The Athletics have a lot of the lineup sorted out, but second base still hangs there as the one spot that needs a decision for 2027.
Jeff McNeil is unlikely to be back next year because of a high club-option price, which leaves the A’s with a few internal possibilities instead of an obvious external fix. The good news for them is they may not need to shop for help through trade or free agency. There are already multiple candidates in the mix.
Alika Williams is the safest default name to keep in mind. In 2026, he would appear in 88 games and hit .270 with a .735 OPS, while logging most of his time at shortstop, with 66 games there and 20 at second base.
He never fully replaced Jacob Wilson, but he handled the role he was given and gave the A’s strong defense, including an 82nd-percentile field range in outs above average. He was also above average in speed.
The rest of the underlying numbers were rough, but Williams has at least shown that advanced metrics do not tell the whole story. At minimum, he looks like the primary infield backup.
Donovan Walton may have the inside track if the job is decided purely on production. His 2026 season would be his best, as he hit .261 with an .806 OPS, plus nine home runs and 32 RBIs.
Those are the strongest offensive numbers among the group. The problem is the other side of the ball.
Walton’s defense would land in the third percentile in all of baseball, with -9 outs above average, and his speed would sit in the 24th percentile. The bat is useful, but the flaws are hard to ignore.
Then there is Joshua Kuroda-Grauer, who flashed the most upside before an injury wiped out nearly his entire second half. In 71 at-bats, he would hit .366 with a .899 OPS.
Before the injury, he was even hotter, batting .417 with a 1.018 OPS. He would play seven of his 21 games at second base this season, a tiny sample, but the talent was obvious when he was healthy.
The source even notes how difficult it is to return from a ruptured testicle, and Kuroda-Grauer’s season never really recovered after that.
Of all the options, Kuroda-Grauer brings the highest ceiling. He and Jacob Wilson are described as essentially the same kind of player: elite contact ability and strong defense.
With the Athletics focused on building and developing a young core, that makes Kuroda-Grauer the best fit for 2027. The appeal is simple enough - if the A’s can get two infielders like Wilson and Kuroda-Grauer, both likely to hit above .300 and both bringing elite defense, that’s a foundation worth leaning into.
In Other News...
As Prospects Could Be The Next Surprise Names Fans Need To Know
The Athletics have spent the last couple of seasons showing just how quickly a young player can turn from a name on a prospect list into part of the big-league conversation. Nick Kurtz and Jacob Wilson were both central to that trend in 2025, with Wilson winning AL Rookie of the Year and Kurtz finishing as the runner-up, and Henry Bolte added to the sense that this group keeps finding fresh talent worth watching in 2026.
Devin Taylor is one of the next players pushing into that discussion after moving through the minors with a strong run that included a steady climb through multiple levels. Jacob Kuroda-Grauer also forced his way into the picture in 2026 with a promising MLB debut, and the question now is which of these younger names can do enough before spring to make the Athletics roster math even more interesting. [Read more 🡒]