Mark Payton


Mark D. Payton is an American professional baseball outfielder for the Oakland Athletics of Major League Baseball.

Amateur career

Payton was first drafted by the Minnesota Twins in the 31st round of the 2010 MLB draft out of St. Rita of Cascia High School in Chicago, Illinois. He did not sign with the Twins and went on to play college baseball at the University of Texas at Austin for the Longhorns. While at Texas, he had a Big-12 record 101 straight games getting on base. After his junior season he was drafted by the Cleveland Indians in the 16th round of the 2013 MLB Draft, but did not sign and returned to Texas for his senior season. In 2013, he played collegiate summer baseball with the Cotuit Kettleers of the Cape Cod Baseball League. Payton played in 234 games during his four-year college career, batting.318/.425/.444 with seven home runs.

Professional career

New York Yankees

Payton was then drafted by the New York Yankees in the seventh round of the 2014 MLB draft. He signed and spent 2014 with both the Charleston RiverDogs and Tampa Yankees, slashing.320/.418/.497 with four home runs over 48 total games.
In 2015, he played for both Tampa and the Trenton Thunder, batting a combined.267/.346/.368 with six home runs and 52 RBIs.
In 2016, he played for Tampa, Trenton, and the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders, batting a combined.282/.358/.423 with ten home runs and 62 RBIs.
In 2017, he played for Trenton and Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, batting.256/.313/.389 with six home runs and 23 RBIs in 94 total games.

Oakland Athletics

During the 2018 Winter Meetings, the Oakland Athletics selected Payton from the Yankees in the minor league phase of the Rule 5 draft.
In 2019, Payton played for the AAA Las Vegas Aviators, batting.334/.400/.653 with 80 runs, 30 home runs, and 97 RBIs in 395 at bats. He was the PCL Player of the Week on July 14.
After the season, on October 10, 2019, he was selected for the United States national baseball team in the 2019 WBSC Premier 12.
On December 12, 2019, Payton was selected by the Cincinnati Reds in the 2019 Rule 5 draft. On July 21, 2020, Payton was returned by the Reds to the Athletics.