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Oakland Athletics: Reviewing 2014’s Top Prospects, Part I – Max Muncy & Kendall Graveman

By Katrina Hamrick

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Where are the Oakland Athletics’ 2014 Top Ten Prospects now?

The Oakland Athletics have plenty of talent in their minor league system, after trading away their top players in exchange for prospects both last winter and at the July trade deadline. With names like Sean Manaea, Franklin Barreto and Matt Olson on the 2015 list, it’s hard not to be intrigued by the idea of seeing some of these young stars perform in an Oakland uniform.

Of course, it’s easy to forget which players were considered top prospects even as recently as last season, given how few of them actually pan out as major leaguers. For every prospect who finds a home in the big leagues, there are plenty of others that struggle to succeed at that level – or even reach it in the first place.

Starting today, we’ll look at the A’s top ten prospect list from the 2014 off-season to see what kind of impact those players made last year, and where they’ll end up in 2016. Who fell off the list due to performance, and who made it to the majors? We’ll start at the bottom of the list and work our way up, using MLB’s 2014 Prospect Pipeline rankings.

Let’s get started with the first two on the list:

#10 in 2014: Max Muncy

Max Muncy didn’t exactly tear it up in his 45 games with the Oakland Athletics. When he did receive playing time, he hit just .206/.268/.392 with the club, proving that he had power but little else. He split time between first and third base, squeezed out by Brett Lawrie and Danny Valencia at the hot corner, and Stephen Vogt and Mark Canha at first base.

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The short-term verdict is that Muncy is a bust as a top-ten prospect. Theoretically, he still has time to turn that around – but last year was probably his best chance to claim a roster spot. The acquisition of Yonder Alonso creates a logjam at first base, and Muncy is nowhere to be found at either of his potential positions on the depth chart at the moment. His best chance is to get some reps in Triple-A Nashville and show off his strength. The Athletics can always use more power in their lineup, and Muncy still has time to hit his peak years as a power hitter. That could give him the opportunity for a call-up if an injury or trade occurs mid-season.

If going by last year, however, this is one player who shouldn’t have made the top ten prospects list. He struck out over 27 percent of the time in 2015, which was difficult to swallow even though he walked in eight percent of his at-bats and hit home runs at a rate of 2.7 percent. He’ll have to really turn things around in the minors next season if he wants to remain relevant as a mid-season major league option.

Although Muncy’s major league season was rough, he has done an excellent job in the Mexican League this winter for the Charros de Jalisco. He’s hitting .320/.370/.480 in 54 plate appearances, with a pair of home runs. Hopefully, those extra reps will translate into some better MLB results next season, but until then, Muncy is not going to be a big contributor for the A’s.

#9 in 2014: Kendall Graveman

Kendall Graveman came over from the Blue Jays in the Josh Donaldson trade last winter, and immediately slotted into the A’s top prospect list as the #9 player. He unexpectedly made the club out of Spring Training, earning a roster spot that no one expected him to claim. After some struggles, he was sent down to Triple-A Nashville to straighten himself out, and he returned to the majors as a consistent, if average, pitcher.

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Actually, perhaps consistent isn’t the right word. Graveman had a stretch in which he was stunning – sandwiched between two stretches in which he looked lost on the mound. From his return to the big leagues on May 23 until July 4th, just a start away from the All-Star Break, Graveman had eight quality starts in nine outings, held hitters to a .243 average, and posted a 1.78 ERA in 60.2 innings. He also struck out 38 batters and walked just 16. For those nine starts – which is roughly a quarter of a full season for a starter – Graveman was an outstanding rookie, and even in his worst outing during that stretch, he was only one out shy of it being a quality start, too.

The rest of July and August were much less kind to the 24 year old, with Gravemen posting a 5.82 ERA over his final eight starts and pitching just 38.2 innings before being shut down with an oblique strain following his August 23rd outing.

Graveman is a perplexing case. Overall, #9 was probably the correct ranking for him. He wasn’t a strikeout pitcher – his 15.3 percent strikeout rate is significantly lower than the major league average of 20.4 percent – but he still managed to get results when he was healthy, producing a significant enough sample of success to demonstrate that he can certainly be a key member of the rotation going forward.

The question is whether he’ll be good enough to earn a spot on the Opening Day roster. With the signings of Henderson Alvarez and Rich Hill, as well as Sonny Gray’s status as the ace, there are only two open spots in the rotation. Jesse Hahn will almost certainly get one of those jobs if he’s healthy, but even if he’s not, a plethora of other candidates will be competing for for the final slot. Graveman needs a strong Spring Training to put his terrible second half of the season behind him.

Next: A's Sign Free Agent Pitcher Henderson Alvarez

In the next edition, we’ll take a look at the #7 and #8 prospects on the list: Raul Alcantara and Sean Nolin