Oakland Athletics fully expect to sign first-round pick Tyler Soderstrom
By Justin Fried
The Oakland Athletics are reportedly expected to sign first-round pick Tyler Soderstrom.
The Oakland Athletics may have landed one of the steals of the 2020 MLB Draft with their first-round selection of catcher Tyler Soderstrom.
Of course, any declarations like that are years away from being proven true or false. But based on pure talent and projection alone, it appears as though the A’s got a good one.
And perhaps even better news is that the Oakland Athletics organization fully expects Soderstrom to sign with the team and forgo his commitment to UCLA.
As reported by Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle, Soderstrom and the A’s are yet to come to terms on a contract, but that “all the A’s folks [she’s] spoken to are certain that he will sign.”
That’s good news for an A’s team that had to deal with the whole Kyler Murray fiasco from two years ago. They certainly didn’t want to waste their first-round pick again on another player who wouldn’t ultimately sign.
Obviously, they probably had already made sure that he would sign before electing to draft him for that specific reason. So although a deal hasn’t been reached just yet, that they expect to sign him is hardly surprising.
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The Oakland Athletics seem to have landed a pretty good prospect in Tyler Soderstrom.
Nonetheless, the A’s managed to land a player who many projected as a surefire top-15 pick going into the draft. In fact, the crosstown San Francisco Giants were heavily connected to Soderstrom leading up to Wednesday evening.
Ultimately, however, he won’t be following in the footsteps of his father who was a former first-round pick of the Giants and will instead be heading over to the right side of the Bay.
Soderstrom projects as a plus-hitter whose left-handed bat will prove valuable to the A’s in the future. While his defense still needs some work before it could be on par with his bat, his athleticism provides hope for improvement.
Despite being listed as a catcher, Soderstrom also has plenty of experience at third base and could feasibly play both corner infield and outfield positions. But at least for now, it appears the A’s will develop him as a catcher.
After all, it’s going to take a few years before the 18-year-old even sniffs the major leagues.
Next. Oakland Athletics select bat-first catcher Tyler Soderstrom in first round. dark
Regardless, the A’s appear to have landed a pretty good player in Tyler Soderstrom and thankfully it seems as though his signing is imminent.