A’s Minor League Minute: Carter, Choice, Green & More!

With Michael Taylor getting his call to the “show,” many A’s fans are growing anxious about some of the team’s other high-profile prospects. The A’s have a few more impact players waiting for their call to the big-leagues, including Chris Carter, Michael Choice, Grant Green, and a few others.

While some players are closer than others in receiving their ticket to the show, the following players mentioned throughout this post are figured to play some type of role with the A’s in the near future.

• Chris Carter appeared in 10 games this season with Oakland, hitting just .133/.188/.133 in 30 at-bats. He walked a total of two times, but also struck out 14 times. He’s hit well in the minors this season, though. In 74 games with Triple-A Sacramento, Carter has hit .271/.366/.529 with 18 HR and 72 RBIs. He also appeared in six games this year with Single-A Stockton, and hit .333/.429/.708 with 3 HR and 7 RBIs. Oakland knows Carter can obviously hit minor league pitching, but carrying over that type of success into the big leagues isn’t exactly an easy thing to do. With Oakland getting a solid performance from the recently acquired 1B Brandon Allen, the A’s might push Carter to play in the outfield, or assume a role as the team’s primary designated-hitter in the years to come. That’s assuming he’ll be able to adjust to major league pitching.
• Michael Choice, Oakland’s 2010 first-round pick, has had himself quite the season. In 117 games this season with Oakland’s Single-A affiliate, the Stockton Ports, Choice has managed to hit .287/.377/.545 with 30 HR and 82 RBIs. His best month came in July, where he hit an amazing .416/.475/.820 with 10 HR and 22 RBIs. The bright young outfielder has a long career ahead of him, and the A’s could definitely use him in their everyday lineup. It’s still unknown how much longer the A’s will keep Choice down in the minors, but my guess is that he’ll be there for a little while longer.
• Grant Green is another player who should have a nice impact on the major league level some day. Green, Oakland’s first-round pick during the 2009 draft, should be a mainstay in the team’s infield for years to come. Last year with Single-A Stockton, Green put together a .318/.363/.520 line with 20 HR and 87 RBIs. This season, however, Green’s production dropped off a bit. In 126 games this season with Double-A Midland, Green has hit .293/.344/.411 with 9 HR and 62 RBIs. He doesn’t bring a whole lot of power to the table, but he should knock in his share of runs. Green’s biggest problem right now is his defense. Green has committed a total of 27 errors this season, down from last year’s total of 37, but it’s an area that Green still needs to focus on.
• I’ve included a link before in the past, but in case you missed it, Nathaniel Stoltz, a FanSided writer, recently wrote about A’s minor leaguer Wes Timmons. While Timmons lacks the power Oakland desperately needs right now, Nathaniel still thinks Timmons’ performance thus far in the minor leagues warrants a September call-up. Who knows? Timmons might be an answer for Oakland’s cloudy future at third-base.

That’s it for now, and I’m sure there are a ton of other prospects not mentioned in this brief update, but I’ll get to them later this month. Share and express your opinions about these players as well as other Oakland prospects in the comment section below!