Reggie Jackson (1966) won three World Series titles with the A's and was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1993.
The Oakland Athletics (the A's) are a Major League Baseball (MLB) franchise based in Oakland, California. They play in the American League West division. The Athletics had played in Philadelphia from 1901 to 1954 and then Kansas City from 1955 to 1967 before moving to Oakland. Since the establishment of the Rule 4 Draft the Athletics have selected 82 players in the first round. Officially known as the "First-Year Player Draft",[1] the Rule 4 Draft is MLB's primary mechanism for assigning players from high schools, colleges, and other amateur clubs to its franchises. The draft order is determined based on the previous season's standings, with the team possessing the worst record receiving the first pick.[1] In addition, teams which lost free agents in the previous off-season may be awarded compensatory or supplementary picks.[2]
Of these 82 players, 36 have been pitchers, the most of any position; 27 of these were right-handed, while 9 were left-handed. Fifteen outfielders, including one center fielder, and 14 shortstops were selected. The A's have also drafted seven catchers, five third basemen, four first basemen, and one second baseman in the first round.[3] Additionally, 23 players came from high schools or universities in the A's home state of California, followed by 10 from Texas and Florida.[3] They also drafted Ariel Prieto in 1995, who had defected from Cuba the year before.[4] Prieto made his major league debut in 1995, one of 20 players in draft history to go directly to the majors without playing in the minor leagues.[5][6]
The Athletics have failed to sign three first-round draft picks, although they did not receive a compensation pick for any of them.[3] The first such player not signed was Pete Broberg in 1968. The A's also failed to sign both of their draft picks in 1979, Juan Bustabad and Mike Stenhouse.[17][18] The Athletics have had ten compensatory picks overall since the first draft in 1965.[3] These additional picks are provided when a team loses a particularly valuable free agent in the previous off-season,[2][19][V] or, more recently, if a team fails to sign a draft pick from the previous year.[20]
^ abMcCalvy, Adam (December 1, 2008). "Brewers offer three arbitration". Brewers.MLB.com. Milwaukee Brewers. Archived from the original on June 29, 2011. Retrieved February 28, 2011.
^Campbell, Morgan (February 16, 2010). "Cuba facing big-league crisis; The exodus of star players to the majors could spell trouble for the game's future in socialist country". The Toronto Star.