A’s News, Russell to AA, Choice to Majors

Sep 16, 2013; Oakland, CA, USA; Oakland Athletics center fielder Michael Choice (35) catches the foul ball against the Los Angeles Angels during the ninth inning at O.co Coliseum. The Los Angeles Angels defeated the Oakland Athletics 12-1. Mandatory Credit: Kelley L Cox-USA TODAY Sports

One day after Justin Verlander eliminated the Athletics from the playoffs, Oakland beat reporters Joe Stiglich and Jane Lee are reporting that GM Billy Beane has stated that top shortstop prospect Addison Russell will be promoted to AA to start 2014 and that outfield prospect Michael Choice could start the year in the majors.

Beane actually said that Russell will be in Double-A, “at the lowest,” but considering that he will be just 20 years old for the entire 2014 season and he played adequately but not spectacularly in the California League (A+) this year, it seems unlikely that the Athletics would push him two levels to AAA.

Russell, 19, first climbed atop prospect boards back in 2012 when he tore up the minors in his half season after being selected 11th overall in the June draft. We ranked him as the 46th overall prospect in baseball coming into the year, consistent with BA and MLB.com, but ESPN’s Keith Law saw enormous potential, naming him as the 10th best prospect in the entire minor leagues. He showed tremendous power and patience this year in high-A, hitting .275/.377/.508  with17 home runs and 21 SB whilst playing almost exclusively against older competition.

With the A’s lacking a true everyday second baseman, Russell could rise quickly and, if he performs well in AA, potentially be in the majors by next summer. Billy Beane himself said, in light of the Russell news, that “anything can happen” once a prospect is in Double-A. ‘

Beane indicated Choice could serve next year as a right handed complement to Oakland’s predominantly left handed outfield, and that his promotion was possibly contingent on current right handed outfielder Chris Young leaving. Young hit a miserable .200/.280/.379 with Oakland this year meaning the A’s will almost certainly decline his 11 million dollar club option and Choice will step in to fill the void.

Whether or not Choice will be able to play productive baseball on a playoff team is up for debate. After being taken with the tenth overall pick in 2010 and hitting 30 home runs in his first full season, Choice looked like he could fit the mold of a power hitting outfielder and he appeared on BA’s and MLB.com’s and our 2012 top 100 lists. Since then, his power and prospect status has dropped off significantly as he hit just 10 home runs last season and 14 this one. The bright side is that the power loss has come with a contact gain as he has raised his average and cut down on his strikeouts since his 2011 season, so its possible that a less powerful Choice, who hit .302 with a .390 OBP this season in AAA, could be a .360 OBP guy with 10-15 home runs next season.