Kiley McDaniel projects SS Jacob Gonzalez to Athletics in latest mock draft

Another fresh name.

The 2023 MLB Draft will get underway on Sunday and the Oakland Athletics have the No. 6 pick in the first round. Most projections have had the A’s going with a college hitter with their first pick and ESPN.com’s Kiley McDaniel sticks with that trend projecting them to land Ole Miss shortstop Jacob Gonzalez.

I’m hearing mostly slot-or-below college position players. I think both Clark and Jenkins would be over slot if they got here and I don’t have a good feeling that Oakland wants to do that if given the chance. I think they’d consider Rhett Lowder but end up going hitter, with Gonzalez, Brayden Taylor and Kyle Teel the slot-adjacent options and Jacob Wilson the money-saving option.

As McDaniel notes, the A’s have also been linked to TCU third baseman Brayden Taylor and Virginia catcher Kyle Teel. Gonzalez fits that same mold as a slot or slightly under-slot player here.

Gonzalez put up a strong season in 2023 hitting .327/.435/.564 with 18 doubles and 10 home runs in 54 games. Baseball America has him ranked as their 11th best prospect in their updated Top 500. He is 21-years old and hits lefty while checking in at 6-foot-2 and 200 pounds. He has a solid on-base skills posting a 14.3% career walk-rate. He doesn’t bring a lot of speed to the table and some scouts question whether he might eventually move to third despite a good track record defensively at shortstop.