Oakland A’s: Remembering Grant Green

There was a time when former Oakland A’s minor leaguer Grant Green was amongst the top prospects in the game. Unfortunately, his career never panned out.

At the beginning of the previous decade, Grant Green was one of the top prospects in baseball. The Oakland A’s had selected Green with the 13th overall selection in the 2009 MLB Draft, seemingly their answer at short after his stellar career at the University of Southern California. He made his debut that year, appearing in just five games, but collecting six hits and a walk in his 20 plate appearances in the California League.

That performance, as brief as it was, propelled Green up the prospect boards. He was considered one of the top prospects in the game, a top 100 prospect in the eyes of Baseball America and Baseball Prospectus. He had a strong season with the Stockton Ports, cementing that status.

Green quickly moved through the ranks, having a solid year in AA in 2011 before moving up to AAA the following year. Although he began the 2013 campaign back in Sacramento, Green was called up to the majors, with the A’s finally getting to see their top selection from 2009 in action.

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As it turned out, his time in Oakland lasted five games and 16 hitless plate appearances. Green was sent to the Angels in exchange for Alberto Callaspo, as the A’s were looking to solidify second base down the stretch. Green appeared in 40 more major league games for the Angels, posting a combined .250/.301/.343 batting line with eight doubles and a homer.

Unfortunately, Green was never able to capitalize on that performance. He appeared in a career high 43 games, posting a solid .273/.282/.354 batting line in 103 plate appearances. However, he displayed little power, with five doubles and a homer, and walked just twice. Green would get just 44 mediocre plate appearances with the Angels in 2015 before becoming a free agent.

He bounced through the Giants, White Sox, Nationals, and Marlins systems, stuck primarily as AAA depth. Green received only 20 more appearances in the majors over those two years, and headed to Mexico for 2018. After 61 relatively uninspiring plate appearances with the Acereros de Monclova, Green was out of baseball, a former top prospect that was unable to live up to his promise.

Grant Green was once one of the top prospects in baseball, a player that was expected to solidify the middle of the Oakland A’s infield for years to come. Instead, his time in the majors lasted for 129 games over five years, as he was unable to take that final step.