A closer look at the four A’s prospects in the Top 100
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.
Franklin Barreto leads off the A’s prospects at No. 52.
Franklin Barreto was just 16 years old when he was signed by the Toronto Blue Jays as an international free agent in July of 2012.
He spent a two seasons playing in rookie leagues with the Blue Jays before being moved to Low Class-A ball near the end of 2014.
Of course, as almost everyone knows, he was a key piece in the trade that sent 2015 American League MVP Josh Donaldson to the Blue Jays in November 2014.
He jumped quickly in the 2015 season straight to the A’s High-A affiliate in Stockton, California and spent most of 2016 with the Double-A Midland Rockhounds hitting .281 with a .340 on-base percentage.
Barreto hit 10 homers and drove in 50 runs in 118 games with Midland before being called up in September to the A’s Triple-A team, the Nashville Sounds. Despite playing in just four games with the Sounds at the end of the season, Barreto got six hits in 17 at-bats including a triple and a home run. He drove in three runs, scoring two of them and finished the season on a tear.
Barreto is the kind of player who will likely hit for both average and more power, once he learns to be a little more selective of pitches he swings at, at the plate. Already he hits strong live drives and uses the entire field.
Defensively Barreto is seen by most as ending up a second baseman in the big leagues which makes some sense for the A’s since he blocked by Marcus Semien, who the team seems committed to and won’t be a free agent until 2021.
Does this mean we will be seeing Barreto in 2017? It’s unlikely given his young age, however, you can expect him in September and more than likely in 2018.
Newbie A.J. Puk makes the Top 100 list at No. 69.
A.J. Puk was the number one, sixth overall, pick in last June’s 2016 draft out of the University of Florida.
Puk had, prior to his sophomore season in college, been talked about as potentially going number one overall. However, after some control problems and injuries he was taken sixth overall by the Athletics.
Control problems and injuries may have scared off the first five clubs to pick in the draft but not the A’s. They had seen what Puk could do when healthy and went after him anyway. The 6’7″, 220lb left-hander was signed to an franchise record $4,069,200 contract
This turned out to be a very, very good move on the part of the Athletics. Puk definitely impressed in his first professional season with the Class-A short season Vermont Lake Monsters of the New York-Penn League.
Despite going 0-4 in four starts, the big lefty struck out 40 batters in just 32.2 innings pitched. He held batters to a .183 batting average against him and posted a 3.03 ERA.
Puk has what could develop into three plus pitches in his 96-97 MPH plus-fastball which he can maintain throughout his starts, a plus-slider that sits at 88-90 MPH and a changeup that should eventually develop into an effective big league pitch. He has the makings of a front of the rotation starter should he continue along this path.
His downfall is still gaining better control and command of the baseball. Still, being that he’s made just four professional starts in his life, it’s unlikely that he won’t get the ball a bit more under control by the time he reaches the big leagues.
His estimated time of arrival in the majors? It could be as soon as 2018 or 2019 for the 21-year-old who turns 22 this April.
Right-hander Grant Holmes makes the list at No. 85.
Grant Holmes was drafted by the Los Angeles Dodgers out of high school in the 22nd round of the 2014 draft and was signed for $2 million.
He was pitching for the Dodgers’ High Class-A affiliate the Rancho Cucamonga Quakes in 2016, was doing quite well going 8-4 in 20 appearances 18 of which were starts and was considered to be a part of the future of the Dodgers.
Then suddenly he became a part of the Athletics organization, along with fellow pitchers Frankie Montas and Jharel Cotton, in the move that sent outfielder Josh Reddick and starting pitcher Rich Hill south to Los Angeles.
He made the transition to the A’s High Class-A Stockton Ports, also in the California League like the Quakes, fairly easily. He only made six appearances for the Ports, five starts, and posted a higher ERA (6.91) than he did with the Quakes (4.02) but his work with the Ports was a much smaller sample size which can make a big difference.
Overall a ground-ball pitcher, Holmes has amid-90’s plus fastball that has some major sinking action. His go-to strikeout pitch has the movement of a curveball but the velocity of a slider which is just made to confound hitters.
His changeup currently needs work but once he’s mastered that he has the makings of a middle of the rotation starter.
Holmes who will be 21 next month is slated to be MLB ready in 2018.
Matt Chapman closes out the list at No. 100.
Third baseman Matt Chapman is a name you’ve likely already heard. He closes out not just the list of A’s prospects in the Top 100 but the entire list, coming in at number 100.
He’ll be playing at the hot corner for the A’s this year and was already named to MiLB Pipeline’s all-defense team. It has been questioned has to whether or not Chapman has the strongest arm in the minors, making him perfect for third base.
Yes, it means Ryon Healy, who took over at third base in 2016 for Danny Valencia, will have to platoon at first base with Yonder Alonso but that’s alright because Healy’s natural position is at first base anyway.
Chapman was drafted 25th overall by the Athletics after his junior year at Cal State Fullerton and signed for $1.75 million. He spent the 2014 season on the disabled list with a knee injury and part of the 2015 season out with a wrist injury.
The beauty here is that despite all that time off the field, he still led the A’s farm system with 23 home runs in just 80 games, so his power is pretty undeniable. He’s able to utilize the entire field and even though he still has a bit of swing-and-miss in his game, Chapman still hit 36 homers and drove in 96 runs between Double-A and Triple-A last season.
Obviously seen as a plus-defender, Chapman is known for his plus-plus strong arm, good hands and smooth movement third.
With Chapman at third and the combo of Healy and Alonso at first the A’s should be in pretty good hands in 2017.
Over the next few seasons the Oakland Athletics will be adding quite a bit of talented youth to the big league club.
Chapman, Holmes, Barreto and Puk are just a few of the very good prospects in their seriously underrated farm system.
Even though Barreto didn’t start the A’s off at number 52, that doesn’t mean the A’s have a poor group minor leaguers.
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The pitchers who came along with Holmes, Cotton and Montas, have been stellar at their respective levels and for Cotton in 2016 that meant making some pretty spectacular starts for the Athletics in September.
The kid with the handlebar mustache, much like Rollie Fingers back in the 1970’s, Daniel Mengden pitched on and off for the Athletics in 2016, is another name likely to be heard and seen in 2017.
Sean Manaea is already slated as the A’s starter based off of his performances for the A’s in 2016.
Joey Wendle and Chad Pinder also impressed in September last season at second base.
Plus, the A’s also have future big league outfielders Jaycob Brugman and Skye Bolt who are on track to be called up to the show in the next few years.
By the time it’s 2020, the A’s will have a whole new look and it will be a good one.
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