Oakland Athletics 20 PRE-SEASON Prospects in Review
This list was originally published December 12, 2008. This is a review of the PRE-SEASON list for 2009, not a revision of that list. This is a REVIEW of the old list. I'm not doing new grades or lists until I start working on the 2010 book.
1) Trevor Cahill, RHP, Grade A-: 4.66 ERA with 79/64 K/BB in 158 major league innings, 165 hits. Would like to see more strikeouts, but given how much he was rushed this isn't a terrible season.
2) Brett Anderson, LHP, Grade A-: 4.42 ERA with 119/41 K/BB in 147 innings, 150 hits in the majors. Components are better than Cahill's.
3) Aaron Cunningham, OF, Grade B: Hitting .306/.376/.491 with 11 homers, 10 steals for Triple-A Sacramento. Hit .151/.211/.245 in 53 at-bats for Oakland. Will get more chances.
4) Gio Gonzalez, LHP, Grade B: 2.51 ERA with 71/34 K/BB in 61 innings for Sacramento. 6.07 ERA with 81/45 K/BB in 73 innings for Oakland, 85 hits. Very frustrating pitcher. The high strikeout rate shows that he's got a load of potential, and he has nothing left to prove in the minors.
5) Adrian Cardenas, 2B, Grade B: Hit .326/.392/.446 for Double-A Midland, .248/.317/.358 for Sacramento. Needs more Triple-A time.
6) Chris Carter, 1B, Grade B: Hit .337/.435/.576 with 41 doubles, 24 homers, 82 walks, 101 RBI for Midland. Promoted to Sacramento and has hit three homers in his first eight games. Looks like a monster hitter. Just need to figure out position.
7) Jemile Weeks, 2B, Grade B: Hit .299/.385/.468 in 50 games for Class A Stockton, .267/.327/.395 in 25 games for Midland. Slowed by injuries early.
8) Sean Doolittle, 1B-OF, Grade B: Hit .267/.364/.448 in 28 games for Sacramento, went on the DL May 9th with a knee injury.
9) Michael Inoa, RHP, Grade B-: Missed the whole year with an elbow injury.
10) Vin Mazzaro, RHP, Grade B-: 2.38 ERA with 44/17 K/BB in 57 innings for Sacramento, 5.32 ERA with 59/39 K/BB in 91 innings for Oakland, 120 hits. Could be a decent inning-eater but I've always felt he was overhyped.
11) James Simmons, RHP, Grade B-: 5.42 ERA with 80/46 K/BB in 116 innings, 130 hits for Sacramento. Not wild about these ratios.
12) Henry Rodriguez, RHP, Grade B-: 6.05 ERA With 70/35 K/BB in 42 innings for Sacramento, 37 hits. Excellent K/IP ratio, few hits, but way too many walks.
13) Josh Outman, LHP, Grade B-: 3.48 ERA with 53/25 K/BB in 67 innings for Oakland. Was pitching very well, until hurting his elbow. I was right about him; he's a very good pitcher. Too bad his arm didn't hold up.
14) Brett Hunter, RHP, Grade B-: Severe control problems, 6.85 ERA with 55/59 K/BB in 47 innings for Class A Kane County.
15) Andrew Carignan, RHP, Grade B-: Pitched just two innings for Stockton in June.
16) Corey Brown, OF, Grade C+: Hitting .275/.360/.500 for Midland, limited to 62 games but playing well right now.
17) Andrew Bailey, RHP, Grade C+: 1.88 ERA with 76/22 K/BB in 72 innings, 44 hits for Oakland. Another personal favorite, a guy I liked before other people did.
18) Tyson Ross, RHP, Grade C+: 4.25 ERA with 108/52 K/BB in 131 innings between Stockton and Midland, 115 hits. As written about in my trip report a couple of weeks ago, he's got good stuff but command is wobbly at times.
19) John Donaldson, C, Grade C+: Hitting .271/.382/.415 for Midland, 79 walks. Love the plate discipline, would like to see more home run power.
20) Fautino De Los Santos, RHP, Grade C+: Rehabbing in the Arizona Rookie League, 3.86 ERA with 16/4 K/BB in 12 innings so far.
21) Sam Demel, RHP, Grade C+: 0.61 ERA with 26/9 K/BB in 29 innings for Midland, 3.18 ERA with 30/20 K/BB in 28 innings for Sacramento. Has some command issues but could help sometime next year.
22) Rashun Dixon, OF, Grade C+: Hitting .214/.300/.281 for Vancouver in the Northwest League. Great tools, no skills yet.
23) Jason Christian, SS, Grade C+: Hit .261/.341/.385 with 28 steals in 31 attempts for Class A Kane County. Went on the DL in July.
24) Arnold Leon, RHP, Grade C+: 3.17 ERA with 61/25 K/BB in 71 innings for Midland, 65 hits. Could get a look next year.
25) Petey Paramore, C, Grade C+: Hitting .233/.345/.300 for Kane County. Draws walks, but can't do anything else.
Cahill and Anderson were B+ on the original list but I raised them to A- before the book went to press. Considering their lack of high-level minor league experience, I think they've done OK this year, particularly Anderson. Gio is more problematic, and I don't have any idea what they should do with him frankly. Carter's bat looks excellent. I'm glad that Outman and Bailey have done well since I pushed them as underrated prospects. Too bad about Outman's elbow. I like the 2009 draft, mixing in college players with an upside guy like Max Stassi.
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