by Bill Moriarity / A’s Farm Editor
May 14, 2021
In his first year as the A’s director of player development in 2020, Ed Sprague certainly wasn’t expecting to be spending last summer in San Jose. But that’s exactly where the northern California native found himself once the A’s alternate camp set up shop there. This year, things have gone a little more according to plan for the former All-Star third baseman who’s now in charge of developing the current crop of A’s prospects and turning them into big league contributors for Oakland.
We took the opportunity to talk with Sprague earlier this week while he was in Stockton overseeing some of the organization’s youngest prospects who are now playing for the Ports. You’ll find some particularly interesting portions of our conversation where we talked about prospects like Logan Davidson, Nick Allen, Luis Barrera, Tyler Soderstrom, Robert Puason, Austin Beck and Lazaro Armenteros below. But you can find the complete conversation available on A’s Cast.
AF: Well, fortunately, we’ve actually got a minor league season up and running here…It must’ve been exciting for you to see some of these guys in camp. I know you’ve seen some of them along the way…but some of these guys you probably hadn’t seen in a couple of years…I was curious to know if there were any standouts for you this spring…if there were any guys you saw and you just thought, “Wow, this guy is really opening my eyes here, this guy has really made the most of his time while he was away.”
ES: Yeah, I think [catcher] Drew Millas, even though we saw him in instructional league, we hadn’t really seen him for a whole year because he’s never played until this year. He was probably the most impressive in terms of people we’d never seen play in a game. He was pretty good. [Catcher] Jose Rivas came back looking pretty good, and his skills seemed to have improved. Obviously, Chase Cohen‘s velocity. We had a few guys that had some uptick in velocity, and that could be just due to the rest, maybe some training techniques they used during the pandemic. It was nice to see some guys come out throwing the ball pretty good.
AF: With no minor league season last year, there were a lot of interesting decisions to be made on where you were going to assign these guys. Some of these players not only skipped a level, but they actually ended up skipping a couple of levels this year. So can you talk a little bit about the thought process and the decision making in terms of which guys you were really going to aggressively promote after the off year and which guys you were going to be a little more conservative with?
ES: Yeah, it really came down to balancing playing time with certain guys, especially the catchers. There’s always that concern when you’re jumping a level – and now you’re jumping two levels. Guys like Kyle McCann and Logan Davidson really hadn’t played other than outside of Vermont, short-season. So there’s obviously concerns there. You’re just hoping that, being a college guy at a big program, they’ll be fine. And you’re not sure what the levels are going to look like. I think everybody’s facing the same challenges with their players. I think most of the players that got released during the pandemic were probably in their mid-20s, your Double-A type guys. I don’t think most people released too many young guys. You need those young guys to go out and play. So far, what I’ve seen in the California League, or not California – the Low-A West, is it looks like it’s going to be a pretty young league, which is good because our team in Stockton is fairly young as well.
AF: Yeah, it’s interesting, with minor league reorganization this year, there’s just so many variables. And then having no minor league season last year, that provides even more variables. So it was really a crap shoot how everything was going to end up this year. You mentioned some of those guys that went straight from short-season Vermont all the way up to Double-A this year. One of them in particular was your former first-round pick, Logan Davidson. And you also decided to have a couple of other high-draft-pick middle infielders go to Midland as well – Nick Allen and Jeremy Eierman, along with Davidson. Can you talk a little bit about the thinking on that? I think everybody was surprised to see all those shortstops there on that one team. So what made you want to send all those guys there to Midland and have them start there this year?
ES: Well, like I said, we had some young guys that had to move up too. So we just had people in the pipeline that have to start playing. And all those guys, just given their maturity level – Nick’s played in the Arizona Fall League, and both of them were at the alt site, they’ve been to big league camp. So we’re hoping some of that experience pays off. That’s a big jump for those guys. But other than that, we’ve got Bobby Crosby there managing. He does a really good job with the infielders. He’s got great relationships with all those infielders. And so the ability to move those guys around and play second, short and third would be fine. We love the versatility to be able to do that in the organization anyway. So I think it won’t hurt the development at the shortstop position.
AF: Well, I guess if you’re going to have a bunch of shortstops in one place, you might as well have them being managed by Bobby Crosby, right?
ES: That’s right, yeah.
AF: Another guy there at Midland this year, I know he doesn’t get a lot of attention, but it seems like he’s done nothing but hit ever since he joined the organization, and that’s Jonah Bride. I think he was a 23rd-round draft pick, not high on the radar, and he’s gotten off to such a hot start. He’s hitting home runs every game there in Midland…Can you tell me what you see in Jonah Bride?
ES: Yeah, Jonah came in obviously from a big program in South Carolina and played short-season and then got to Stockton in ’19, struggled early, was able to make some adjustments, took away his leg kick, and he took off from there…He’s come back strong as ever. He’s really more of a package guy than a tool guy. He doesn’t necessarily have one carrying tool, but he knows how to play the game. He does everything pretty good. He’s versatile – he could play third, second and first. He’s got some power. He’s got the ability to hit a little bit. He’s not like a pure power guy. He doesn’t have above-average arm strength, but he’s very accurate. He’s a solid defender. So again, it’s more package than tool.
AF: Yeah, he’s just one of those under-the-radar guys that seems to know how to play the game. And we’ve definitely been keeping our eye on him here. A guy that I know really stood out to you and other people at the alt site, and I think also in spring training as well, is Luis Barrera, who’s at Las Vegas this year. He’s gotten off to a good start as well. Where do you think he’s at in his development, and just how close do you think he is to being ready for being able to make a contribution at the major league level?
ES: Well, he’s as close as he can get, right? He’s in Triple-A and he’s on the roster and he’s swinging the bat well, so it’s just a matter of getting an opportunity. Yeah, we’ve been singing his praises for a few years in player development with the strides he’s made. His ’19 season got cut short with a shoulder injury, but he came back. And he’s just a guy that we’ve always thought could hit. Controls the strike zone. He’s gifted with great hand-eye coordination, so he has a tendency to be able to go out of the zone and put the bat on the ball. But that can get exposed the higher you go up when there’s a little bit better stuff, little bit more later movement. So he’s worked on that. He started taking a few walks here and there, but he’s going to be a low-strikeout, low-walk guy and sprays the ball around the field. He can run…I think he should be ready fairly soon.
AF: Yeah, he certainly seems to have the ability to put the bat on the ball, that’s for sure. And he gets around the bases mighty quick too. It’s fun to watch him once he gets on base. The A’s have a new High-A affiliate this year, the Lansing Lugnuts. And it’s interesting because it looks like most of your draft picks from last year have been assigned to High-A Lansing this year. Guys like Michael Guldberg, the outfielder, and then pitchers Jeff Criswell and Stevie Emanuels are starting out there, and then also a couple of undrafted free agents you signed last year too, Jake Suddleson and Will Simoneit, are there. So it’s looking like High-A Lansing is maybe going to be the first destination for a lot of your higher college picks in the future.
ES: Yeah, I just think the way that, with our Latin program starting to come on…Stockton’s been the landing spot. I think the average age of the Stockton team’s probably not much higher than 20 years old. We have some young players that are playing there every day for the first time. And so it just made more sense to put some of the older college kids in High-A Lansing.
AF: Yeah, it’s such a different scenario without having a short-season team in the New York-Penn League now. But I was going to ask you about that, because it seems like you’ve got a ton of young Latin American players there in Stockton this year. It’s looking like maybe that’s going to be the first stop for a lot of your Latin American talent going forward. But also, two of the most high-profile prospects in the A’s system, a couple of young guys, both teenagers, Tyler Soderstrom, who was your first-round pick last year, and then Robert Puason, a highly-touted player as well, both starting the season at Stockton. Can you talk about the decision to start them both there rather than taking it slow with maybe a little Arizona League action first?
ES: Yeah, we didn’t really have any qualms with Soderstrom. His bat is pretty advanced for his age. He’s played a lot of games. He’s played a lot of high-level summer games with Team USA and showcases, stuff like that. So he’s seen the quality of the pitching. There’s a little bit more concern with Puason. We did have a couple of injuries in camp to Yerdel Vargas and Marcos Brito that didn’t really force our hand but kind of gave Puason a chance to go out and get his feet wet. He just hasn’t played any games. It’s different in Latin America, you’re doing a lot of tryouts and showcases. You’re not really playing in games. So his in-game knowledge and the pace of play and all that stuff, it’s going to take a little bit longer for him, where Tyler’s a little more experienced at least in play. Even though they’re both the same age, Tyler’s just played more games, whether it be through high school or summer ball or travel ball.
AF: Right, yeah, certainly growing up in the States, there’s plenty of opportunities to get into plenty of games. And like you mentioned, in Latin America, that’s not quite so much the case. Soderstrom, thus far, certainly seems to be pretty polished for a teenager and certainly looks like a very promising young hitter…But you’ve also got some intriguing guys like Brayan Buelvas and Junior Perez there. Can you talk a little bit about some of the other Latin America players there in Stockton this year that you’ve got your eye on?
ES: Yeah, obviously Brayan came on the scene a couple of years ago as a 17-year-old came into the Arizona League and did very well. And then obviously last year, we were fortunate enough to take him to the alt site where he got to be around some older players. He struggled, which was to be expected. And he kind of struggled in the instructional league, but he came back this spring and had a really good spring. He’s off to a pretty good start, I think, so far. They’re all going to struggle a little bit at times, just getting used to playing six days in a row, but he’s done well. And Junior Perez, we’re getting our first real look at him after getting him over from San Diego. But he seems to be a fun player to watch. He can run it down in the outfield. The ball comes off his bat a lot different than some of the younger players. It’s got some loud sound. So I think there’s some future power in there for him.
AF: It’s going to be a lot of fun for fans in Stockton to get a first look at some of these really talented, really young Latin American players who are going to be coming through Stockton. And then a couple of guys I wanted to ask you about as well are Austin Beck and Lazaro Armenteros. Of course, two guys who were very highly-touted prospects in the A’s system, and both of them maybe haven’t developed as quickly as some would have hoped. And this year, Austin Beck is back repeating High-A. This year it’s at Lansing, that’s the new High-A affiliate. And then Lazaro is back in Stockton, which is actually the Low-A affiliate this year. So that’s a bit of a step backwards for him. So can you talk a little bit about the decision to place those guys where you did and why you felt those were the best assignments for them to start out this year?
ES: Yeah, we just wanted them to get off to a good start. We felt like, whether it’s splitting them up and getting at-bats, and repeating a level or maybe going down a level, they both need to work on their strike zone recognition, their breaking ball recognition. They both missed a year, just like everybody else. So it was just getting them off to a good start. We didn’t want to push them up another level and have them struggle again. We just wanted to give them some confidence to go out there and maybe play with a little bit of a chip on their shoulder and get back on track.
AF: Right, yeah, it certainly could help to build their confidence, and it never hurts to play with a chip on your shoulder. I remember the year that Ryon Healy got left behind in Double-A at Midland when everybody else got promoted. And he played with a chip on his shoulder and ended up in Oakland very quickly.
ES: That’s right!
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