Call to the pen
Fansided

Oakland Athletics Top 10 Prospects for 2017

By Benjamin Chase

May 23, 2015; St. Petersburg, FL, USA; Oakland Athletics hat, glove and ball lay in the dugout at Tropicana Field. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports
May 23, 2015; St. Petersburg, FL, USA; Oakland Athletics hat, glove and ball lay in the dugout at Tropicana Field. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports /
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
1 of 12
Next
Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports
Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports /

After a streak of three straight playoff appearances, the Oakland Athletics suffered through a second straight 90-loss season. Is there help in the future on the farm?

An Introduction

Our minor league top 10 series is coordinated by Benjamin Chase, one of our contributors at Call To The Pen.

He has poured over thousands of minor league games over the course of the year via milb.tv along with speaking with a number of team and independent scouts. These lists are based out of those conversations.

Each system will have prospects from 10 to 1, and then finish with one newcomer to the system that is worth keeping an eye on that is not in the top 10 at this time.

Conversations are certainly encouraged in the comments section on each system as we go along!

Billy Beane has received plenty of scrutiny since the days of Moneyball, but his results have frequently been sporadic, to say the least

Athletics System Review

Billy Beane has received plenty of scrutiny since the days of Moneyball, but his results have frequently been sporadic, to say the least.

Part of this is due to Oakland’s self-imposed limited budget. Their outdated facilities are a reason that they often cite for why they cannot draw significant crowds to help bring in more money.

Just a scan across the 2016 A’s roster shows just how inventive Beane has had to be to create his teams. Of all players who had 300 or more plate appearances for the team in 2016, only one (Ryon Healy) was originally signed or drafted by the Athletics.

Likewise, of those pitchers who threw as many as 40 innings for the team in 2016, only Sonny Gray and Ryan Dull were originally signed or drafted by the Athletics.

Beane has been a master of trading his players for value, however, as seen in deals such as last year’s swap of Ben Zobrist for Sean Manaea and Aaron Brooks or this year’s deal of future free agents Josh Reddick and Rich Hill for three players that appear on this list.

There are a number of players ready to contribute in the next year or two, and it will be very intriguing to see how the A’s respond, especially with recent discussions of new facilities that could allow the team to take advantage of its media market better.

Let’s take a look at the top 10!

Next: #10

Home/Oakland Athletics