Oakland Top 20 Pre-Season Prospects Review

by John Sickels on Nov 10, 2025 3:03 PM EST in News

Joe Blanton

Oakland Athletics Top 20 PRE-SEASON Prospects in Review

1) Dan Meyer, LHP
Went 2-8, 5.36 in 19 games for Triple-A Sacramento, 63/43 K/BB in 89 innings. All ratios way off from 2004. Shoulder problems were the main issue here. He is supposed to be OK in the long run, but obviously we need to see some actual positive data. Stock has dropped significantly.

2) Daric Barton, 1B
Overcame a slow start to hit .318/.438/.469 in the California League, then .316/.410/.491 in Double-A, at age 19. One of the best pure hitters in the minors, with excellent strike zone judgment. Question: how much home run power will he develop?

3) Huston Street, RHP
American League Rookie of the Year.

4) Nick Swisher, OF
Hit .236/.322/.446 with 21 homers for Oakland. I think he will improve gradually, particularly in the OBP department.

5) Joe Blanton, RHP
Solid year, went 12-12, 3.53 in 33 starts for Oakland, 116/67 K/BB in 201 innings. I'd like to see an increase in strikeouts, and/or a decline in his walk rate.

6) Omar Quintinilla, INF
Traded to Colorado Rockies. Hit just .219/.270/.242 in 39 games for the Rockies. He will do better than that in the long run, but I do think I overrated him at the beginning of the season.

7) Richie Robnett, OF
Toolsy outfielder didn't do as well as expected, hitting .243/.324/.440 in the California League. He did knock 20 homers and 30 doubles, but 151 strikeouts in 115 games is a red flag. Still an interesting prospect, but contact will be an issue.

8) Jairo Garcia, RHP
4.47 ERA at Triple-A Sacramento, 73/20 K/BB in 48 innings, 20 saves. Exceptional K/IP ratio is a positive sign, but he still needs to improve his command.

9) Dan Johnson, 1B
Hit .275/.355/.451 in 109 games for Oakland. Given his age (26), he probably won't improve much more beyond where he already is, but his power and patience will be useful.

10) Kurt Suzuki, C
Hit .277/.378/.440 in 114 games for Class A Stockton in the California League. Good strike zone judgment, but hit a bit less than anticipated, and also needs to polish up his defense.

11) Javier Herrera, OF
Hit .275/.374/.444 with 13 homers, 26 steals for Kane County in the Midwest League. Good tools guy, with gradually improving skills, although strikeout rate is high (110 in 94 games) and will have to be monitored.

12) Danny Putnam, OF
Hit .307/.388/.479 with 37 doubles, 15 homers for Stockton. A solid all-around season, and I expect he will continue to hit in Double-A.

13) Brian Snyder, 3B
Missed all but one game due to a rib cage injury.

14) Landon Powell, C
Injured knee. Out for season.

15) Tyler Johnson, LHP
Returned to Cardinals under Rule 5. 4.27 ERA in 57 games for Triple-A Memphis, 77/26 K/BB in 59 games. His component ratios are better than his ERA, note his very strong K/IP. A sleeper for '06.

16) Andre Ethier, OF
Hit .319/.385/.497 with 30 doubles, 18 homers in Double-A. Power improved this year, while he maintained his batting average and OBP. Stock improving.

17) Brad Knox, RHP
8-7, 4.27 in 20 starts for Stockton, 93/34 K/BB in 112 innings. A decent season, but he faces the Double-A test in '06 and will have to show his stuff will hold up.

18) Jason Windsor, RHP
3.58 ERA with 64/8 K/BB in 55 innings for Stockton turned into a 5.72 ERA, 39/23 K/BB in 57 innings for Double-A Midland, a perfect example of how difficult the transition to Double-A can be for a finesse pitcher. Strikeouts shrank, walks grew, H/IP deteriorated sharply.

19) Brad Sullivan, RHP
Neither healthy nor effective for Stockton, 7.30 ERA in 25 innings, 11/21 K/BB. Prospect status is pretty much gone at this point.

20) Ryan Webb, RHP
Went 5-11, 4.76 in 23 starts for Class A Kane County, 84/41 K/BB in 129 innings. Disappointing numbers from a guy I thought was a breakthrough candidate, though at age 19 he still has time to come around.

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re

Great year for the system, even if a couple did struggle. Any guesses where the system will rank overall going into next year John?

by bootsy on Nov 10, 2025 3:26 PM EST 0 recs

John didn't do the team rankings

The fans on this site formulated a couple ways to rank the teams. My guess is that the A's will end up somewhere in the 7-13 range using the methods from last year. It is still a pretty deep system even though it isn't ultra strong at the top.

by LizardKing51 on Nov 10, 2025 3:34 PM EST 0 recs

huge hit

I'd say the 15-20 range is far more likely. Meyer bombed, Robnett and Garcia regressed, and Quintinilla was traded. Daric Barton is a fine #1, but after that it's not terribly strong.

by IanCobb on Nov 10, 2025 3:49 PM EST up 0 recs

If only graded on the above prospects

you might be right. However, with Travis Buck, Cliff Pennington, Kevin Melillo, Dallas Braden, and the HS trio of Lansford, Mazzaro, and Italiano the A's have more than you give credit for.

by gatling on Nov 10, 2025 4:04 PM EST up 0 recs

re:

With the exception of Melillo and Braden, every player you mention is a 2005 draftee yet to reach full-season ball. The strength of the A's system was its near-ready prospects(that's the strength of most of the top farm systems).

I'm not saying they'll be in the bottom 10, but, like I said, after Barton, there's no clear #2 or #3. Melillo and Ethier had good seasons, but they were both 23. Robnett and Herrera are raw. Braden is a location guy that scouts aren't wild about(though I do like him).

I'd say 17 or 18.

by IanCobb on Nov 10, 2025 7:56 PM EST up 0 recs

Pennington and Buck

both made it to Kane County, with Pennington joining Stockton in the playoffs. Both are on a fast track developmentally, with each likely to start in Stockton and easily reaching Midland by years end, and probably Sacramento. They both have the potential to make the big league roster in 2007.

by gatling on Nov 10, 2025 11:14 PM EST up 0 recs

I'd take the middle ground

A's system will probably be around 12-17 range in my uneducated opinion. Lot of depth, little impact talent. It's not a bad thing though, considering the A's just graduated four good young players from the high minors and will likely field them until the next crop is ready.

by salb918 on Nov 10, 2025 4:05 PM EST up 0 recs

Swisher

I was not overly optimistic about him to start the season, and I'm even less so now. As strong as his walk and power numbers were in the minors, it has to be a pretty big warning sign when a guy hits .230 in AA and .269 in AAA. Even Adam Dunn hit .330 in AAA, and at a younger age.

Too bad Brad Sullivan has completely fallen apart. Despite his assocation with the A's, I was hoping he'd do well. He and Ryan Wagner were fun to watch at Houston.

by IanCobb on Nov 10, 2025 3:42 PM EST 0 recs

re

Huh, I'm exactly the opposite. I wasn't a believer in Swisher until this year. He had an excellent first season. 55 xbh, 55 walks, and excellent defense...he doesn't need to bat more than .250 to be very useful, and that's well within reach.

by bootsy on Nov 10, 2025 4:16 PM EST up 0 recs

Swisher in AAA

One thing that can't be overlooked is the injury Swisher played through in 2004. He played the entire year with a torn tendon that required surgery last October. Most guys wouldn't have played through the injury and certainly wouldn't have demonstrated plus power from both sides of the plate while hurt. Swisher wasn't able to prepare for his first big league season like he would have wanted to due to the surgery and rehab. I think he will improve on his rookie numbers and a couple of years from now will be an all-star.

by mhef08 on Nov 10, 2025 4:30 PM EST up 0 recs

re:

A .768 OPS for a 24 year old corner outfielder is an "excellent first season"?

If he hits .250/.350/.450(and he'll need to improve his plate discipline considerably for that to happen), and plays solid defense, he'll be an average everyday big leaguer. That's a far cry from the future star he was being billed as from the A's organization/fans.

by IanCobb on Nov 10, 2025 7:59 PM EST up 0 recs

re

Yes, a .768 OPS from a rookie corner outfielder can be considered an excellent season. He's only going to get better.

Oh, and UZR says Swisher was the best defensive OF'er in baseball last season. Take that for whatever you want.

http://www.as-future.blogspot.com/

by blee1134 on Nov 10, 2025 8:24 PM EST up 0 recs

excellent?

If a .768 OPS can be considered EXCELLENT for a rookie corner OF in his mid twenties... then what was Jason Bay's 2004 Season? SUPERCALIFRAGILISTICEXPIALIDOCIOUS ????

If you overuse Excellent it begins to have no meaning. Swisher had a "solid" rookie year...

"If you don't like Torey Lovullo, then you don't like baseball." Sparky Anderson

by natsfan2005 on Nov 10, 2025 8:31 PM EST up 0 recs

re:

"Yes, a .768 OPS from a rookie corner outfielder can be considered an excellent season."

Sure, if that corner outfielder was a toolsy but raw 20 year old. Swisher is supposed to be an advanced college-seasoned hitter. A 24-year-old, advanced college-seasoned hitter, who has played at every level of the minor league system(except low-A).

I think Swisher can have a decent major league career, but there is absolutely nothing to suggest an "excellent" season. For a franchise that claims to value statistical production above all else, Swisher didn't deliver much of that.

by IanCobb on Nov 10, 2025 8:38 PM EST up 0 recs

re

Again, part of Swisher's value comes in his defense.

But yes, his offensive season was excellent. Was it the best season that a 24 yr old rookie has ever put up? Of course not. But his IsoP was great for a rookie (pretty good even for a vet) and his IsoD only got better as the season went on. Also, if I'm talking about how good a rookie season was, I would consider how he looks heading into next season. And I have all the confidence in the world in Swisher being very good next year.

And please don't call me a homer because I feel the opposite way about Dan Johnson.

http://www.as-future.blogspot.com/

by blee1134 on Nov 10, 2025 9:14 PM EST up 0 recs

trending upward?

Swish hit .187 and struck out in 1/3 of his ABs in September. The power was good in Sept as 10 of his 14 hits went for extras... but this is not a sustainable approach for an everyday player. Ask Russ Branyan. He will need to stop selling out contact for power as much as he apparently did that month.

IsoP and IsoD are nice, but you should still hit a bare minium of .250 no matter what. .187 in Sep and .217 in Aug are not encouraging.

Overall, I like the Brad Wilkerson comp.

by TINSTAAPP on Nov 10, 2025 9:22 PM EST up 0 recs

re:

I won't call you a homer, but I will reiterate that I see absolutely no basis for the claim that his season was "excellent". At best, it was "solid". Given the hype, I don't know how anyone could argue it wasn't just a little underwhelming, if not slightly dissapointing.

If he cannot make consistent contact(something he didn't do in the minors, in his callup last year, and certainly not in his first full season in the majors), he'll have a tough time being an above average player in the major leagues.

by IanCobb on Nov 10, 2025 10:00 PM EST up 0 recs

and

while the scouting reports on his defense are usually fairly positive, Swisher ranked dead last in RF among the 15 right-fielders with at least 140 chances, and in the bottom third in ZR.

I'm not big on defensive statistics, but I'm assuming this is the sabermetric crowd, so there it is.

by IanCobb on Nov 10, 2025 10:12 PM EST up 0 recs

re

Swisher's K rate was not terrible at all last season.

And I don't like D stats much either, but he was the best according to UZR, which is much more indicitive of true value than either RF or ZR. Like I said, take that for whatever you think it's worth.

http://www.as-future.blogspot.com/

by blee1134 on Nov 10, 2025 10:23 PM EST up 0 recs

Hmm...

If Swisher was "excellent", what about Grady Sizemore (23 yo, .832 OPS) this year? Is there an adjective great enough to describe that season?

by FI on Nov 10, 2025 10:28 PM EST up 0 recs

Excellent.

Is "excellent" such an overly great adjective? For a rookie, he excelled. You can excel and not be a rookie of the year.

I think what we seem to be arguing about is more semantics than anything else.

Unless that's just what I'm arguing about. : )

by abbreviatedman on Nov 10, 2025 10:38 PM EST up 0 recs

Excellent goodness

Maybe another way to think about this is grading a season (on an A - F scale). I think an "excellent" evaluation would be appropriate for an A or A+ grade. You wouldn't see, for example, a teacher hand back a test with a B or C on it and write "Excellent work!" unless they had pretty low expectations to start with.

So how would you grade Swisher's season?

by FI on Nov 10, 2025 10:44 PM EST up 0 recs

Metawickedtastic...

describes Sizemore quite well, I think.

by Sulla on Nov 10, 2025 10:45 PM EST up 0 recs

You know,

Swisher was the one in the 2002 draft that everyone wanted. He's no Jeremy Brown (although I see nothing wrong with the methods Beane used in general).

No need to hate.

Nick's the son of an MLB vet, and showed a ton of college promise. If he maxes out at league average, it ain't so bad....hell, that result's better than par when it comes to June drafting.

by Azteca on Nov 10, 2025 11:22 PM EST up 0 recs

re:

"If he hits .250/.350/.450(and he'll need to improve his plate discipline considerably for that to happen), and plays solid defense, he'll be an average everyday big leaguer."

Huh? Swisher had a very good walk rate in 2005. If he hit .250, he would only have needed to walk a few more times to have a .350 OBP--which is hardly a considerable increase.

Further, an .800 OPS from a corner OF is better than average.

by AthertonA on Nov 11, 2025 11:42 AM EST up 0 recs

I disagree about Windsor's 'hard transition'

to double A. The reason he and Braden's ERA went up so high was because they got deadarm and the A's failed to shut them down soon enough.

by Zonis on Nov 10, 2025 4:35 PM EST 0 recs

Question for A's fans

Where do you rank guys like Shane Komine and Stephen Obenchain. Komine is a great late round pick I've always been a fan of, and Obenchain is a supplemental 1st rounder if not mistaken. Obenchain has pretty much vanished into obscurity though, what happened? Thanks.

by cincyinco on Nov 10, 2025 5:34 PM EST 0 recs

Komine AKA Hawaiin Punch is on year 2 I think

of Post TJ Surgery, and has pitched almost lighst out in the AFL, after pitching pretty well this season. Obenchain went down this year. He might have had TJ, but he only pitched 50 innings this yeas

by theblackpearl on Nov 10, 2025 6:37 PM EST up 0 recs

Pitching well when tired

So Braden and Windsor had dead arms? Really? Cause they didn't that many innings and had pitched as much or more the year before. The dead arm excuse could conceivably apply for any pitcher who isn't fabulous at a level. The thing with both Braden and Windsor is that they are flyball pitchers with average to below average stuff and so when they struggle against better competition at a higher level, it's something to take stock of.

The thing that I've always wondered about the excuse of pitchers being tired and not performing up to their abilities is that all pitchers go through it, at the major and minor league level. But it's how a pitcher gets through without his best stuff is one way how elite pitchers separate themselves from the good to average ones, isn't it?

by Yethal on Nov 10, 2025 6:28 PM EST 0 recs

Windsor

Windsor pitched VERY heavily in the College World Series, then went to pitch for the A's in the minors.

Braden came out and said before he was shut down that he reached the point of not being able to feel his arm. Windsor was the same, and after being heavily used previously.. well you know.

by Zonis on Nov 10, 2025 6:42 PM EST up 0 recs

John: Alexi Ogando?

Any word on his status?

by ToddyBaseball on Nov 10, 2025 6:32 PM EST 0 recs

Jeremy Brown?

Any word on the Moneyball star?

Nolan

by Nolan on Nov 10, 2025 6:45 PM EST 0 recs

Jeremy had a breakout year in his power stats

We will see if it was Park factor, or player improvement, either way he solidified himself as a potential back up catcher, and Jeans model.

by theblackpearl on Nov 10, 2025 6:55 PM EST up 0 recs

and

he only needed three years in Double-A(where he was one of the oldest players on his team) to do it.

by IanCobb on Nov 10, 2025 8:02 PM EST up 0 recs

Underrated A's prospects

include Stavisky, Brown, Watson and Komine. I think that Watson and Brown can help the club next year as a 5th OFer and a backup catcher. Stavisky gets no press but had a tremendous growth season in Double A. Komine has opened a lot of eyes in the AFL.

by DKNJ on Nov 10, 2025 7:34 PM EST 0 recs

re

Yes, Windsor and Braden both had arm troubles. Windsor actually had an arm strain before coming back and struggling. He was then shut down right around the time Braden was.

Obenchain is not one of the top 100 prospects in the A's system. He's never shown a thing. I'd say Komine is 20-25 in the system right now.

Swisher is going to be a monster. As the season went on his walk rate improved a ton and he battled some fatique that he overcame when he switched to a lighter bat. Swisher will hit 30 HR's in the very near future and I expect his OPS to be over .900.

The complaint of Blanton's periphs are very misleading. After May, when Blanton really took off, his K:9 and K:BB were both very very good.

http://www.as-future.blogspot.com/

by blee1134 on Nov 10, 2025 7:48 PM EST 0 recs

Swisher

I can't see Swisher posting an OPS over .900. He'll likely see his SLG and OBP curbed by a low batting average.

I think the '04 version of Brad Wilkerson is Swisher's ceiling.

by Sulla on Nov 10, 2025 8:34 PM EST up 0 recs

900 ops is bit high for me

I see him with 30 HR power, at 500 SLug and a 350 OBP so toping out around 850.

More than acceptable for cheap corner OF.

by novaoakland on Nov 10, 2025 8:36 PM EST up 0 recs

Agreed on Swisher...

being the next Brad Wilkerson.

Wilkerson is a pretty damn good and pretty damn underrated player.

by SenorGato88 on Nov 11, 2025 1:38 AM EST 0 recs

wilkerson

interesting. i was going to say that i'd be thrilled to death if swish turned into the next wilkerson, but that i thought it was unlikely. then i looked at wilkerson's career stats:

.256/.365/.452

most of his 2200 AB are in the last four years, from age 25-28, generally considered one's peak. suddenly swisher's .236/.322/.446 at age 24 doesn't look so far off. still, i can't shake the feeling that he doesn't have a great idea what he's doing at the plate. he takes a lot of pitches but isn't what you'd call "disciplined"; he gets himself out a lot on bad breaking stuff. i wonder if he'll ever hit .270+.

the defensive stats are wildly conflicting, but i watched a lot of A's games this year and subjectively, swish looks thoroughly... adequate. he gets decent jumps and has a modicum of athleticism. i can't honestly say anything more than that--he's certainly neither elite (as UZR suggests) nor terrible. if i had to guess which side of league average he would land on, i'd have to take the under, but not by much.

by jpahk on Nov 11, 2025 3:08 AM EST 0 recs

About Nick Swisher

Plate discipline: Uh, guys. He still had it. It's 322 because the average was 230..

Swisher overcame plenty of terrible things last season. Like wrist surgery that affected his right handed swing (he wasn't allowed to the whole offseason). He got off to a horrendous start (like ever single A in May) and then dislocated his shoulder missing three weeks. He came back and the power lit up, though his average for one month maxed at 252. Swisher was pretty terrible against lefties last year, which doesn't make sense when you look at the fact that Swisher was exactly opposite in AAA, so i think you can at least partly attribute that to his wrist surgery (broken wrist).

Expectations are high, but i dont see how last year lowered them that much let alone significantly. Not all rookies dominated like Pujols, Bay. He will have to improve the average, but the A's organization is confident that he will, and there must be a reason predicted Swisher would be the 08 batting champ.

by ohad on Nov 11, 2025 3:28 AM EST 0 recs

A batting title?

Was that prediction made before or after Swisher proceeded to hit .261 as a minor leaguer?

by Sulla on Nov 11, 2025 5:55 AM EST up 0 recs

Going into AAA season i believe.

by ohad on Nov 11, 2025 7:57 AM EST up 0 recs

as I recall

ESPN the magazine had him as a future batting champ.

by IanCobb on Nov 11, 2025 10:49 AM EST up 0 recs

plate discipline

Plate discipline is more than just taking walks, and while his walk rate was pretty good, it's going to have get significantly better to warrant all the Brad Wilkerson comps I'm seeing here. At his walk-rate from last year, he'd have a .343 OBP(about 30-35 points shy of where Wilkerson usually stands) if he hit .260. Of course, keep in mind, he was barely a .260 hitter in the minors.

by IanCobb on Nov 11, 2025 11:13 AM EST up 0 recs

see BABIP

Swisher had a horrible .266 BABIP last year. I'm not sure how exactly to calculate so i'll ask you: If Swishers BABIP sat at 310 (league average), what would his batting average have been? So we can expect an improvement there. We can also expect improvements in the BA against lefties category. Also, you have something against his plate disciplin even though he drew 100 walks in AAA (400 OBP). One rookie year does not just throw all that out the window. I still have confidence in Swisher and am expecting the avreage to be around 270 next year.

by ohad on Nov 11, 2025 11:30 AM EST up 0 recs

again

...plate discipline is more than walks. As I said, his walk rate was pretty good, but for a guy who may never hit more than .260, it'll have to be significantly better if he's going to be "the next Brad Wilkerson". I think he's capable of walking 80-85 times a year, but I'm not sure he's going to hit .260; at least, not without sacrificing some of his power.

Assuming he can hit .260, and further assuming he can hit .260 while maintaining the same walk-rate and the same TB-rate he had this year(which would be impressive, given the adjustments he'll have to make just to hit .260), he'd have this line: .260/.343/.496. An .839 OPS for a cheap corner outfielder with moderate defense isn't bad at all, but it's not a star.

by IanCobb on Nov 11, 2025 11:54 AM EST up 0 recs

he's probably not gonna be a star

and expectations were extremely high thanks to the whole moneyball craze. Some unrealistic expectations were set on him. But if he could do that next year that would be fantastic. Considering he was a rookie i have plenty of faith in him.

by ohad on Nov 11, 2025 1:48 PM EST up 0 recs

2002 draft 1st rd...

http://www.baseballamerica.com/today/draft/top100sign02.html

from that 1st rd..there were probably 10 or 11 current major leaguers or top prospets from that draft..whether swisher becomes a star or just a solid player...he'll still end up being one of the better players picked in that 1st rd

by rayver723 on Nov 12, 2025 3:34 AM EST 0 recs

when you have seven first round picks

You should hit on at least one. It looks like they'll get two solid players(Blanton, Swisher), who were, incidentally, the two guys that scouts liked, as well.

Of course, if you look at the Marlins draft, you could easily make the argument that they'll get more out of their first seven picks, chosen in consecutive rounds, than Oakland will theirs. For less money, too. Jeremy Hermida, Scott Olsen, Josh Johnson and Robert Andino have all made it to the big leagues. Hermida and Olsen look like potential stars, Johnson is certainly a better pitching prospect than Fritz, and while Andino may not be anything more than a defensive specialist, his glove is considered good enough to keep him in the majors.

by IanCobb on Nov 12, 2025 12:08 PM EST up 0 recs

re

And Teahen is starting in the big leagues as well.

With 7 picks 16-39, the A's have produced 2 good major leaguers, another ML'er (Teahen) and a likely backup catcher in Jeremy Brown. Yup, scouts liked Blanton and Swisher..They liked John McCurdy too.

Assuming Brown can have a semi decent career as a backup, the A's got 4 major leaguers out of 7 picks 16-39. That is much better than average for those slots.

http://www.as-future.blogspot.com/

by blee1134 on Nov 12, 2025 1:08 PM EST 0 recs

i respectfully disagree

first of all--i don't think brown will be a backup catcher. stop drinking the kool-aid! he's 26 and hasn't yet reached AAA, and nobody is particularly impressed with his glovework. it's fine--the A's had 7 picks, and not much money to spend, and they got two real good first-rounders, plus a couple pieces of significant trade bait (teahen for dotel, billy murphy for mark redman). nothing wrong with that. just because brown won't make it (and really, he won't), doesn't mean the draft wasn't a success. conversely, just because the draft was pretty good doesn't mean every player picked will work out.

secondly, scouts liked mccurdy? i don't remember this being the case. i thought they hated mccurdy, but the A's took him because he had the highest SLG% in division I.

by jpahk on Nov 12, 2025 1:19 PM EST up 0 recs

why can't brown be a backup catcher?

he has command of the strike zone and is reputed as a leader behind the plate. He also had an 846 OPS in AA. He did it at 25, you are right. But this warrants a backup catchers job...

by ohad on Nov 12, 2025 2:22 PM EST up 0 recs

Brown and the rest

Do you think Baseball America drinks the "Kool-Aid?" In Will Lingo's Texas League chat he said, "The shock over him being the 35th overall pick in the 2002 draft endures, but several managers actually do think he'll be a big leaguer...I think he'll definitely get to the big leagues, though I don't see him as any more than a backup."

Brown was taken with the 35th pick. According to Rany's draft study at BP, that pick is expected to make the majors a bit less than half the time and have a career WARP of about 9. I would say Brown is well on his way to being an averagish pick for his slot. BA didn't rate Brown in its top 250 prospects for 2002. I think the A's were much more right about Brown than the scouts were.

McCurdy was taken with the 26th pick. BA rated him as the 45th best prospect in the draft and as the second best 2B. BA says in their report: "at least a couple of teams were considering him in the first round."

Swisher was taken with the 16th pick. BA had him as the 34th best prospect (3rd at 1B). So Swisher was "overdrafted" by just one more slot than McCurdy. To say the Swisher pick was agreeable to the scouts, but the scouts "hated" McCurdy, is wrong (IMO).

According to the BPro draft study, Swisher's pick averages 15 WARP and Blanton's 14. So far, Blanton's at 6.6 and Swisher has 2.6. I think they're both good best to exceed the average for their slot. The rest of the 7 picks (McCurdy, Fitz, Brown, Obenchain, and Teahen) average out at a total of 30 WARP. Teahen and Brown should chip away at that, while Swisher and Blanton could make up for the rest. It all remains to be seen of course.

The Moneyball draft was nowhere near the miracle Lewis described, but it's not looking too bad. That said, it could very well have been the second worst draft of Beane's tenure in terms of return versus expected return.

by AthertonA on Nov 12, 2025 7:31 PM EST up 0 recs

a book for the 2004 draft should be made....

that draft will probably be considered one of the A's best in recent memory...mostly drafted college players, but their top 5 players in that draft can hopeully be in the big leagues in the next 2-3 yrs

by rayver723 on Nov 13, 2025 2:02 AM EST 0 recs

not a bad gorup..

powell, robnett, street, putnam, suzuki, windsor, melillo, braden...i think they'll all be in oakland eventually...i dont expect all to be stars..but i'll take one ot two from that group...of course, we already got one in street..we'll see what happens to the others

by rayver723 on Nov 13, 2025 2:06 AM EST up 0 recs