With several of the A’s preseason top prospects graduating off prospect lists, three months of 2023 minor league baseball in the books, and the 2023 draft and trade deadline looming, here is my current assessment of the top prospects in the Oakland Athletics minor league system. If you’d like to compare it to my preseason list, that can be found here. As always, these rankings are based almost exclusively on my extensive observation of A’s minor league games on milb.tv over the past three seasons, including charting data I collect while watching. In a few instances, I have supplemented my knowledge through conversations with others.
For the first time, this list includes some analysis of players at the A’s complexes–in the Arizona Complex League (ACL) and Dominican Summer League (DSL)–that is actually informed and not just guesswork. I’ve mostly eschewed ranking ACL & DSL guys in the past because there were no observations to go on, just stats, but the A’s have, in an incredibly cool move, streamed games from both teams this year, so I can speak to those players’ skillsets in a nuanced way for the first time. I have also, for the first time, elected to follow FanGraphs’ prospect list style (at least in this one sense) and do shorter writeups of the players who just missed the top 50, so the below notes cover 82 players in total, with the first 50 ranked and the next 32 grouped less precisely and covered in less detail.
#1.) Tyler Soderstrom, C
How Acquired: Drafted (Round 1, 2020)
Current Team: Las Vegas
2022 Midseason Rank: 2
2023 Preseason Rank: 1
Soderstrom hasn’t quite dominated the Pacific Coast League this year when you remove the park/league inflation of Las Vegas’ and the league’s extremely hitter-friendly environment, but he’s slugged 20 homers and hit the ball harder on average than any current member of the big league team while not facing a single pitcher younger than him all season. His catcher defense continues to come along, and I continue to think the popular consensus of him being untenable behind the plate is driven by initial impressions formed in 2021 (when he was, admittedly, extremely rough back there, and I gave him little chance of sticking) rather than the much-improved form he’s showed over the past two seasons. Shea Langeliers’ struggles in establishing himself as a quality starting catcher also leave more potential need for Soderstrom to potentially play behind the plate at least part-time; the main thing he’ll need to do to establish himself as an average defender behind the plate is get more consistent with his throwing, which has been effectively below average despite him having about average raw arm strength for the position.
The main obstacle to Soderstrom completely bending PCL pitchers to his will thus far, and what will prevent him from establishing himself as a middle-of-the-order MLB bat in the near term, is a raw approach that he has yet to dial in, perhaps due to the focus on defense in his development in these early seasons of his career. PCL pitchers have caught on to the frequency with which Soderstrom chases offspeed pitches below the zone and throw him a heavy helping of them; he’s made contact on under a quarter of his swings at them, and has hit offspeed pitches overall about 8 mph slower (~88 mph) than fastballs (~96 mph) this season. It doesn’t seem to be a pitch recognition issue–Soderstrom’s in-zone contact rate against offspeeds is well above 80%, with an average exit velocity around 90 mph–so much as him not yet struggling to the extent that he really has to make adaptations. He’s certainly young enough–had he gone to college, this would be his draft year!–to make that adjustment, and the developmental focus on defense (recall that catchers tend to develop offensively later than guys at other positions) further helps explain the rawness in that area. If Soderstrom can discipline himself to keep from chasing, his walk rates will skyrocket and he’ll do even more damage on contact than he has, establishing himself as a potential All-Star at whatever position he plays. But those steps will need to be taken if he’s going to have a smooth introduction to baseball’s highest level.
#2.) Mason Miller, RHSP
How Acquired: Drafted (Round 3, 2021)
Current Team: Oakland (IL)
2022 Midseason Rank: 35
2023 Preseason Rank: 4
From an innings perspective, Miller blazed a trail to the major leagues almost as quickly as any starting pitcher in recent memory, and he immediately found success there, even if his fastball ultimately sat more in the 95-99 range than 99-100 once he was stretched out to 100 pitches instead of short bursts. His slider and cutter are extremely impressive complements to the heat, his changeup could yet develop into another, and any concerns that his command would be erratic seem to have been allayed already. It seems like the only things that may keep Miller from being a true ace are health and maybe his extreme flyball tendency. Time will tell how he’s able to hold up physically, but Miller’s development is perhaps the most unique path in an A’s system surprisingly flush with underdog stories of late. When he returns, his starts will immediately go back to being appointment viewing, which says everything about the caliber of pitcher he’s quickly established himself as.
#3.) Denzel Clarke, OF
How Acquired: Drafted (Round 4, 2021)
Current Team: Midland
2022 Midseason Rank: 10
2023 Preseason Rank: 8
The jump to Double-A is often noted as one of the more difficult in professional baseball, and it is often particularly unkind to strikeout-prone hitters. Clarke, however, has cut his strikeout rate a few percent from its astronomically high number in Lansing last year, and his overall offensive performance has been excellent in Midland despite the Canadian clearly still figuring out how to control his long limbs in the batter’s box. Not only does Clarke boast a huge set of tools, with jaw-dropping power and easy plus speed being the most notable, but he also has increasingly sound fundamentals in a number of areas, especially his savvy approach at the plate. There’s still some work to do with his swing path, particularly on pitches in the upper half of the strike zone, but Clarke’s timing has been much better in 2023 after he ditched the extra-wide setup that got him into trouble in Lansing last year, and he battles pitchers a lot better than you’d think for somebody with such a history of striking out. Clarke remains a supremely talented and exciting player who has huge upside if things continue to click. There’s still some distance to go to make that a reality, but players this size require developmental patience and can make sizeable late leaps.
#4.) Zack Gelof, 2B
How Acquired: Drafted (Round 2, 2021)
Current Team: Las Vegas
2022 Midseason Rank: 3
2023 Preseason Rank: 3
Gelof continues to hit, posting a well-above-average statline in Triple-A in just his second full season; he also provides solid defensive value at second base and could end up with 30+ steals this season. His exit velocity is a bit behind Soderstrom’s, but it’s quite solid, Gelof hits the ball at very consistent and effective launch angles that maximize the outcomes of his contact, and he has an advanced approach, bisecting the zone and looking to turn on inner-half pitches with great force. Unfortunately, the max-effort swing that imparts that force has been very inaccurate, with Gelof running only a Joey Gallo-esque 72% in-zone contact rate this season despite the quality of his swing decisions. The swing-and-miss tendency tends to be across all pitch types and locations rather than a specific struggle against one particular thing, and I’m not sure if that’s better or worse. Still, everything else Gelof does very well could make him a very solid regular if he can just bump that up toward 80%, and like Soderstrom, his very quick developmental timetable thus far leaves more possibilities for further refinement in weak areas than most Triple-A players have. I do wonder if the friendliness of Las Vegas and the PCL environment–which thus masks weaknesses like this–makes it harder for players to proactively make productive adjustments, and it may be that Gelof will need a bit of a protracted timetable to fully adjust to MLB opposition. Still, he has the bat speed and swing plane to make significantly more contact in time, so I’m staying positive overall about his odds to be an impactful all-around player, with a J.D. Davis sort of offensive game complemented by the above-average speed and second base defense.
#5.) Lawrence Butler, OF
How Acquired: Drafted (Round 6, 2018)
Current Team: Midland
2022 Midseason Rank: 16
2023 Preseason Rank: 11
Like Clarke, Butler has taken to Double-A very effectively, erasing his high-strikeout history entirely while playing more and more center field and exhibiting something not too far from a full five-tool skillset. There’s still some rawness to his game, particularly with his outfield reads and his challenges staying back on changeups, but he’s a blistering fastball hitter with a solid eye, good long speed, and a plus arm. I’m not sure the center field usage is going to stick–for one, he’ll have to beat out Clarke, not to mention Esteury Ruiz–but he’s now definitively going to be a solid right fielder, which remains an excellent development given the amount of time he spent at first base in his first several seasons. Butler’s development post-2020 continues to be extremely impressive in all areas, and he is tracking more and more like an impactful everyday corner outfielder.
#6.) Darell Hernaiz, SS/2B
How Acquired: Trade (from Baltimore for Cole Irvin and Kyle Virbitsky, ‘22-’23 offseason)
Current Team: Midland
2022 Midseason Rank: N/A
2023 Preseason Rank: 5
My preseason ranking of Hernaiz was seen as pretty aggressive at the time, but it looks good now, as he’s been a tremendous two-way player in the Texas League, showing off solid defensive acumen at shortstop while spraying line drives all over the field. He could grow into Marcus Semien-esque middle infield power while maintaining a fairly low strikeout rate and a high batting average on balls in play. The question that remains with Hernaiz is his approach: he’s been very chase-prone this season, but that seems to be more due to an aggressive mentality than any concerning pitch recognition issues. Still, he will likely need to dial the chasing down at some point along the journey to reach his upside. He has plenty of time to do that, as he hasn’t even turned 22 yet and looks ready for his next challenge.
#7.) Max Muncy, SS
How Acquired: Drafted (Round 1, 2021)
Current Team: Lansing
2022 Midseason Rank: 5
2023 Preseason Rank: 7
I was really concerned about Muncy in the early weeks of this season, as he looked way out of sorts at the plate, swinging max-effort at everything, expanding the zone frequently, and making so little contact on his in-zone swings (under 60%, yikes) to really start to raise the alarm. Thankfully, as the season has progressed, that’s looked to be more the product of the Californian struggling to find a way to both adapt to both the Midwest League cold and bounce back from his first real struggles as a hitter than any sort of skill regression, similar to what happened to Soderstrom in early 2022. Like Soderstrom last year, as the season has progressed, Muncy has relaxed–he tinkered a lot with his setup at the plate during the struggles, but has settled into a more consistent approach–and the contact rate has skyrocketed, bringing his June strikeout rate down into the 20% range. He still offers plenty of bat speed and swing leverage, he covers the plate better than you’d think (he actually made as much out-of-zone as in-zone contact early in the year), and he has good instincts and a plus arm in the infield. He’s made some progress with his defensive consistency after he’d struggled some with his hands and properly setting up throws last year and early this season, and he has a real shot to stay at shortstop; at the very least, he’ll be a plus defender at third base. Muncy isn’t 21 yet, is renowned for his work ethic, and has done a nice job bouncing back from his early-season woes. Continued growth in actualizing the walks and power will be key to him entering 2024 with momentum.
#8.) Henry Bolte, OF
How Acquired: Drafted (Round 2, 2022)
Current Team: Stockton
2022 Midseason Rank: N/A
2023 Preseason Rank: 20
When Bolte was picked in the second round last year, the scouting report on him was that he was going to be a real developmental project, needing a bigtime swing overhaul to bring his offensive tools into games. The A’s have worked on Bolte’s swing, but there is indeed still evidence of that rawness–he’s struck out 38% of the time in Low-A in his first full season–but Bolte has also been an above-average Cal League hitter as a teenager, showing an advanced approach, excellent power on contact, the ability to use the whole field, and enough speed and savvy to potentially stick in center for the next decade if he can further refine his instincts. More than anything, right now he needs reps at the plate to further develop his timing, as he can be caught out in front on offspeed pitches and late on high fastballs, not because he doesn’t have bat speed to spare, but because he’s still working on the balance through his legkick (modified and reduced from his high school days) and getting up to speed on processing professional-quality pitching in a way that allows him not only to lay off waste pitches (which he’s excelled at), but turn on mistakes. The fact that he’s hung in so well thus far while still clearly being in a very early stage of his development makes Bolte a very exciting all-around prospect, though it’s likely going to take a fair bit more time before we get a clearer sense of his rate of progress and the specifics of his future.
#9.) Daniel Susac, C
How Acquired: Drafted (Round 1, 2022)
Current Team: Lansing
2022 Midseason Rank: N/A
2023 Preseason Rank: 12
A lot of the comments I made about Soderstrom also apply to Susac, who has hung in well in High-A in his first full season, rating as a well-above-average Midwest League hitter despite having to learn how to catch professional pitching. Like Soderstrom, Susac flashes an enticing combination of plate coverage and big strength at the plate that gives him exciting offensive upside for the position, but though he’s been less strikeout-prone and far more willing to take a walk than pre-draft reports suggested he might turn out to be, Susac has actually been oddly passive at times at offering at meaty in-zone pitches. This has impacted his power on contact, as he’s only hit four homers and put up a .130 ISO despite his obvious strength and swing leverage. Still, Susac seems to recognize pitches well enough that he could develop a savvier approach in time, and more than anything, he’s just trying to find a consistent identity as a hitter right now; the fact that he’s been relatively successful thus far is a testament to his raw skill at the dish. Defensively, he brings a plus arm and improving receiving; he may never be an above-average defender at catcher, but he should be able to stay there. It still feels like we haven’t quite learned what sort of hitter Susac is going to be–is he going to lean more into a walk-heavy approach, find a way to lift the ball more consistency, or go back to his ultra-aggressive college ways?–but there are a lot of possible outcomes that still involve him being a viable MLB starter.
#10.) Royber Salinas, RHSP
How Acquired: Trade (from Atlanta for Sean Murphy, ‘22-’23 offseason)
Current Team: Midland (IL)
2022 Midseason Rank: N/A
2023 Preseason Rank: 19
Given the struggles of some other pitchers the A’s acquired in their recent selloff deals, Salinas’ growth in Midland this season has been all the more refreshing, though he’s now shut down with an elbow injury, which tamps the enthusiasm he generated somewhat. Still, before the injury, Salinas looked like a mid-rotation starter, holding mid-90s heat with explosive carry deep into games, flashing two quality breaking balls, mixing in a decent changeup to lefties, and most importantly, making significant strides with his command relative to his time as a Braves farmhand. The A’s have slowed the tempo in his delivery, which assisted Salinas in staying balanced over the rubber, a challenging task given his massive frame. His walk rate of 12% still looks somewhat wild, but it’s almost entirely concentrated in first innings, where he’s struggled to settle in: if you remove those, he’s walked nine batters in 32 frames this season. Whenever he returns, avoiding those early-game woes is the main thing for Salinas to work on to cement his progress. He’s a no-doubt offseason 40-man roster add who, at 22, still has plenty of time to master the finer points of the craft.
#11.) Jack Perkins, RHSP
How Acquired: Drafted (Round 5, 2022)
Current Team: Midland
2022 Midseason Rank: N/A
2023 Preseason Rank: 38
Few adjustments from A’s prospects this season have been more impactful than Perkins shortening his arm action, which helped him quickly erase his collegiate history of wildness and emerge as Lansing’s ace in his first full season, earning a midseason promotion to the upper minors less than a year after being drafted. Perkins’ fastball/slider combination has long been his bread and butter, as he holds 94-97 mph velocity through his starts, his fastball has vertical explosiveness, and the slider has excellent bite and enough depth to be an out pitch to hitters from either side. After mostly relying on a hard cutter to be his third pitch in college, he’s developed a changeup with the potential to be at least average, though he doesn’t yet command it; the cutter remains a useful wrinkle in his arsenal as well. Perkins will encounter a tougher test in the upper minors, and he understandably has some catching up to do on the finer points of in-zone execution after years of struggling to hit the zone at all with any consistency, but he’s got the tools and makeup to continue to make rapid progress and emerge as an impactful starting pitcher. Failing that, the fastball/slider combination should play very well in high-leverage relief.
#12.) Luis Morales, RHSP
How Acquired: International free agent, 2022
Current Team: ACL A’s
2022 Midseason Rank: N/A
2023 Preseason Rank: 28
Morales was the A’s latest big-ticket international signing, getting $3 million as the most high-profile Cuban in last year’s class. The A’s have been conservative with the 20-year-old, letting him work into game shape slowly before giving him a few starts in the DSL, where he dominated with his power stuff; he just recently came stateside and threw three effective innings in his ACL debut. He obviously hasn’t been seriously tested yet, but Morales has looked good. He’s reportedly been up to 100 mph, he has good feel for a sharp slider, and his curveball and changeup have promise as well. Morales’ arm action remains long, but he’s so athletic and balanced in his delivery that it may not be a serious hindrance to his command. We’ll see how much more he’s pushed this season–any time in Stockton would serve as a fairer test, for sure–but thus far, Morales is in a form that makes the A’s investment quite understandable.
#13.) Gunnar Hoglund, RHSP
How Acquired: Trade (from Toronto for Matt Chapman, 2022)
Current Team: Stockton
2022 Midseason Rank: 6
2023 Preseason Rank: 10
Ranking Hoglund might be the most volatile task on this entire list, since even now, he’s only up to 29 pro innings, which haven’t gone especially well. Returning from 2021 Tommy John surgery and then a biceps issue that aborted his late-2022 comeback, Hoglund was very hittable in Stockton early on, not what you want to see from a former first-rounder who was the centerpiece of the Matt Chapman return. Further, he sat just 89-91 mph, which was well below his college velocity, even as he was known as more of a precise command artist than a flamethrower. However, there was some reason to expect Hoglund to round more into form as he got acclimated to pitching again, and there are signs that’s beginning to happen. The velocity is slowly returning, as he sat 90-92 for a couple of weeks before being up to 94 on Wednesday, his best start of the season as he got stretched out to over 60 pitches for the first time. Encouragingly, Hoglund’s sweeping slider and sinking change have both been very effective at missing bats thus far, and he has retained his signature excellent command of all of his pitches from a clean, balanced delivery. His fastball also has notable running life that can help it amass a lot of called strikes, even though it’s not really a bat-misser even in its old 91-94 mph range.
There are some similarities (skillset-wise, not mechanically) to Aaron Nola here, so even if Hoglund’s skillset doesn’t sound all that high-upside at first blush, there are still some sneakily excellent outcomes possible for him because of how good the command may prove to be. Still, it’s far too early to feel particularly confident about anything specific with Hoglund’s development. Right now, it’s just nice that he’s healthy and taking steps forward. If those continue, pre-trade assessments of Hoglund–that he’d be a quick mover and become a mid-rotation innings-eater–come back into sharper focus.
#14.) Freddy Tarnok, RHSP
How Acquired: Trade (from Atlanta for Sean Murphy, ‘22-’23 offseason)
Current Team: Las Vegas
2022 Midseason Rank: N/A
2023 Preseason Rank: 9
Tarnok also only recently got healthy from arm woes that sidelined him in Spring Training, and he’s only just now completing his rehab assignment in Las Vegas, which saw him manage to suppress runs (no small feat there) but walk more batters than he struck out in a 14 ⅔ inning sample. Tarnok still showed all of the elements that made him such an interesting acquisition in the offseason, with his deceptive, sudden delivery featuring an extreme vertical release point and his arsenal featuring four solid pitches. He sits 92-96 mph with his carrying fastball, though the pitch plays a bit below its raw attributes because he has to throw it at such a steep downhill angle to find the zone. Both his powerful 12-to-6 curve and his changeup can be bigtime swing-and-miss pitches, especially the change, and his hard slider offers a fourth distinct look and has its moments. Like Hoglund, Tarnok has adopted a more fastball-heavy approach in his initial outings, likely due to him playing things safe in returning from the injury and not having to work particularly deep into games yet; as he rounds more into form, we should see more changeups and curves and thus more swinging strikes (this has already started to happen in his most recent outing). The question remains whether Tarnok’s unique delivery will prove repeatable enough to him to have the command to start. If it does, this is certainly a mid-rotation-caliber arsenal with good deception to boot; otherwise, he still has interesting high-leverage relief possibilities. Like Hoglund, we’ll get a much clearer sense of how Tarnok’s skillset currently shapes up in the second half of the season.
#15.) Joey Estes, RHSP
How Acquired: Trade (from Atlanta for Matt Olson, 2022)
Current Team: Midland
2022 Midseason Rank: 12
2023 Preseason Rank: 25
From an age relative to level perspective, Estes’ steady success in Double-A as the fifth-youngest pitcher in full-season ball in the organization has been perhaps the most impressive work of any pitcher in the system. Like Salinas, some of Estes’ uptick in performance in moving to the upper minors owes to him getting a bit more deliberate and balanced in his delivery rather than rushing to the plate, though he’s also begun to make strides with his consistency with his offspeed pitches as well. His biggest asset remains his fastball, which still boasts incredible rise-and-run action at 92-95 mph, making hitters consistently uncomfortable at the top of the zone. His feel for his changeup isn’t all the way there yet, but it’s coming along, and that pitch still has the potential to emerge as a real put-away option if it continues to progress. Estes’ slider still isn’t particularly pretty, but he’s gotten more consistent and effective with it this year, though he’s played around with some different breaking ball shapes and may yet emerge with a more diversified arsenal of benders that could really unlock some interesting possibilities. His bounceback on this list relative to his preseason ranking is because his slow-but-steady improvement–an odd statement to make about somebody so ahead of his age group, I know–is making Estes look more and more like a viable starting pitcher in the Tyler Wells mold, rather than somebody who will simply move to the bullpen and throw 94 at the letters for an inning at a time.
#16.) Hogan Harris, LHSP
How Acquired: Drafted (Round 3, 2018)
Current Team: Oakland
2022 Midseason Rank: 30
2023 Preseason Rank: 26
Harris graduates from prospect eligibility in a couple of days, which itself is a testament to how far he’s come since the start of 2022, when he was a total wild card–a pitcher who had been hurt way more often than he’d been healthy as a pro, and who had never shown the flamethrowing tendencies of his college days when he had taken a professional mound. Now, he’s a capable big league starting pitcher, a development brought on not only by the return of solid velocity and the deception he showed throughout his dominant 2022 summer in Midland, but also the addition of a hard cutter and a change in his curveball velocity that helped the pitch get sharper. Harris’ command has also come along significantly from last year–not to mention his disastrous April this season–to now, rendering his unusual, cross-body style of pitching more “crafty” than “erratic.” Finally stretched out fully after he was handled carefully last year, Harris’ velocity isn’t quite the 93-97 it was last summer, as he works more in the 91-94 range with the ability to reach back for more when he needs it. Truly crafty lefties who sit in even that velocity range don’t grow on trees, and Harris could have a very long career doing just that if his health continues to hold up. The remaining hurdles for him to truly establish himself are to get hitters off the hard stuff–big league opponents are hitting his fastball and cutter over 90 mph on average, while being several mph slower against the curve and change–and find a little more ability to miss bats. It will be very interesting to see how he continues to adjust his unique approach to maximum effect.
#17.) Brett Harris, 3B
How Acquired: Drafted (Round 7, 2021)
Current Team: Midland
2022 Midseason Rank: 13
2023 Preseason Rank: 14
Harris remains consistent as ever and has basically solved Midland now; at 25, a test at the minors’ highest level should be imminent. He continues to play excellent defense at third base, walk a lot, strike out infrequently, and rip line drives into the gaps; it’s a near-ready skillset that could have Harris serving as a functional everyday third baseman in short order. He’s also markedly improved against breaking balls this season, a past weakness. Even at 25, there still is some latent power potential here, as Harris hits the ball hard, but his groundball rate is up over 50% this season and he’s gotten a bit passive, letting a lot of hittable fastballs go by early in counts. He’s been more aggressive and lofted the ball more in the past, so there’s a chance to unlock more upside yet for this high-floor late bloomer. Perhaps playing in Vegas’ friendly confines will encourage him to let it rip.
#18.) Colby Thomas, OF
How Acquired: Drafted (Round 3, 2022)
Current Team: Lansing
2022 Midseason Rank: N/A
2023 Preseason Rank: 22
Thomas, who was just promoted from Stockton to Lansing yesterday, has been as advertised in his first full season: a toolsy, aggressive athlete with potential in all facets of the game. He came out of the gate in Stockton with a wildly aggressive approach, but he’s dialed it back a fair bit as the season has progressed without compromising his confidence and assertiveness in the box. He’s a high-energy player on the bases and in the field who does need to clean up his routes a bit to become a plus corner outfield defender but could get there in time. Encouragingly, he’s taken more and more advantage of the natural loft in his swing in recent weeks, cutting down on his quantity of ground balls, which was up over 50% in April, and roping extra-base hits with significantly more frequency. He was viewed as a very solid selection in the third round last year and has lived up to that praise thus far, though Stockton was a fairly conservative assignment; if Thomas can carry his recent gains forward to High-A in the second half, that would be a very positive sign. His exciting all-around potential gives him everyday MLB upside.
#19.) Logan Davidson, INF
How Acquired: Drafted (Round 1, 2019)
Current Team: Las Vegas
2022 Midseason Rank: 29
2023 Preseason Rank: 41
Davidson finally put together a couple of consistent months in a row in Midland after the wild ups and downs of his 2022, and he’s off to a notably impressive start in Las Vegas on the exit velocity front, offering clearer evidence that his first-round tools are translating to the field more fully. He’s played a lot of first base this season, mostly in deference to Hernaiz and Harris in Midland, but he remains a playable defender at all four infield spots, with a solid arm and good instincts helping offset perhaps slightly below-average range for a middle infielder. He has swung and missed a lot at offspeeds in his small Triple-A Statcast sample, though he’s hit them hard when he does connect, and he’s been terrific against fastballs; still, stabilizing that element will be key to his taking the final step on the minor league journey. The 25-year-old switch-hitter still has an outside chance at developing further and turning into an everyday player, with third base being the most likely position for that, but he continues to track toward a good utility future more than anything. The boost in his ranking here relative to previous lists is less due to Davidson’s ceiling increasing and more due to that MLB future becoming more of a likelihood than a hope with this newfound consistency. With Davidson being Rule 5 eligible this offseason, it wouldn’t be surprising or even unwarranted to see him beat Gelof, Soderstrom, and Harris to getting a look in Oakland this season.
#20.) Jose Dicochea, RHSP
How Acquired: Drafted (Round 8, 2019)
Current Team: Lansing
2022 Midseason Rank: 37
2023 Preseason Rank: Unranked
Despite knowing that Dicochea entered the season with a career ERA north of 10, I thought he was one of the system’s biggest breakout candidates entering the season, and he’s delivered on that hope, serving as Stockton’s ace and holding his own thus far after a recent promotion to Lansing. Dicochea’s velocity still isn’t back to where it was before his 2021 Tommy John surgery, as he’s mostly been in the 91-95 range this season, but the lively fastball has still been very effective, and Dicochea has cultivated three offspeed pitches that can all miss bats when they’re working. He’s going to have to prove he can hold up over a full-season workload, and Dicochea’s command still wobbles a bit right now, but he’s making up for lost time very effectively and could yet still have significant developments ahead.
#21.) Ryan Cusick, RHSP
How Acquired: Trade (from Atlanta for Matt Olson, 2022)
Current Team: Midland
2022 Midseason Rank: 8
2023 Preseason Rank: 16
Like so many of the pitchers the A’s have traded for recently, including Hoglund and Tarnok above him, it’s really hard to know what to make of Cusick right now. In his case, it’s not due to health woes, though he battled those last year; it’s that he’s been a completely different pitcher this season than before. He dropped his arm slot to a ¾ look and went to a noticeably lower-effort, lower-extension motion over the offseason–reportedly on his own rather than at the A’s behest–likely in a bid to get more command of his pitches, a problem in 2022. After a rough start on that front, it seems the changes have taken a big chunk out of that problem, as Cusick has really cut down on the walks in his last several starts and has made a lot of progress throwing his above-average slider consistently down and gloveside in a way that makes it very difficult for hitters to lay off. Unfortunately, it’s also completely erased not only his formerly plus fastball velocity, with Cusick down to 91-94 mph this year rather than the 94-98 of 2022, but also the big carry and extension that made the pitch particularly exciting; as a result, it really doesn’t miss bats and, still in search of a workable third pitch, he’s had to rely almost exclusively on the slider–which he throws around 40% of the time–to generate good results.
To his credit, in spite of all of that, Cusick has pitched markedly better in 2023 than 2022 and has been a solid Texas League starter despite what seems to now be a very limited skillset, which is why this all registers more as confusion than disappointment; he’s done a much better job limiting hard contact, in particular, after batters were able to line the fastball to the opposite field with alarming consistency last season. Pitchers sometimes lose velocity for extended periods of time and then eventually regain it, this has only gone on for half a season, and there’s no obvious reason Cusick couldn’t return to his old mechanics or try to hybridize these approaches in a more productive fashion. At the very least, he’s showing command now, and perhaps in the bullpen–a strong possibility all along given the lack of a third pitch–he could throw back in the mid-90s and rely heavily on the slider, arriving somewhere on the Jaime Barria-Lucas Sims slider-oriented continuum. As long as he’s starting, though, it’d behoove the A’s to think creatively about third pitches here, because it’s now been a year and a half with Cusick trying to get comfortable with a changeup and there seems to be little to show for it. Can he take the Frankie Montas route and learn a splitter? Maybe a cutter or curveball? On some combination of pedigree and recent performance, Cusick should rank higher than this. From a 2023 scouting perspective, he should be a fair bit lower. I’m splitting the difference, but I’m going to find his path from here fascinating regardless, given the uniqueness of this developmental/performance trajectory.
#22.) Clark Elliott, OF
How Acquired: Drafted (Round 2 Supplemental, 2022)
Current Team: Lansing
2022 Midseason Rank: N/A
2023 Preseason Rank: 21
Elliott was seen as a polished, high-floor college hitter when he was drafted last year, and he absolutely looked the part in Stockton, posting a .418 OBP and showing a surgical approach at the plate. He’s still made good swing decisions and a lot of contact after a quick promotion to Lansing, but the positives have evaporated otherwise, as he’s slugging under .200 in almost 40 games at the higher level. He wasn’t hitting for power in Stockton, either, and he has only five extra-base hits on the season after amassing 37 in 61 games as a junior at Michigan. Elliott has also been somewhat inconsistent defensively, playing mostly left field and struggling some with his initial reads, though he’s athletic enough to retain above-average defensive potential.
Concerning as the lack of power is, Elliott’s looked to hit the ball harder at both levels than his XBH tallies show–in what I’ve watched, I’ve coded 24 of 66 balls in play (36.4%) as hit hard, which is about big league average (though my charting is far from scientific, it does tend to map pretty well onto general hard-hit rate distributions, for what it’s worth). He’s obviously showed power in the past and has some rotational athleticism in the box, and the quality of the approach and quantity of contact are already big strengths even as the rest of his game struggles. Fittingly, then, I’m exercising patience in the evaluation of this very patient hitter. Growth on power and defense in the second half would right the ship here and put Elliott back on track as a fast-moving hitter. He’s struggled with his fellow lefties thus far, even in the walks department, so he projects toward a Matt Joyce-style platoon role if that progress comes.
#23.) Pedro Pineda, OF
How Acquired: International free agent, 2020
Current Team: Stockton
2022 Midseason Rank: 7
2023 Preseason Rank: 17
I’m still not giving up on Pineda, who is just 19, remains tooled up across the board, and who continues to show signs of baseball savvy that haven’t quite carried over to consistently effective performance in Stockton. Pineda works the count, and he’s made progress covering the strike zone this season, though his swing has gotten somewhat choppy and he’s hit too many balls on the ground. He remains a high-energy baserunner and outfield defender with a good arm, and his bat speed and strength are very promising as well. At this point, it’s just a matter of Pineda’s skillset coalescing. His struggles over the past two years are obviously concerning, but I still have a level of optimism that Pineda will get things going at some point.
#24.) Blake Beers, RHSP
How Acquired: Drafted (Round 19, 2021)
Current Team: Midland
2022 Midseason Rank: 26
2023 Preseason Rank: 42
Beers was excellent in Lansing and has held his own in Midland so far in just his second full season as a professional. He’s developed into a very savvy pitch-mixer who amasses a ton of called strikes on the corners. The addition of a cutter and two-seamer this season has really opened up the lower half of the strike zone for Beers, and his changeup continues to make progress as a potential out pitch to lefties, though he’ll still need to show the ability to throw it for strikes. His headline pitch remains his eye-catching 78-82 mph sweeper, which he relies on heavily, and he’s also touched 96 mph with his fastball this year, though the heater doesn’t miss bats. The increased arsenal depth has significantly increased the likelihood that Beers can be a starting pitcher at the big league level rather than a slider specialist out of the bullpen. He’ll need to continue to prove he can outthink opponents like he has thus far, but the improvements in his arsenal have significantly increased Beers’ margin for error, especially the second and third times through the order.
#25.) Garrett Acton, RHRP
How Acquired: Undrafted free agent, 2020
Current Team: Las Vegas (IL)
2022 Midseason Rank: 17
2023 Preseason Rank: 30
Acton established himself as about as much of a lights-out closer as one can be in Vegas–he allowed earned runs in only two of sixteen outings there between April 13 and June 8, which is incredibly impressive–before taking some lumps in a brief Oakland cameo and then getting lit up back in Nevada on June 11 and then hitting the IL with an undisclosed injury. Health aside, Acton was throwing a tick slower in 2023 than mid-to-late 2022, but he still was consistently 94-97 with such impressive shape that it graded out as the A’s best fastball by Stuff+, ahead of even Miller’s. His slider and changeup also rate as above-average offerings and should perhaps be mixed in more, particularly since Acton’s remaining weakness is his extreme flyball tendency, driven disproportionately by his (understandable) propensity for unleashing high heat. He’s a renowned grinder who has done an impressive job building himself to this point, so I wouldn’t count him out of solving that final challenge and emerging as a late-game option in the majors in short order if health allows.
#26.) J.T. Ginn, RHSP
How Acquired: Trade (from Mets for Chris Bassitt, 2022)
Current Team: Midland (IL)
2022 Midseason Rank: 11
2023 Preseason Rank: 13
Ginn wasn’t effective in Midland in the opening weeks of the year and then was shelved with further arm trouble, which at least helps explain his struggles, but obviously is a discouraging development in what is now a lengthy injury history for the highly-touted sinkerballer. Ginn’s athleticism and extreme groundball tendency make him a very interesting player when he’s right, and it’s already easy to forget that he had some really interesting performance elements in 2022, but the only time he’s truly been right in his tenure as an A’s prospect has been a few starts down the stretch last season. As somebody like Hogan Harris shows, even multiple setbacks like this aren’t necessarily a career death sentence, and Ginn is just 24, but for the first time, he no longer feels like a high-floor prospect.
#27.) Jorge Juan, RHRP
How Acquired: International free agent, 2017
Current Team: Midland
2022 Midseason Rank: 23
2023 Preseason Rank: 27
Juan was moved to the bullpen this year to expedite the 24-year-old’s timetable, and he responded by being lights-out as Lansing’s closer in April, with his curveball in particular amassing a CSW% well above 50%, absolutely off the scale of dominance. Promoted to Midland, he’s been okay thus far, and encouragingly, he hasn’t had outings where his command melts down to a 20-grade level, an issue in the past when the gargantuan righty has struggled to repeat his motion. Juan still offers mid-90’s heat, the powerful curve is terrific, and he even still breaks out his occasionally-electric changeup from time to time (I’d like to see it more). He’s missing bats a lot less frequently in Midland thus far, but remember that Juan is still well shy of 100 career full-season innings and has had to focus most of his recent developmental energy on just finding the zone rather than advanced pitch patterning. There’s still electric relief upside here, and at least at this early juncture, I’m more encouraged about the command surviving the transition to Midland than I am worried about the lack of strikeouts.
#28.) Grant Holman, RHRP
How Acquired: Drafted (Round 6, 2021)
Current Team: Midland
2022 Midseason Rank: 21
2023 Preseason Rank: 29
Holman was formerly a starter prospect with a great mid-90s sinker, good control, and three offspeed pitches that weren’t particularly inspiring. It was surprising to see the A’s move him to the bullpen this spring given that profile, but it immediately made sense once I watched him pitch this season, because Holman’s splitter looked completely transformed, giving him a clear out pitch to go with the sinker. He mixes in a four-seamer at times and still will occasionally throw a slider to righties, but it’s all about the sinker-splitter combo with Holman, who commands the latter pitch significantly better than most prospects who throw it. At 6’6” with a fairly high release, he throws both pitches with very steep downward angle that makes them tough to lift, giving him excellent groundball rates throughout his career. The four-seamer also has helped him open up the upper portion of the zone with some success. It might all be enough to make Holman a high-leverage reliever, and he has a higher floor than Juan because of the pitchability. He was off to a solid start in Double-A after a quick promotion, and he’s still just 23. Holman has, however, already had three separate IL stints in his short career, mostly related to shoulder issues; he’s currently finishing up his latest rehab assignment in the ACL after missing about a month. If he can stay healthy, Holman could be in the majors next year. Relievers who sit around 94 don’t tend to generate huge prospect buzz, but Holman does so many things well that he has some sneakily high right-tail outcomes.
#29.) Brennan Milone, 1B/2B
How Acquired: Drafted (Round 6, 2022)
Current Team: Stockton
2022 Midseason Rank: N/A
2023 Preseason Rank: 39
Milone has lived up to his pre-draft billing as a talented and polished hitter, as he’s now hit over .300 in Stockton in both 2022 and 2023 and added large helpings of walks and power. He has an excellent approach at the plate, great balance in the box despite an unusual open setup, and no trouble lofting the ball. The question remains where he fits defensively, as he’s played all the non-shortstop infield positions as a pro, with the A’s particularly trying to make him viable at second base, a position at which he had no amateur experience. He’s looked more up to that task in 2023 than he did immediately after signing and is also a solid defender over at first. If Milone can find consistency anywhere besides the cold corner defensively, his bat should carry him to a major league role.
#30.) Euribiel Ángeles, 2B/SS
How Acquired: Trade (from San Diego for Sean Manaea, 2022)
Current Team: Lansing
2022 Midseason Rank: 20
2023 Preseason Rank: 23
Ángeles’ hand-eye coordination and defensive instincts remain incredibly impressive, but his pitch selection remains a huge limiting factor, as his OBP is all the way down in the .250 range in his repeat of the Midwest League. There’s some bad luck in there, as Ángeles still puts the ball in play a ton, making contact on over 90% of his in-zone swings, but his haphazard approach results in a lot of extreme-angle contact–popups and choppers–that have little chance of fruitful outcomes. However, Ángeles has more than doubled his Isolated Power from 2022, bringing his average raw power into games much more frequently despite the excessive chasing. He only recently turned 21, plays a terrific second base, and still has impact potential if he can arrive at a viable approach. Right now, he’s tracking toward a Hanser Alberto sort of utility career.
#31.) Eduardo Rivera, LHSP
How Acquired: Drafted (Round 11, 2021)
Current Team: Stockton
2022 Midseason Rank: Unranked
2023 Preseason Rank: Unranked
Rivera has been the A’s org’s youngest pitcher in full-season ball by a full year, as he only recently just turned 20. As is to be expected from a young, huge (6’7”, 237) pitcher who is light on pro experience, he’s had bouts of inconsistency in Stockton, particularly on the command front, as the Puerto Rican southpaw is still figuring out how to corral his extended arm action and lengthy stride down the mound. He’s got two good pitches to work with already, though: a 92-95 mph fastball that touches 96 and features big carry, and a wipeout mid-80s slider that he already shows signs of commanding. His delivery also generates a lot of extension, though his size and high slot mean that the fastball has to be thrown well above the strike zone to miss bats with much frequency. Rivera’s changeup and command still need plenty of work for him to start, but the fastball/slider combination is already quite good, he flashes nascent pitchability, and there’s reason to expect a pitcher like this to possibly have lots of development remaining.
#32.) Max Schuemann, OF/INF
How Acquired: Drafted (Round 18, 2018)
Current Team: Las Vegas
2022 Midseason Rank: 19
2023 Preseason Rank: 35
Schuemann finally graduated from Midland in late April and has excelled in Las Vegas after a rough trial there last summer, cutting his swinging strike rate significantly and doing a much better job getting on top of fastballs. He remains an above-average runner with gap power and a good eye who can basically play anywhere but catcher defensively. Schuemann recently turned 26 and his exit velocity is on the light side, but it’s well above Nick Allen’s and Tyler Wade’s, for instance. If he can find just a bit more oomph–1-2 mph–while holding on to these contact gains, he could be an excellent super-utility player for many years.
#33.) Chen Zhong-Ao Zhuang, RHSP
How Acquired: International free agency, 2021
Current Team: Stockton (IL)
2022 Midseason Rank: 14
2023 Preseason Rank: 18
There’s not much new to say here, as Zhuang has now missed a bit over a year with arm trouble–first shoulder, then elbow. To my knowledge, he hasn’t had any major (i.e., year-plus rehab timetable) surgeries, and he’s only listed on the 7-day IL rather than out for the season, so who knows what the Taiwan native’s timetable is at this point. As I’ve said since first watching him, Zhuang is an exciting pitching prospect because of his combination of a vertically explosive mid-90s fastball, a plus changeup, and advanced pitchability. Health is priority number one right now, obviously; when he returns, continuing to refine his breaking stuff will be the focus. Since he only signed in November 2021, the A’s at least have a couple more seasons before he’s Rule 5 eligible, so there’s still time for Zhuang to reemerge in a big way.
#34.) Pedro Santos, RHRP
How Acquired: International free agency, 2018
Current Team: Stockton
2022 Midseason Rank: 38
2023 Preseason Rank: Unranked
Santos returned from Tommy John surgery quickly and got off to a rough start in the Stockton bullpen, but in May, his velocity returned, he added a hard cutter, and he finally found some command; he’s been just about unhittable as the Ports’ closer since. He’s very similar to Juan in history, stuff, and profile, just a bit further away and a little newer to any level of consistency on the mound. Santos’ combination of 94-98 mph heat, the powerful cutter, and a much-improved power curve could continue to prove a lethal mix as he moves up if he can continue to pound the strike zone.
#35.) Ángel Rivera, C
How Acquired: International free agency, 2021
Current Team: ACL A’s
2022 Midseason Rank: Unranked
2023 Preseason Rank: Unranked
Rivera debuted last year at age 19–old for an international signing–but the Panamanian backstop has nearly a .500 OBP between his DSL time last season and his stateside debut here in 2023, making good swing decisions, covering the strike zone, and showing some pull power. He’s on the smaller side at 5’9” and isn’t physically projectable, and he’s going to need reps defensively, but his age at signing gives him a longer developmental runway than most international prospects, and he has solid potential on both sides of the ball.
#36.) Junior Pérez, OF
How Acquired: Trade (from San Diego for Jorge Mateo, 2020)
Current Team: Lansing
2022 Midseason Rank: 36
2023 Preseason Rank: 31
Pérez got off to a very unlucky start in the Midwest League cold, showing a good approach and roping a lot of liners early on, yet needing over a month to actually have that hard contact yield even his first extra-base hit of the season. He’s been fairly solid since, he’s still a plus runner with good outfield range and perhaps the best outfield arm in the system, he only just turned 22 this week, and he remains an explosive rotational athlete with plus bat speed and swing leverage. His swing remains long and segmented, though, even with his productive setup change from last June carrying over into 2023; that change vastly improved Pérez’s barrel adjustability, but the remaining mechanical flaws continue to compromise his barrel accuracy. If the A’s can get him comfortable with a shorter swing that does away with his bat wrap and high back elbow, Pérez could yet explode into the upper tier of Oakland prospects, as both his toolset and his discerning plate approach give him a right-tail ceiling not far from Lawrence Butler’s. He made the one important midseason adjustment last year, but it’s time for him to make the next one.
#37.) Dheygler Giménez, RHSP
How Acquired: International free agency, 2019
Current Team: Stockton
2022 Midseason Rank: Unranked
2023 Preseason Rank: 34
It’s been an up-and-down 2023 for Giménez, who has moments of brilliance on the mound but also hasn’t really found consistency in approach or mechanics. He remains a very talented pitcher, with a high-spin 91-94 mph fastball that can explode on hitters with its flat approach angle, a big-breaking curveball, and now a changeup that falls off the table and is an effective out pitch. Giménez isn’t just a raw thrower–he has some real mound presence and savvy–but he tries to do too much at times, and he could stand to get a bit stronger to help him finish his delivery with more consistency. Though it’s not ideal that he’s only been a bit better in Stockton in 2023 than he was down the stretch in 2022, the improvement in his changeup and barrel avoidance are positive signs. It still feels like this guy is one adjustment away from sustained success and wider recognition. As with a couple of other pitchers in the system, I feel like a harder breaking ball could really help unlock things here.
#38.) Jefferson Jean, RHSP
How Acquired: International free agency, 2022
Current Team: ACL A’s
2022 Midseason Rank: Unranked
2023 Preseason Rank: 43
Jean hasn’t pitched since June 14 due to what I’m assuming is some sort of injury. Before that, he had made two decent starts in the ACL as an 18-year-old, sitting 92-95 mph and showing some improvements in his slider and mechanics. He’s still very projectable and has sat closer to the upper 90s in short stints in the past. Improvement in his hard, flat changeup is going to be needed for Jean to start, but he’s young enough to make strides there, and the bullpen is a nice fallback plan. He’s generated a lot of buzz in his short career and could vault up the list when healthy.
#39.) Jacob Watters, RHSP
How Acquired: Drafted (Round 4, 2022)
Current Team: Lansing
2022 Midseason Rank: N/A
2023 Preseason Rank: 36
When the A’s made Watters their highest-drafted pitcher in 2022, the report on the former West Virginia fireballer was that he had first-round stuff but had always had major challenges finding the strike zone. The stuff has been there in the Lansing rotation in his first full season: Watters sits 94-96 mph and touches 98, his curveball has some of the most jaw-dropping movement you could imagine for a pitch that averages north of 84 mph, and his changeup flashes wiffleball action and big velocity separation. Command continues to be a struggle, though, as Watters is a tightly-wound athlete who explodes to the plate with a relatively stiff arm action. In particular, he’s struggled to throw the offspeed pitches for strikes, which has led to his overreliance on the fastball; consequently, the pitch misses shockingly few bats considering its speed and life. He’s made some strides over the course of the season after struggling to a 10.42 ERA in his first six starts, but Watters has yet to show much in-zone command of anything. Still, his stuff is electric, and the fact that he’s in the zone with more consistency of late bodes well for his developing enough command to be an impact reliever. It’s worth noting that the A’s managed to turn Perkins and Beers from very erratic 22-year-olds into much more consistent 23-year-olds, so perhaps they can make progress with Watters next season on that front. If the command is workable, Watters’ ability to light up the radar gun and make his pitches dance will make this ranking look conservative.
#40.) Cooper Bowman, 2B
How Acquired: Trade (from Yankees for Frankie Montas & Lou Trivino, 2022)
Current Team: Midland
2022 Midseason Rank: N/A
2023 Preseason Rank: Unranked
The only member of the Montas/Trivino trade to retain prospect eligibility after the graduations of Ken Waldichuk, JP Sears, and Luis Medina, the 2021 fourth-rounder struggled in Lansing down the stretch in 2022 after the trade, but was off to an interesting start as a table-setter in his Midland debut before going down with an injury a few weeks into the season. He’s healthy again and has been rehabbing in the ACL, so he should be able to get plenty of playing time down the stretch. Bowman is 21-for-21 in steals this year after going 47-for-53 in 2022, and he’s an extremely patient hitter who works plenty of walks, setting up all those steal attempts. He has enough pop to keep pitchers honest and prevent them from simply pounding the zone against him, though he’s been a low-average hitter throughout his career as he’s tried to dial in the right approach and swing trajectory. Bowman is a capable second baseman who obviously runs well enough to have upside as an outfield defender if the A’s elect to push him toward a Schuemann-style role, though they haven’t made that move yet. They have tried him occasionally at shortstop, but Bowman has a well-below-average arm and probably fits best as a 2B/CF. Such versatility and the baserunning savvy could well prove to make Bowman a valuable utility player.
#41.) Brady Basso, LHSP
How Acquired: Drafted (Round 16, 2019)
Current Team: Lansing
2022 Midseason Rank: 44
2023 Preseason Rank: Unranked
Like Hoglund, Basso has been handled carefully this year coming back from a 2021 Tommy John surgery. He’s been the most effective pitcher from the A’s 2019 draft class when he’s been healthy, though, with a career ERA under 3, including near 2 this year. The lefty has a clean delivery (also very similar to Hoglund’s, actually) and commands four pitches well, with his carrying 91-94 mph fastball and big mid-70s curve being the headliners. Basso was mostly a reliever in college and hasn’t ever really been fully stretched out as a pro because of the lost 2020 and then the UCL tear, and he’s already 25, but he has the stuff to start, is finally out to 60+ pitch workloads, and is ready for Midland. How he performs there will tell us a lot about whether he can handle starting further up the ladder, but he’s a notable sleeper who could move quickly from here.
#42.) Tzu-Chen Sha, RHSP
How Acquired: International free agency, 2022
Current Team: ACL A’s
2022 Midseason Rank: N/A
2023 Preseason Rank: Unranked
After Zhuang’s career got off to such a promising start last year, the A’s found another talented Taiwanese arm in Sha over the offseason; they gave him the most money of any non-Morales pitcher in last year’s class. The 19-year-old has immediately showed why in his pro debut, racking up a 25/2 K/BB ratio in 17 ACL innings thus far. Sha sits 91-93 with a high-spin fastball from a low-¾ arm slot that can really slip over bats up in the strike zone because of its entry angle. He also throws a promising two-plane slider in the low-80s that he commands well to the glove side, and his changeup has some potential as well. Sha has some deception in his motion and also could get a fair bit stronger physically, which could lead to more velocity. Like Zhuang, he’s an under-the-radar pitcher in this system who could get a lot more press in his next 100 pro innings.
#43.) Brayan Buelvas, OF
How Acquired: International free agency, 2018
Current Team: Stockton
2022 Midseason Rank: 24
2023 Preseason Rank: 44
Demoted back to Stockton after struggling in Lansing in 2022, Buelvas started the season with his first truly strong performance since his 2019 Rookie ball stint, simplifying his setup at the plate, working deeper counts, and flashing the all-around skillset that made him such a breakout player four years ago. However, his swing still isn’t on plane with the ball for very long, and Buelvas’ pitch recognition and count management skills remain inconsistent, enough to cause significant struggles in another shot at Lansing that resulted in him getting demoted again yesterday to make room for Colby Thomas. Buelvas is still just 21, he runs well and should be able to stay in center field, and he will flash some incredible power for a player of his modest stature. The early-season progress was encouraging, and the recent struggles are obviously not, so overall his first half creates a bit of a holding pattern here. A flatter swing path could really unlock a lot, if Buelvas takes to it.
#44.) Franck De La Rosa, RHRP
How Acquired: International free agency, 2019
Current Team: Stockton
2022 Midseason Rank: Unranked
2023 Preseason Rank: Unranked
De La Rosa only made his US debut a few weeks ago, and he’s already 23, having signed at 19, waiting through the 2020 shutdown to debut in the DSL in 2021, and then missing all of last season with an unspecified injury. However, he showed up to the ACL this year with huge power stuff, sitting 97-98 mph with explosive carry and unleashing a vertically-moving 86-87 mph slider with above-average potential. De La Rosa has been fairly wild in his short career, but he’s athletic and balanced in his motion, so things could come along quite a bit in that department with more reps. He was almost immediately promoted to Stockton given his ACL dominance and could move quickly as a late-game reliever.
#45.) Caeden Trenkle, OF
How Acquired: Drafted (Round 9, 2022)
Current Team: Lansing
2022 Midseason Rank: N/A
2023 Preseason Rank: Unranked
Trenkle got an aggressive assignment to Lansing in his first full season and has held his own, showing a much more advanced sense of the strike zone than he did post-draft, playing solid defense in the outfield, and lining the ball all over the field. There’s some sneaky power to his game, too, so there are no glaring weaknesses in Trenkle’s skillset now that the approach is dialed in. He has shown some inconsistency with his in-zone contact and has to stay back on changeups better, but those adjustments could come with more pro reps. He looks to be working toward a platoon/bench outfield role and could be one of the 2022 draft’s quicker movers.
#46.) Ángel Felipe, RHRP
How Acquired: Claimed off waivers (from San Diego), 2023
Current Team: Las Vegas
2022 Midseason Rank: N/A
2023 Preseason Rank: N/A
Felipe was an astute waiver claim a few weeks ago. He throws very hard, sitting 96-98 with two different fastball looks that are tough to lift–somehow, he’s allowed only two homers in over 50 career innings in Triple-A despite calling the minors’ two most hitter-friendly home parks (El Paso and Las Vegas) home. Felipe’s fastballs both sink, so they don’t miss that many bats, but his hard slider and changeup do, and all four offerings have proven tough to square up. At 25, he’s always had some crudeness to his style of pitching and issues his fair share of walks, though he’s off to a good start in that regard since joining the A’s organization. If that element of his game comes around, Felipe could be a very effective MLB reliever; even at his current level of command, he should be able to provide some functional bullpen innings almost immediately.
#47.) Kyle McCann, C
How Acquired: Drafted (Round 4, 2019)
Current Team: Las Vegas
2022 Midseason Rank: Unranked
2023 Preseason Rank: Unranked
I’ve long been skeptical of McCann’s unusual swing, which features an odd wrist orientation and a massive early opening of the hips, and that swing caused the burly backstop to have huge contact troubles in his 2021 and 2022 seasons in Midland. However, one thing I’ve never questioned is the top-shelf raw power that swing generates, and McCann has also developed a disciplined approach at the plate. This season, his in-zone contact has really come around in Vegas–he’s over 10% above Gelof, for instance–and he’s hit the ball even harder on average than Soderstrom, so this is the point where despite my mechanical misgivings, I have to consider McCann an increasingly strong candidate to find some MLB success. He’s never been known as a particularly good defensive catcher, but he gets good reviews for his leadership and doesn’t have any glaring flaws that make him unplayable behind the plate. There’s obviously still a chance McCann is just Austin Allen 2.0, bringing the mediocre defense but not the impactful bat to any major league audition he gets, as perhaps big league pitchers will find ways to exploit the swing again: McCann very rarely makes contact when he does expand the zone, for one. Functional catchers with 70-grade raw power and sound approaches from the left side are rare, though, and McCann has done a lot over the past two years to make those positives, rather than the swing-and-miss troubles, be the defining features of his skillset.
#48.) Manuel Pérez, RHSP
How Acquired: International free agency, 2022
Current Team: DSL A’s
2022 Midseason Rank: Unranked
2023 Preseason Rank: Unranked
Pérez was the only 16-year-old in the organization last year and easily held his own in the DSL rotation; repeating the league this year at 17, he’s dominated, showing good command of a firm carrying fastball and a tilting slider. He’s not particularly projectable for his age and doesn’t appear very athletic on the mound, but Pérez already pitches with a plan and shows signs of a full four-pitch mix with a curve and change; the latter pitch in particular has good upside. We’re obviously a long way off from understanding what sort of pitcher Pérez will become, but he’s clearly ahead of the curve in performance, arsenal depth, and pitching acumen.
#49.) Tyler Baum, RHRP
How Acquired: Drafted (Round 2, 2019)
Current Team: Lansing
2022 Midseason Rank: Unranked
2023 Preseason Rank: Unranked
Relative to preseason expectations, Baum might beat out even someone like De La Rosa to be the most unlikely entrant on this list, seeing as he spent 2021 and 2022 battling a severe case of the yips that resulted in him posting an 18.75 ERA in Stockton last season. Remarkably, not only has Baum gotten the command back to playable again, he’s flourished as Lansing’s closer, and he’s now almost up to two months since he last allowed an earned run. He still throws the four-pitch arsenal he had as a starter before everything went south, but his velocity has recently ticked up from its old 91-96 range, and he now is topping out at 98 mph routinely. Baum’s funky overhand delivery is deceptive and generates huge extension, giving hitters a tough look and forcing them to have to be very disciplined to stay back on his offspeed stuff given how quickly the fastball gets on them. None of his offspeed pitches–a curve, changeup, and slider–have particularly great movement, but hitters have a very difficult time picking them up, especially the changeup, which has generated a very high swinging strike rate. Baum is 25 now after all the time in the wilderness, so he’ll need to move quickly from here, but the stuff should play if the command can stay dialed in. Though there aren’t any traces of the erratic 2021-22 form, and Baum’s command was generally praised before the yips derailed him, he does work a lot of deep counts and has been south of a 60% strike rate this season; it’ll bear watching to see if he can avoid that sliding backward when he gets to Midland. If he can, then Baum’s story would go from a feel-good rebound to the possibility of imminent big-league impact.
#50.) Ramón Landaéta, C
How Acquired: International free agency, 2023
Current Team: DSL A’s
2022 Midseason Rank: N/A
2023 Preseason Rank: Unranked
Signed for $750,000 in January, Landaéta has already launched three homers in his pro debut at age 17 and has generally gotten his career off to a very solid start in the DSL. He’s already quite strong and gets good leverage and lift in his swing without having to sell out for power, and he’s shown the ability to cover the zone fairly well. Landaéta was billed as a raw defensive catcher when he signed, and he is, though he looks okay back there and could get to average defense in time. He does expand the zone a fair bit at present, but only a couple of months past his 17th birthday, he’s bringing his tools into games at the DSL level in a variety of areas already.
OTHERS OF NOTE
Similar to FanGraphs prospect lists, these players are in order within each group of how close they are to making the list. Do note, though, that in this 50-80 range in the system, gaps between players are much smaller than they are higher up the list.
Catchers
Shane McGuire
Yohel Pozo
Cesar González
McGuire was the last cut from the list. He’s hung around the back end of the Top 50 across the last two years as a lefty-swinging catcher with a tremendous approach and some latent power potential, and he’s still getting on base reasonably well in Midland in just his second full season; we’ll see if some supplemental skills can come around. Pozo was a minor league free agent signee with brief big league experience; he’s got Willians Astudillo-esque swing, walk, and strikeout rates and an Alejandro Kirk sort of build, which makes for a unique viewing experience. He’s has been a longtime Triple-A performer and is still just 26, but his exit velocities are below average and he’s not well-regarded defensively. González, 18, is repeating the DSL despite a tremendous on-base performance there last season, presumably because the A’s have several established catchers at the ACL level already and he has work to do defensively and in getting to some in-game power. He’s got a physical build and the makings of an excellent approach at the plate, so he’s someone to keep an eye on when he presumably comes stateside next year.
Infielders
Drew Swift
Germán Ortíz
Jesus Fernández
Yeniel Laboy
Ángel Arévalo
Bjay Cooke
Reinaldo De La Cruz
Swift is indeed very fast, and he’s got Schuemann-style upside as an everywhere-but-catcher guy, though the A’s haven’t elected to give him reps anywhere other than second and short (where he’s quite good) yet. He’s historically been an extreme opposite-field guy who struggles to hit the ball with authority, but after he missed the first two months of 2023, he’s shown some encouraging progress on that front in the early going. Ortíz is a small lefty-hitting utility guy–he’s given up switch-hitting–who works the count, hits liners, and has the rotational athleticism to come into some power, though the 18-year-old is still searching for his first pro homer and hasn’t nailed down a position yet. Fernández, 17, is tearing up the DSL in his pro debut, expanding the zone with shocking rarity and swinging and missing even less; however, he doesn’t hit the ball very hard right now. If and when he does, look out. Laboy, a 7th-rounder out of Puerto Rico last year, was just sent to Stockton after a good ACL showing. He’s another guy with a solid grasp of the strike zone and line drive ability, though as a corner infielder with a flat swing path, he’ll need to show more ability to lift the ball as he develops. Arévalo got a lot of hype when he dominated the DSL at age 17 in 2021, and he’s come into more power and patience this season repeating the ACL, but he remains a very error-prone defender with a lot of swing-and-miss to his game; still, he’s young and has an interesting mix of tools and baseball acumen. Cooke, a former two-way player as an Australian amateur, has struggled badly in his first look at full-season ball at age 20, but his defense at short is improving, he has an easy plus arm there, and he’s got some offensive upside in a variety of areas if he can start to adjust the barrel better. He was reportedly up to 94 on the mound a year ago, so there’s always that as a fallback plan. De La Cruz cuts against the prototype of all the system’s young walk-heavy infielders who have yet to grow into power: he hits the ball surprisingly hard for a wiry 17-year-old, but he expands the zone frequently.
Outfielders
Reynaldo De La Paz
Cody Thomas
Robert Puason
Darling Fernández
De La Paz is another member of the DSL team’s notably strong position player contingent, a wiry right fielder who–here we go again–has a good approach at the plate and some power upside. If you think it’s odd that I’m praising so many very young, unpolished hitters in this system for their approaches, do note that the DSL A’s led the 44-team league in K/BB ratio by hitters in 2022 by a wide margin, so it’s clearly a developmental emphasis in the organization. De La Paz mostly is a gap-oriented hitter right now, but he has the frame to clear fences with regularity down the line. Thomas has put together an excellent season in Las Vegas at age 28, drastically cutting his strikeout rate, which has historically been the big red flag in his profile, but though he has plus raw power and has been a prolific Triple-A slugger in Vegas’ friendly confines, his average exit velocity this season is well below major league average. Puason is still toolsy–he’s got raw power and a big arm–and he’s cut his strikeout rate this season while showing a better approach than his previous indiscriminate ways. He’s hitting well in another tour of the ACL, now at age 20, and has moved to the outfield, so we’ll see if that goes anywhere. Like Cooke, pitching might be a fallback here if stagnation continues. Fernández got a big bonus last season on the international market but has missed the season with an injury. He’s reportedly got power-and-patience upside as a corner outfielder. Since I haven’t watched him play, this isn’t really a ranking of Fernández so much as an acknowledgement that his pedigree makes him a player to follow whenever he does debut.
Starting Pitchers
RHP Joelvis Del Rosario
LHP James González
RHP Roger Rodríguez
RHP Adriel González
RHP Donny Troconis
RHP Jake Garland
RHP Jake Walkinshaw
It’s been an up-and-down first season in the A’s org for Del Rosario, who came over from the Pirates as a minor league Rule 5 pick over the offseason. In the Lansing rotation this season, he’s reportedly been up to the upper 90s on occasion but has mostly sat in his customary 92-94 range. Both his slider and his changeup have bat-missing life but he doesn’t command them; he commands the fastball but it gets hit hard. If he can turn these parts into a cohesive whole, he’ll have major league value; regardless, he was a nice find by the scouting department given the low cost of his acquisition. James González got in somewhat better shape this year and started to repeat his delivery better, leading to much better results in his repeat of the Cal League. His carrying fastball has recently touched 94 mph and both his big curve and sinking change have consistently missed bats this season. Rodríguez and Adriel González, both 21, haven’t pitched this year for undisclosed reasons, presumably injuries of some sort. They’ve both been very consistent performers at the Rookie levels and are certainly ready for Stockton when healthy. Both are fastball/changeup-oriented pitchers who sit 92-93, with Rodríguez offering a bit more command and González having a bit more top-end arm strength. Troconis, 17, is having a nice DSL debut. He’s got an ideal pitcher’s frame and can really spin a curveball. Garland, last year’s 17th-rounder out of Miami, was dominant for Stockton early in the year before running into some tougher sledding in Lansing, partially because he’s started to favor his slow curveball rather than his slider as his primary breaking pitch; that doesn’t tunnel as well with his extremely heavy sinking fastball. Garland has special command, especially of the slider, and exceptional groundball ability, but he sits only 87-91 without much extension. Those positives make him a pitcher to keep an eye on; even a small velo spike would make a huge difference. Walkinshaw has had solid moments in the upper minors, but he’s missed the past couple of months with an undisclosed injury. His stuff still intrigues, with his sinker reaching 96 mph and entering the zone at a very steep angle, and both his slider and changeup falling off the table at their best, but none of his pitches were missing bats in Midland in the early going.
Relief Pitchers
RHP Jack Weisenburger
RHP Stevie Emanuels
RHP Shohei Tomioka
RHP Chase Cohen
RHP Billy Sullivan
LHP Austin Briggs
RHP Yehízon Sánchez
RHP Yunior Tur
RHP Dairon De Jesus
RHP Hunter Breault
LHP David Leal
Weisenburger has missed over a year now, so I assume he had an arm surgery. He was impressive in 2021 and early ‘22, sitting 93-95 mph with carry and relying heavily on a big sweeper around 80 mph. If he’s back in form whenever he’s healthy, he remains a potential big league contributor. Emanuels’ results trailed his stuff considerably last year, as he had four good pitches and a clean delivery, but he tended to have nuclear innings where his command would completely desert him for 25-pitch stretches. After missing two months to start 2023, he was moved to the bullpen, where he’s sat 94-95 so far and made a promising adjustment with his slider that better differentiates it from his big curveball. On his third try in Lansing, it’s so far, so good. Tomioka is 27 and still in Double-A, but seeing as he barely pitched in college in Japan, then played semipro ball after graduating before signing with the A’s at a tryout at age 24, perhaps he’s got some late development left. On his first try in the upper minors, he’s been fairly effective but somewhat inconsistent, sitting 93-96 and expanding his repertoire from four to five pitches with the addition of a new slider. Cohen, Sullivan, and Briggs all throw very hard and have had stretches of upper-minors dominance, but none of them have been consistent strike-throwers. Cohen’s 2021 velocity spike had seemed to evaporate for good as he sat 90-94 for all of 2022 and the first two months of this season, but he finally found the heat again a couple of weeks ago, and he’s now touched 97 or higher in four straight appearances; his slider and curve are both solid offerings as well. Sullivan has been up to 99 with a deceptive delivery he struggles to repeat; batters have a very tough time with his stuff when it’s in the zone, but he’s walked over a batter per inning in his Triple-A debut. Briggs is a lefty who’s been up to 97 with sink; he’s very tough to lift and has come up with an above-average slider. The A’s still haven’t seen enough consistency from him to put him in Triple-A, though, and Briggs is now 27. Sánchez still has good stuff, with a sinking fastball that touches 97, a big-breaking slider that freezes hitters, and a decent changeup, but he put up over a 15 ERA repeating Stockton and has allowed a shockingly high amount of homers for a groundball power pitcher. A demotion to the ACL has at least temporarily ameliorated the home run problem, but there’s long been a wide gap between the 22-year-old’s stuff and his results. Tur, 23, was signed out of Cuba in December; he debuted in the ACL last month and was quickly moved up to Stockton, where he’s been inconsistent but promising. He’s a good athlete at 6’6” who moves down the mound well, sits 91-94, and has the potential for an above-average changeup; command has historically been the weakness, but quality athletes of this size can often make inroads there in their mid-20s. De Jesus, 19, has had incredible strikeout numbers for his age in his career at the Rookie levels, a product of his funky overhand delivery and power curveball. He’s also never allowed a pro homer across three seasons. Breault sits 94-97 with a plus splitter and solid slider, and he throws a lot of strikes, but he allowed over two hits per inning with Lansing before hitting the IL last month, perhaps due to the fastball’s mediocre shape and inconsistent pitch patterning. Leal remains incredibly fun as one of the slowest non-sidearm throwers in recent pro baseball history. He’s pitched fairly well out of the Midland bullpen, and he recently had a velocity spike that has him touching 88 (!) and his breaking ball averaging well above 70 mph for the first time. His impeccable command, huge fastball movement, and deception could make him an Alex Claudio-style reliever if he can hold 85+ mph velocity going forward.
SUMMARY NOTES
To conclude, let’s look at how things have changed from the preseason to now. I’ll discuss these trends and much more about the overall state of the A’s minor league system in the accompanying podcast which will be released next week, so stay tuned for that.
Graduates from Preseason Top 50: Ken Waldichuk (#2), Esteury Ruiz (#6), Luis Medina (#15), Jordan Díaz (#24), Ryan Noda (#32), Conner Capel (#40)
Six graduates; there were five between my midseason 2022 list and the preseason 2023 one. Hogan Harris will soon graduate from this one; hopefully Miller makes it back to do so as well. Will there be others before Opening Day 2024?
Preseason Top 50 players who dropped off the list: Sánchez (#37), McGuire (#46), Walkinshaw (#47), C Will Simoneit (#48), C JJ Schwarz (#49)
I’m surprised that only one player in the preseason top 45 who’s still eligible fell off the list, and even McGuire is #51 for me right now, so he’ll slide back on the moment Harris graduates (before the draftees sign, anyway). Part of that reflects the fact that it’s easier to stay on a prospect list in the first half of the season–guys graduate and not much new talent gets added to the organization, pre-draft–than the second half, but I think that reflects pretty well on the preseason list, too. Until writing this (after writing the entire list), I hadn’t realized that the list was overall that consistent in spite of quite a few players having considerable moves up or down.
Others from Preseason Top 50 no longer in the A’s organization: Michael Guldberg (#33, retired), Brady Feigl (#45, released), Cal Stevenson (#50, claimed off waivers)
Breakdown by Movement & New Arrivals: Nineteen players moved up at least one spot from their preseason ranking to their midseason one, while 14 slid down at least one spot. Three (Soderstrom, Muncy, and Juan) are ranked in the same spot they were before the season. Fourteen players are new to the list; 13 were unranked before the season, while Felipe wasn’t in the A’s organization at that time. Three of those players (Dicochea, Santos, and Basso–the ‘21 Tommy John trio) did make the Midseason 2022 list and just missed the preseason list.
Top 50 Prospects by Position (Preseason number in parentheses):
C: 5 (5)
INF: 8 (9)
OF: 10 (13)
RHSP: 17 (20)
LHSP: 3 (2)
RHRP: 7 (1)
LHRP: 0 (0)
It’s interesting how, despite Miller being the only pitcher in my top 9, actually over half of the Top 50 are pitchers now. After the majority of A’s system breakouts have been at the plate in previous seasons, there have been some notable developments on the mound early in 2023, while the strong position player performances (at the full season levels, anyway) have mostly come from relatively expected names. Particularly notable is how, between the conversions of some hard-throwing starters, the waiver claim of Felipe, and De La Rosa’s breakout, the A’s suddenly have some real relief depth in their system for the first time in a while. The lack of lefthanded pitching depth still stands out. Interestingly, the system still has five top-50 catchers despite changes in who three of those five catchers are; that remains an obvious strength.
Top 50 Prospects by Current Assignment (Preseason number in parentheses):
Oakland: 2* (5)
Las Vegas: 8* (8)
Midland: 13** (16)
Lansing: 11 (9)
Stockton: 10* (8)
ACL A’s: 4 (4)
DSL A’s: 2
*Including 1 player currently on the IL (Miller, Acton, and Zhuang, respectively)
**Including 2 players currently on the IL (Salinas and Ginn), plus 2 completing rehab assignments in the ACL (Holman and Bowman)
After the RockHounds roster towered over the rest of the system on Opening Day, and indeed for much of 2022 as well, in terms of prospect density, things have recently gotten much more balanced. That’s corresponded with fairly balanced records on the field across the affiliates in recent weeks as well, with Stockton in particular rebounding from a very rough start–they had the worst record in minor league baseball for the season’s first few weeks–to play roughly .500 ball since, and Midland falling to a .500 record after dominating the Texas League North in April. The A’s system historically tends to be very upper-minors-heavy as a result of the organization’s drafting and trade acquisition preferences and historical struggles in developing international talent, but what look to be two solid drafts in a row and some organizational overhauls on the international scouting and development side may be changing those trends; we’re also now far enough away from the March 2022 flurry of trades that their impact in really emphasizing the Midland/Vegas group has largely run its course, with most of those players now out of prospect eligibility. Note also the preponderance of ACL/DSL guys on the Others of Note; the majority of the players primed to jump onto the list with any sort of breakout won’t be in Midland anytime soon. It will be interesting to see how the 2023 draft, any trade deadline acquisitions, and further promotions change this landscape in the second half of the season, since it’s a notable departure from organizational history.