signing De Vries, San Diego sent him to Single-A Lake Elsinore, where he produced an .803 OPS in 75 games before heading to the Arizona Fall League.
By the end of 2025, he had climbed from High A to Double A over the course of a full year and posted an .806 OPS across three levels. He opened the 2026 season back in Double A.
Before the shoulder injury shut him down, De Vries also got a Futures Game run in 2026. He singled in his first at-bat, then swiped second and third base, and later scored for the American League team in a 1-for-2 showing in the annual prospect showcase.
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