2012 Oakland A’s Top 16 Prospects

Posted on February 16, 2012 by Jonathan C. Mitchell

The Oakland A’s system is loaded with talent that is Big League ready this year and some upside plays in the low minors thanks to trades involving Trevor Cahill, Gio Gonzalez, and Andrew Bailey.

Below are my top 16 prospects with 2012 opening day age, position, and comments on each player. Below the top 16 is a small list of additional notable names. Enjoy.

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Are the Athletics Done Dealing?

Posted on January 6, 2012 by Michael Schwartze

It is obvious that the Athletics are in a rebuilding process. They have dealt Trevor Cahill, Gio Gonzalez, and Andrew Bailey this offseason for prospects in return. In an article I wrote the other week, I took a look at the Athletics potential future rotation with all the pieces in the organization. There are many top prospects and young pitchers that could make for one of the best rotations in the league. Well a handful of these guys are close to the big leagues and once ready, it could make for quite the logjam in the rotation. In the article I mentioned above I also took a shot at projecting the A’s opening day rotation which is as follows:

1. Brandon McCarthy
2. Guillermo Moscoso
3. Dallas Braden
4. Brad Peacock
5. Tom Milone

That rotation is solid looking but there are still a lot of guys that are very close to being major league ready; Jarrod Parker, Tyson Ross, and Sonny Gray. Brett Anderson should also be back in the rotation by the middle of the season. Well with those guys knocking at the door, some space may need to be cleared in the rotation. The perfect opportunity for that: The Trade Deadline.

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Athletics Future Rotation

Posted on December 24, 2011 by Michael Schwartze

Year in and year out the Athletics’ rotation has been very solid. Last year’s rotation featured a handful of young starters including Brandon McCarthy, Gio Gonzalez, Trevor Cahill, and Guillermo Moscoso.

This offseason though, the Athletics have entered rebuilding mode and they traded off two of these pitchers. First, the A’s traded Trevor Cahill (and Craig Breslow) to the Arizona Diamondbacks in return for Jarrod Parker, Collin Cowgill, and Ryan Cook.

Another move was made the other day when they traded Gio Gonzalez to the Nationals and received A.J. Cole, Derek Norris, Brad Peacock, and Tom Milone. The addition of those pitchers to the pitchers already in the system projects for a very good future rotation in Oakland.

There are already a handful of young pitchers in Oakland that have a couple years of major league service under their belt. The list includes Brandon McCarthy, Guillermo Moscoso, Josh Outman, Brett Anderson, and Dallas Braden.

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Nats Solidify Rotation, A’s Get Prospect Haul in Gio Gonzalez Trade

Posted on December 23, 2011 by Jonathan C. Mitchell

The Washington Nationals, looking to bolster their rotation, added Gio Gonzalez in exchange for a package of four legitimate prospects, three of which have made most top 10 prospects lists for the Nationals.

In Gio Gonzalez, the Nationals get a 26 year old left hander who is coming off of back-to-back seasons of 200+ innings and sub-3.30 ERAs where he has been worth 6.7 fWAR and 9.2 rWAR. Both numbers are very solid but the difference in those WAR totals are what divide some people on Gio.

Gio has a career K/9 of 8.59 thanks to one of the best curveballs in the game and a fastball that sits 91-94. He also has an average change up that helps him keep right handers from sitting on his fastball. Gio does have some issues with both control and command as he has walked 4.44 per nine innings in his career and led the American League in walks last year with 91 after walking 92 the prior year.

Some fear that the ballpark in Oakland aided in Gio’s performance. He has a career 3.56 ERA at home and 4.32 on the road. Oddly, though, he has allowed more homeruns at home and has a slightly lower HR/9 on the road than at home and his career xFIP is also better on the road than at home. And his reputation as a fly ball pitcher is a bit misleading as he has a 47.5% career groundball rate.

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2011 Top 175 Prospects

Posted on March 23, 2011 by Jonathan C. Mitchell



There is no need to bore you with multiple paragraphs that you will not read or maybe skim over at best. Everyone wants to see the list, whether they will agree with it or not. One note is that I did not include anyone that does not qualify as a rookie, meaning anyone over 130 at-bats, over 50 innings pitched, or more than 45 days on the active roster will not make my list. Hope you enjoy it, critique it, and then tell me how awesome I am.

I kid, but seriously, without further ado here is the list:

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