UPDATE: A couple of changes have been made to this listing following the trade in which the A’s acquired Jeff Samardzija from the Cubs. Nothing major, just the #1 and #2 organizational prospects are now gone.
Taking a look at the systems of the parent organizations for the California League teams, here’s an overview of the Stockton Ports’ (Oakland A’s) family tree. Maybe I’m starting with Stockton because I’m intrigued with all the highly-ranked prospects in Stockton. Maybe because it is the farthest north on the map and I’m going top to bottom. Whatever the reasoning, Stockton’s as good a place to start as any in this league. Here’s the map to the majors for A’s farmhands:
Stockton Ports – Oakland A’s
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Level
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Club
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2013 1st Half |
2013 2nd Half
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2013 Postseason
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AAA
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Sacramento (PCL)
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|
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79-65, No Playoffs
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|
AA
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Midland (TEX)
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33-37, (4th)
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29-41 (4th)
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No playoffs
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|
High A
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Stockton (CAL)
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38-32 (3rd)
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31-39 (4th)
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No playoffs
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Low A
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Beloit (MWL)
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43-27 (1st)
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34-35 (3rd)
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Lost in 1st Round
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(Rankings: Baseball America/MLB.com)
SACRAMENTO – AAA (PCL)
Arnold Leon, RHP – BA preseason #21
MIDLAND – AA (TEX)
Raul Alcantra, RHP – (#3/#4)
Miles Head, 3B – (#22/#19)
Max Muncey, 1B – (#6/#15)
Addison Russell, SS – (#1/#1)
Billy Burns, OF – #9 by MLB.com
STOCKTON PORTS – High A (CAL)
SS Daniel Robertson – (#9/ #3)
1B Matt Olson – (#12/ #5)
3B Renato Nunuz – (#5/ #6)
1B Ryon Healy – #13
C Bruce Maxwell – (#28/ #16)
OF Billy McKinney – (#2/ #2)
RHP Nolan Sanburn – (#10/ #10)
RHP Seth Streich – (#25/ #18)
RHP Michael Ynoa – (#4/ #11)
SS Chad Pinder – (#15/ #17)
BELOIT – LOW A (MWL)
Dylan Covey, RHP – (#7/#13)
Bobby Wahl, RHP – (#8/#7)
B.J. Boyd, OF – (#20/#12)
SHORT SEASON AND ROOKIE LEAGUES
VERMONT (SS) New York Penn
AZL – Rookie
DSL – Rookie
So, with a quick overview of the A’s system, you can see that Stockton has a glut of the organization’s talent. You know how A’s GM Billy Beane works. These guys are a long way from MLB arbitration so they’re golden. If they perform, they may be Oakland A’s or they may be bargaining chips. But here’s a look at what some of the Ports on this list have been up to this season.
MATT OLSON – .246/.393/.529, 23 homers which leads the league by a mile
RENATO NUNEZ – .285/.350/.539, 17 homers and 46 RBI. Named to the Futures Game for the World team
DANIEL ROBERTSON – .292/.399/.457
SETH STREICH – 9-4, 2.75 ERA, 91 2/3 IP, 18 BB’s, 92 K’s (3rd in the league), 1.11 WHIP (4th in the league)
The big offensive numbers may or may not be California League creations, but a couple of things should be noted.
- Olson seems to be a perfect fit for the A’s with his .393 OBP, despite the low batting average. The power is impressive.
- Nunez is killing it at age 20 and is getting better. His last 10 games show a line of .429/.489/.952. That’s an insane 1.442 OPS. Oh, yeah, small sample size. But he’s swinging a pretty lethal bat.
- Streich is putting up his impressive numbers in this dry-as-the-desert-sand league and his BB/K ratio is a beauty.
So here is the ladder that the players in the A’s organization have to climb and, as we all know, there are no promises that anyone will go from the bottom to the top. But you can see where the Stockton Ports are in the mix and who they have on the current roster. It is an especially good time to get out to Banner Island Ballpark and see some players that have been scouted as prized properties.
The top prospect in the organization, Addison Russell, was just here last year (and for a 5-game rehab stint this season), and A’s cornerstone 3B Josh Donaldson came over from the Cubs in 2008 and played in Stockton on his way to Midland and the majors. There are some familiar names for the Stockton faithful in the levels above, and Ports fans will be seeing some of the talent in Beloit and the lower leagues soon.
