Oakland A's farm system may be better than expected

The Oakland A's are only going to go as far as their farm system takes them.

Unfortunately, the A's do not seem to have that needed talent. Their farm system is considered to be a disappointment, especially after trading the likes of Matt Olson, Chris Bassitt, Matt Chapman, and Sean Murphy without getting much of anything back. Their trade of Frankie Montas certainly helped, but overall, the A's system has disappointed.

Oakland A's farm system may be better than realized

At least, that is the conventional wisdom. Tyler Soderstrom is the only prospect in the A's system that will be a consensus top 100 prospect. Other players may be solid, but it is fair to wonder what type of a ceiling they are going to have as the A's look towards coming out of their most recent rebuilding process.

It may be that the A's are in a better spot than one would have imagined. Soderstrom is clearly the crown jewel of the organization, but that does not mean that the cupboard is bare elsewhere. Ken Waldichuk, Jordan Diaz, and Zack Gelof joined Soderstrom as being ranked in the top ten minor leaguers at their positions by MLB.com recently, a solid showing for a system that is considered to be lacking that top end talent.

Rankings are not necessarily the end-all, be-all when it comes to prospects. Top prospects flame out constantly while those relatively unheralded players find a way to be far more than anyone expected. The A's have several of those players with Waldichuk and Gelof, players that have worked their way into being top prospects due to their production and desire.

That is what the A's are going to need to bank on. They are going to need the likes of Waldichuk, Gelof, and Diaz to continue to develop into better prospects than anyone would have imagined. That will also need to be the case with other players in their system, something that has been seen with Denzel Clarke last year. The A's may not have those big name prospects, but that does not matter if they perform. In this case, the A's system may be better than one would think.

The Oakland A's need their farm system to produce major league caliber talent to contend. They may be in better shape than the ratings indicate.