by Bill Moriarity / A’s Farm Editor
August 12, 2020
Just as MLB Pipeline recently updated its prospect rankings, Baseball America recently published its own up-to-date midseason prospect rankings. Not only did Baseball America’s prospect hounds recalibrate their top 100 prospects in all of baseball and their top 30 prospects for each team, but they also updated their rankings of all 30 team’s farm systems.
With no minor league games being played this season, the players added from this summer’s amateur draft account for most of the changes here. And with that in mind, here are a few notable items from Baseball America’s updated A’s prospect list…
While Baseball America’s experts rank Tampa Bay’s farm system at the top of the list and Milwaukee’s system at the bottom, they rank the A’s system right in the middle of the pack at #15. They note that there’s a steep drop-off once you get past the first few spots on the A’s prospect list. So, once Jesus Luzardo, A.J. Puk and Sean Murphy graduate from prospect status, the A’s overall farm system ranking is likely to take a big hit.
The top four spots on the A’s list remain the same from Baseball America’s preseason rankings, with lefty Jesus Luzardo claiming the top spot, followed by fellow lefty A.J. Puk, catcher Sean Murphy, and right-hander Daulton Jefferies, in that order.
Baseball America ranks Luzardo as the 9th-best prospect in all of baseball and also named him one of the top 10 toolsiest pitching prospects, ranking his changeup as highly as any other pitching prospect’s.
Fellow southpaw A.J. Puk ranks as the 22nd-best prospect in the game and also made the list of the 10 toolsiest pitching prospects, with his slider ranking as the best among all pitching prospects. Meanwhile, catcher Sean Murphy ranks as the 43rd-best prospect overall.
The A’s top pick in this year’s draft, 18-year-old catcher Tyler Soderstrom, is the highest-ranked newcomer on Baseball America’s list of top A’s prospects, making his debut at #5, the same position that he claimed on MLB Pipeline’s list.
With Soderstrom’s addition to the list, former first-round draft pick, outfielder Austin Beck, young Dominican shortstop Robert Puason and infielder Sheldon Neuse each slipped down a notch, with Beck dropping to #6, Puason to #7, and Neuse to #8.
Shortstop Jorge Mateo, who’d previously held the #8 spot, is no longer on the list since he was traded to the Padres this summer. Meanwhile, shortstops Logan Davidson, the A’s top draft pick in 2019, and Nick Allen retain their preseason spots at #9 and #10, respectively. Baseball America is one of the few sources that currently ranks Allen behind Davidson, who only has one-half season of professional ball under his belt.
As with MLB Pipeline, a pair of 26-year-olds represent the two oldest prospects in the A’s top 20 – outfielder Skye Bolt, who comes in at #13, and pitcher James Kaprielian, who checks in at #14. Meanwhile, Soderstrom at age 18 and Puason at just 17 are the two youngest prospects in the top 10. A pair of Colombian teenagers round out the A’s top 20 – 19th-ranked third baseman Jordan Diaz, who’s still 19 but will be turning 20 this month, and 18-year-old outfielder Brayan Buelvas, who checks in at #20.
Catcher Austin Allen, who still retains prospect status, barely missed the top 10, checking in at #11 on Baseball America’s list. Rounding out the midseason top 20 are outfielder Lazaro Armenteros at #12, outfielder Skye Bolt at #13, right-handed pitcher James Kaprielian at #14, last year’s second-round draft pick, right-hander Tyler Baum, at #15, this year’s second-round pick, right-hander Jeff Criswell, at #16, outfielder Greg Deichmann at #17, righty Grant Holmes at #18, third baseman Jordan Diaz at #19, and outfielder Brayan Buelvas at #20
You can find Baseball America’s complete list of A’s prospects here. You can find our recent piece on MLB Pipeline’s updated list here. And you can find A’s Farm’s preseason top 10 prospects list here.
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