Top 33 Prospects: Oakland Athletics
Below is an analysis of the prospects in the farm system of the Oakland Athletics. Scouting reports were compiled with information provided by industry sources as well as my own observations. As there was no minor league season in 2020, there are some instances where no new information was gleaned about a player. Players whose write-ups have not been meaningfully altered begin by telling you so. As always, I’ve leaned more heavily on sources from outside of a given org than those within for reasons of objectivity. Because outside scouts were not allowed at the alternate sites, I’ve primarily focused on data from there, and the context of that data, in my opinion, reduces how meaningful it is. Lastly, in an effort to more clearly indicate relievers’ anticipated roles, you’ll see two reliever designations, both on my lists and on The Board: MIRP, or multi-inning relief pitcher, and SIRP, or single-inning relief pitcher.
For more information on the 20-80 scouting scale by which all of our prospect content is governed, you can click here. For further explanation of Future Value’s merits and drawbacks, read Future Value.
All of the numbered prospects here also appear on The Board, a resource the site offers featuring sortable scouting information for every organization. It can be found here.
Rk | Name | Age | Highest Level | Position | ETA | FV |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Tyler Soderstrom | 19.6 | A | 1B | 2025 | 50 |
2 | A.J. Puk | 26.1 | MLB | SP | 2021 | 50 |
3 | Pedro Pineda | 17.8 | R | RF | 2025 | 45+ |
4 | Daulton Jefferies | 25.9 | MLB | SP | 2021 | 45 |
5 | Nick Allen | 22.7 | AA | SS | 2022 | 45 |
6 | Brayan Buelvas | 19.0 | A | CF | 2024 | 45 |
7 | Jeff Criswell | 22.3 | A+ | SP | 2023 | 40+ |
8 | Greg Deichmann | 26.1 | AAA | RF | 2021 | 40+ |
9 | James Kaprielian | 27.3 | MLB | SP | 2021 | 40+ |
10 | Drew Millas | 23.4 | A+ | C | 2023 | 40+ |
11 | Colin Peluse | 23.0 | A+ | MIRP | 2023 | 40+ |
12 | Daniel Palencia | 21.4 | R | SP | 2024 | 40+ |
13 | Logan Davidson | 23.5 | AA | SS | 2023 | 40 |
14 | Brian Howard | 26.1 | AAA | SP | 2021 | 40 |
15 | Robert Puason | 18.8 | A | SS | 2025 | 40 |
16 | Brady Feigl | 25.6 | AA | SP | 2022 | 40 |
17 | Stevie Emanuels | 22.4 | A+ | SP | 2024 | 40 |
18 | Luis Barrera | 25.6 | MLB | CF | 2021 | 40 |
19 | Kyle McCann | 23.5 | AA | 1B | 2023 | 40 |
20 | Grant Holmes | 25.2 | AAA | SIRP | 2021 | 40 |
21 | Tyler Baum | 23.4 | A- | MIRP | 2023 | 40 |
22 | Jack Weisenburger | 23.7 | AA | SIRP | 2023 | 40 |
23 | Michael Guldberg | 22.0 | A+ | CF | 2024 | 40 |
24 | Parker Dunshee | 26.4 | AAA | SP | 2021 | 40 |
25 | Aiden McIntyre | 25.8 | AAA | SIRP | 2022 | 35+ |
26 | Jorge Juan | 22.3 | R | SP | 2023 | 35+ |
27 | Junior Perez | 20.0 | A | RF | 2022 | 35+ |
28 | Jordan Diaz | 20.8 | A+ | 1B | 2022 | 35+ |
29 | Jhoan Paulino | 20.0 | R | 3B | 2024 | 35+ |
30 | Buddy Reed | 26.1 | AAA | CF | 2021 | 35+ |
31 | Wandisson Charles | 24.8 | AA | SIRP | 2021 | 35+ |
32 | Jeremy Eierman | 24.8 | AA | SS | 2023 | 35+ |
33 | Jose Mora | 23.7 | A | SIRP | 2023 | 35+ |
Other Prospects of Note
Grouped by type and listed in order of preference within each category.
Fun Org Guys
Cobie Vance, 3B
Sahid Valenzuela, SS
Vance is a stocky, tough-nosed infielder who is tough to strike out. Valenzuela is more of a glove-first, switch-hitting utility infield type who has an all-out style of play.
Pitching Depth
Seth Shuman, RHP
Brady Basso, LHP
Dalton Sawyer, LHP
Eric Mariñez, RHP
Miguel Romero, RHP
Osvaldo Berrios, RHP
Shuman, 23 and at High-A, is a pitchability righty up to 94, with command of four serviceable pitches. Basso is another 23-year-old in A-ball. He’s a hard-throwing lefty with a curveball and a cutter. Sawyer is a lower slot lefty who has had a little bit of a velo bump since moving to the bullpen, touching 94 this spring. He was a depth starter type before surgery but he’s missing a lot of bats out of the bullpen now. Mariñez is a conversion arm who was instantly 93-96 with breaking ball and changeup feel upon the move. His on-mound athleticism has regressed. Romero, a Cuban reliever who would peak in the 95-97 range and show an average slider and “critter” knuckle changeup, has regressed as a strike-thrower. Berrios is a young, athletic righty with advanced command and a changeup. He’s 21.
Developmental Projects
Jalen Greer, 2B
Jose Dicochea, RHP
Lawrence Butler, 1B
T.J. Schofield-Sam, 3B
Three of these players were 2019 high school draftees. Greer was Oakland’s fifth rounder in 2019 and really struggled in the AZL but he’s a cold weather high schooler from the Chicago area, so that’s not immediately disqualifying. Dicochea was their eighth rounder, a high school righty from Tucson who has been up to 96, sitting low-90s, with two distinct breaking balls. He has relief control. Schofield-Sam has quick hitter’s hands and tracks pitches well but struggles to get the head out and do real damage. He puts a lot of awkward contact into play. He’s from Ontario so, like Greer, he’s going to be a slow burn. A slow burn is also likely for Butler, a 2018 draftee, though he’s first base-only. Butler has a big league frame and raw power, as well as a high-risk hit tool.
Won’t Hit, IMO
Cody Thomas, OF
Austin Beck, OF
Lazaro Armenteros, OF
All three of these guys have big physical tools and have at times electrified scouts. But ultimately, I think all three have issues making contact that torpedo their obvious ability. What Thomas has been able to do, transitioning from football to baseball late and nearly reaching the big leagues, is amazing. The type of big league role he could conceivably have is usually played by hitters who don’t wow you as much with epic bombs, but who have better feel for contact, like Seth Brown. Beck’s downfall is his inability to lay off sliders away from him. Remember he was a spring pop-up guy. The industry lesson to learn here is that it’s hard to evaluate pitch recognition during varsity play. Armenteros’ swing simply isn’t on plane with the baseball for very long, and this was exacerbated by his own epicurean approach, which was also impossible to evaluate in the workout settings that made him famous.
System Overview
This system is starting to look pretty bare up top but has average depth. Some of that is because of the decision Kyler Murray made. We’re also not far removed from All-Star talents like Sean Murphy and Jesús Luzardo graduating. But A.J. Puk, Daulton Jefferies and James Kaprielian also thicken it artificially since they’re only still on here because they’ve all been hurt a lot. There have been some high-profile whiffs (Franklin Barreto), the college shortstops the org has drafted lately (Richie Martin, Mikey White, Eli White, Kevin Merrell, Davidson) haven’t panned out as impact players, and there wasn’t really any depth to fall back on from the 2019 international class because the A’s used most of their bonus pool to sign Robert Puason. But the club has done well with college pitching, especially on Day Two of the draft, and the org has in-house answers to the injury attrition that befalls big league pitching.
The club may have found yet another offensive star in Tyler Soderstrom. The A’s moved him back to their pick by offering a sizable over-slot deal, putting many of their eggs in a high-risk basket (high school catching). He was the best young hitter I saw in Arizona all spring and it wasn’t close.
The problem for the A’s is that they may not have the farm ammunition to make the sort of trade that can separate them from the rest of their division. If they want to make a splashy deadline deal, they probably don’t have a trump card to play in pursuit of someone like Trevor Story.
Eric Longenhagen is from Catasauqua, PA and currently lives in Tempe, AZ. He spent four years working for the Phillies Triple-A affiliate, two with Baseball Info Solutions and two contributing to prospect coverage at ESPN.com. Previous work can also be found at Sports On Earth, CrashburnAlley and Prospect Insider.
What would Kyler’s FV be right now if he had stuck with baseball?
Who knows? No way to tell how he would have developed.
85. Guaranteed.