Interviews - A's Farm

A’s Manager Bob Melvin Gives the Lowdown on the A’s Top Prospects

In spring training, A’s manager Bob Melvin mainly has his mind on trying to get his big league lineup ready to roll for the regular season. But with fifty-five players in camp everyday to start the spring, there are plenty of prospects who are bound to pique the skipper’s interest…

Catching Up With: A’s Top Prospect Addison Russell

At age 20, the A’s top prospect, shortstop Addison Russell, was invited to spend spring training in the A’s big league camp playing with and against major leaguers this spring. Most people expect Russell to be the A’s opening day shortstop in 2015, after Jed Lowrie’s expected departure via free…

Catcher Stephen Vogt Offers the Inside Scoop on the A’s Top Pitching Prospects

Catcher Stephen Vogt turned out to be something of a secret weapon for the A’s last year. Acquired from Tampa Bay during the first week of the season, he started the year at Sacramento. But when catcher John Jaso went down with a concussion, Vogt got the call. And not…

A’s Hurlers Sonny Gray and Jim Johnson Excited to Do Their Part in 2014

As part of A’s FanFest this past weekend, a few representatives of the A’s took some time out to attend a bloggers-only press conference at the Coliseum. The day’s sessions wrapped up with an appearance by the dynamic duo of young starter Sonny Gray and veteran closer Jim Johnson. Gray,…

A’s Manager Bob Melvin on Jaso’s Return, How New Additions Gentry & Punto Fit into the Picture and Why He Loves Managing the A’s

As part of A’s FanFest this past weekend, a few representatives of the A’s took some time out to attend a bloggers-only press conference at the Coliseum. And A’s manager Bob Melvin followed assistant GM David Forst on the hot seat. In a question-and-answer session earlier in the day at…

A’s Assistant GM David Forst on Top Prospects Russell & McKinney, Coco’s New Contract and What the A’s Expect from Reddick in 2014

As part of A’s FanFest this past weekend, a few representatives of the A’s took some time out to attend a bloggers-only press conference at the Coliseum. First up was A’s assistant general manager David Forst who volunteered a generous bit of time to talk about some top major and…

A’s Top Prospects Talk About Life In The AFL

The Arizona Fall League just wrapped up its 31-game schedule this past week. As some of you probably already know, there are six teams in the AFL with each team comprised of prospects from five different organizations. Organizations typically use the AFL as an opportunity to get their top prospects…

Exclusive: A’s Super Scout Grady Fuson Talks Top Prospects with A’s Farm

One of the most popular pieces we’ve featured here on A’s Farm over the past year or so was our profile of A’s super scout (and Moneyball bad guy) Grady Fuson. He was the A’s scouting director from 1995 until 2001, when he left the A’s to become the assistant general manager of…

Exclusive: Get the Inside Scoop on the A’s Top Prospects from Sacramento River Cats Skipper Steve Scarsone

After spending the past two seasons mentoring A’s minor leaguers as the manager at Midland, Steve Scarsone is now midway through his first season as the skipper in Sacramento. And he’s currently charged with overseeing the development of a number of the A’s former 1st-round draft picks – players like…

Catching Up With: The Sacramento River Cats

The Sacramento River Cats boast three Pacific Coast League All-Stars this season – outfielder Michael Choice, second baseman Grant Green and pitcher Sonny Gray. All are former 1st-round draft picks and all could soon be seeing time in Oakland, so you forward-looking A’s fans ought to get acquainted with them…

Catching Up With: The Stockton Ports

There’s no question that two of the A’s top hitting prospects can currently be found in the clubhouse of the California League Stockton Ports. The A’s 8th overall draft pick in last year’s draft, first baseman Max Muncy, currently leads all A’s minor leaguers in home runs and RBIs. And…

Getting To Know: A’s New Catcher Stephen Vogt

Originally drafted by Tampa Bay back in 2007, veteran minor league catcher Stephen Vogt didn’t get his first cup of coffee in the big leagues until last year when, at the age of 27, he got into 18 games for the Rays. The A’s acquired him just after the 2013…

Exclusive: Get the Inside Scoop on the A’s Top 12 Draft Picks of 2013 from A’s Scouting Director Eric Kubota

For the second year in a row, the A’s surprised the baseball world by selecting a high school hitter with their first pick in the amateur draft. Last year’s top pick, Addison Russell, has generated an awful lot of enthusiasm from both inside and outside the organization, and now this year’s…

Catching Up With: A’s Prospect Sonny Gray

by James Ham / A’s Farm Correspondent Rumors broke last week that the Oakland A’s 2011 1st-round draft pick Sonny Gray might be in line to make his major league debut if Jarrod Parker couldn’t make his scheduled start. It turned out to be a false alarm, but Parker, Tommy…

Catching Up With: A’s Prospect Michael Choice

by James Ham / A’s Farm Correspondent Sacramento River Cats hitting coach Greg Sparks has had his paws on the A’s future center fielder Michael Choice ever since Oakland selected him with the 10th pick in the 2010 MLB Amateur Draft. Before becoming the hitting coach in Sacramento last season, Sparks…

Exclusive: A’s Director of Player Personnel Billy Owens Talks 2012 Draft Class with A’s Farm

Believe it or not, baseball’s amateur draft is only five weeks away, and hard-core A’s fans will soon have a fresh batch of hot prospects to ponder. With this in mind, it seems like a good time to take a look back at last year’s draft class and see where…

Prospect Watch with Grady, Farhan & Melvin

While soaking up plenty of Arizona sun during our spring training tour, we also wanted to make sure we got a little light shed on some of the A’s top prospects by folks in the know. So we took the opportunity to talk to three guys who really ought to…

Exclusive: A’s Director of Baseball Operations Farhan Zaidi Talks Top Prospects with A’s Farm – Part 2

Yesterday, we brought you Part 1 of A’s Farm’s exclusive interview with A’s director of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi, where he gave us the lowdown on top prospects Addison Russell, Dan Straily, Michael Choice, Sonny Gray and Grant Green. In Part 2, we’ll cover Miles Head, Daniel Robertson, Renato Nunez, Michael…

Exclusive: A’s Director of Baseball Operations Farhan Zaidi Talks Top Prospects with A’s Farm – Part 1

Last month, we brought you A’s Farm’s Consensus Top 10 Prospect List, taking a look at some of the team’s top young talent down on the farm. At the time, we offered our own analysis of each of the players on our list. But we wanted to talk with someone…

Getting To Know: A’s Top Prospect Addison Russell

Well, last week, we brought you an interview with the A’s top pitching prospect on our Top 10 Prospect List – Dan Straily. And this week, we took the opportunity to have a little chat with the organization’s top hitting prospect, shortstop Addison Russell. The A’s top draft pick in…