Scouts are pessimistic by nature according to A's Scouting Director Eric Kubota. Still, coming out of any draft, the team feels pretty good about the guys they ended up selecting, but the determining factor for how they did is always time. 

Ahead of the draft, when we would ask A's fans what they wanted the team to go after, the typical response was, "pitching." Well, the team made 21 picks, 11 of which are pitchers, as well as five of the first ten picks, and three of the first five. They attacked the pitching side of things early. 

With their second-round selection, the A's took Mason Edwards out of USC, who Kubota compared to Barry Zito. 

Gabe Gaeckle was the A's third-round pick and he was hitting 98-99 with the fastball in college at Arkansas. While he has struggled as a starter the previous two seasons, the A's believe he has the mix to be a starter in the pros. 

Third rounder Jacob Dudan just underwent Tommy John surgery and will be out until about this time next year — or at least that's the hope. 

Duke right-hander Aidan Weaver was another arm that intrigued us, given that his strikeout rate jumped from 14.7% to 29% year-over year.

"There's a new coaching staff at Duke this year," Kubota said. "The previous coaching staff apparently didn't have much trust in him, to be perfectly honest, and he didn't pitch that much. He was given an opportunity this year and really excelled. I mean, the stuff was really good. I think it was just a matter of actually getting onto the field and getting a chance to show what he can do."

Two of the pitchers the A's selected were taken out of high school in right-hander Caden Sivrich and left-hander Jake Escalante. 

Escalante went to Soquel High School between San Jose and Monterey, and the lefty just underwent Tommy John surgery in June. Given his injury and being a late high school draftee, Kubota described this as an "opportunity pick." 

"If we end up with extra money somewhere, we're pretty aware of what his hopes are, as far as a signing bonus. He's got a good option with Cal State Fullerton, so we'll just see how things work out in the next few weeks." 

With Dudan injured, Edwards and Gaeckle are the two main guys to keep an eye on in the near future. That said, if they do get any innings this summer, they'll be limited based on how much they each pitched in college. We may have to wait until 2027 to see any of the pitchers take the mound. 

The A's added a lot of intriguing players in this draft, and a number of them — even Burress — come with some question marks. Given the scouting department's recent track record, it's hard to argue with their methodology right now.

The fact that they attacked pitching hard early in the draft with three of their first four selections is a clear indicator that they wanted some higher ceiling arms in the system in the coming years as they near contention. 

We made the case last week for why catcher Ryder Helfrick made sense going to the A's with the No. 8 pick, given that Shea Langeliers is a free agent after the 2028 season and there is no clear backup plan behind the dish in the minors right now, and Helfrick would provide a nice option.

The A's went with Drew Burress in the first round — a pick that's tough to argue with after his three consistent college seasons — and waited until the sixth round to select Alex Sosa out of Miami. Given that Burress was available and the way we saw the ball fly in Las Vegas last month, adding a power bat could end up being a savvy move. 

Sosa is a bat-first backstop, while his "catching has a chance to be good," Kubota said. The Miami backstop went from a pretty good player offensively to a breakout star after transferring to the Hurricanes for his junior season, batting .338 with a .448 OBP and a 1.119 OPS. He also smashed 18 homers, after hitting a combined 16 in his first two college seasons with NC State. 

"I think it's just the general maturation," Kubota said of Sosa's step forward in 2026. "In both the player and probably the person. That's kind of what happens in college, hopefully, and I think that's probably what happened in his case as well." 

Sosa could end up being the A's main full-time catching prospect to keep an eye on.

But the team also selected Bear Madliak out of Kansas State in the 18th round, and Las Vegas native Anthony Marnell IV out of San Diego State in the 20th, so they will have a trio of new catchers in the minors shortly. 

Another player who began his college career as a catcher, and has since moved more to a corner infield role, is Florida Gulf Coast junior Javier Gorostola. Gorostola was introduced as a third baseman, though Kubota noted that his versatility is important to the club as well. 

Despite having a 45-game hit streak with FGCU, he ended up falling to the 17th round, so we asked Kubota for a little more on him. He mentioned that competition levels across different leagues can sometimes be misleading.

"College performance, competition levels are so different across every league, and so sometimes it can be misleading. But I will say our analytics people were really excited that he fell to us where he fell to us. Our scout really liked him, and sometimes guys kind of fall through the cracks at times, and I think some of our people feel that that's what happened to him."

Given how quickly the A's have seen some of their top picks move in recent years, with Jacob Wilson and Nick Kurtz making it to the big leagues just a year out of college, with Gage Jump and Joshua Kuroda-Grauer following closely behind, we asked about the possibility of this class moving quickly, given that 19 of the 21 picks are out of college. 

"I mean, I think it kind of sets unrealistic expectations to a certain degree," Kubota said of Wilson, Kurtz and others moving so quickly through the minors. "We always feel like we want our guys to get there as quickly as they can, but be ready to excel when they get there. College guys in general should move a little quicker. But I think expectations are set a little high based on a couple of exceptional guys."

He also mentioned that each draftee is their own individual, and will move along their own timeline. Guys like Kurtz and Wilson forced their way up to the A's roster because of their exceptional performance in the minors.

It's also worth noting that while we have seen a number of bats progress quickly through the system, the pitchers haven't progressed at the same pace. This is partially due to pitchers not being able to play every day — especially starters — who may only get four games a month, starting once a week. 

That would mean that, in a best-case scenario, even with a full 2027 season, these arms aren't likely to be helping the big-league team until at least 2028. 

That timeline is worth watching for more than just prospect development. 2028 is shaping up as a pivotal year for the franchise on multiple fronts, from the pitching pipeline maturing to the A's expecting to land in Las Vegas. That pipeline is going to be important as the green and gold look to build a new fanbase in Sin City.