Four A’s minor leaguers made MLB.com’s Top 100 Prospects List for 2017.
While four prospects might seem like a small number for the Oakland Athletics, it’s actually quite high.
The teams with highest number of prospects were the New York Yankees and the Atlanta Braves, while after the trades of starting pitcher Chris Sale and outfielder Adam Eaton to the Boston Red Sox and the Washington Nationals, respectively, the Chicago White Sox came close to the top with six prospects making the list.
Most teams, it seems, had around four make the list, so the A’s are right in the middle, meaning the farm system really isn’t as poor as it has recently been ranked by some experts, like Keith Law of ESPN.
The teams landing lowest on the list were the Detroit Tigers and the Miami Marlins with one prospect each making the top 100, while three teams the Los Angeles Angels, the Kansas City Royals and the Arizona Diamondbacks didn’t have a single prospect land on the list.
The San Francisco Giants, just in case you were wondering or happen to care, had just two players in the top 100.
The list is compiled based on players’ skill sets, their upsides, their estimated time of arrival in the big leagues and any potential immediate impact that they could have on the big league club..
Let’s take a look at each of the A’s four top 100 prospects.