Check out the A's newest top prospects

August 12th, 2023

This story was excerpted from Martín Gallegos’ A’s Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.

In Year 2 of a rebuild, the A’s are beginning to see hope for a brighter future start to shine through with a number of top prospects reaching the big league level.

A full-on youth movement is underway in Oakland. Tyler Soderstrom, Oakland’s No. 1 prospect, along with Zack Gelof (No. 3) and Lawrence Butler (No. 5) are now all in the Majors and expected to headline the next era of winning baseball for the A’s. Mason Miller (No. 4) is currently on the injured list but showed enough promise in his electric outings with the A’s to believe he can be a frontline starter for the club once healthy.

Joining Soderstrom and Gelof on MLB Pipeline’s updated Top 100 Prospects list is Jacob Wilson, whom the A’s selected sixth overall in the 2023 MLB Draft. The A’s aggressively promoted Wilson, ranked their No. 2 prospect, to High-A Lansing shortly after getting him acclimated to professional baseball in the Arizona Complex League. It's a strong signal that the 21-year-old shortstop could be on a fast track to the Majors if his excellent hitting skills as an amateur continue to translate.

Here’s a look at the A’s top prospects:

1. Tyler Soderstrom, C/1B (MLB No. 48)
2. Jacob Wilson, SS (MLB No. 82)
3. Zack Gelof, 2B (MLB No. 95)
4. Mason Miller, RHP
5. Lawrence Butler, OF

Biggest jump/fall

Here are the players whose ranks changed the most from the preseason list:

Jump: Joey Estes, RHP (Preseason: 24 | Midseason: 15) -- Estes was promoted to Triple-A Las Vegas earlier this month following a stellar performance at Double-A Midland. The 21-year-old right-hander holds a combined 3.67 ERA in 22 games (19 starts) with 110 strikeouts and 35 walks over 112 2/3 innings.

Fall: Clark Elliott, OF (Preseason: 19 | Midseason: NR) -- Part of the reason for Elliott’s deep fall in the rankings has to do with the amount of talent the A’s added through trades and the Draft. Going through his first full professional season, Elliott was promoted from Single-A Stockton after just 26 games but has struggled at High-A Lansing. The power the A’s were hoping to see develop has also yet to show up. Elliott has one home run in 339 plate appearances.

New to the list:

Here are the players added to the Top 30 from outside the organization:

No. 2 Wilson, SS (Draft)
No. 9 Myles Naylor, 3B (Draft)
No. 11 Steven Echavarria, RHP (Draft)
No. 17 Ryan Lasko, OF (Draft)
No. 18 Cole Miller, RHP (Draft)
No. 24 Joe Boyle, RHP (trade with Reds)

Impact callup

Lawrence Butler, OF (No. 5)

With Butler making his Major League debut Friday night at Nationals Park, four of the A’s current top five prospects are now in the big leagues. Butler has slowed down a bit production-wise since his torrid start to the 2023 season, but he’s still having a heckuva year, playing his way from Double-A to Triple-A and showing off his power-speed combination, with 15 homers and 21 steals over 89 games.

Best tools

Players are graded on a traditional 20-80 scouting scale for future tools -- 20-30 is well below average, 40 is below average, 50 is average, 60 is above average and 70-80 is well above average. Players in parentheses have the same grade.

Hit: 65 -- Wilson Power: 60 -- Soderstrom
Run: 65 -- Henry Bolte (Cooper Bowman)
Arm: 60 -- Daniel Susac (Lasko)
Defense: 55 -- Brett Harris (Naylor, Lasko, Colby Thomas, Logan Davidson, Brayan Buelvas)
Fastball: 80 -- Boyle
Curveball: 60 -- Jack Perkins
Slider: 55 -- Miller (Kyle Muller, Luis Morales, Echavarria, J.T. Ginn, Boyle, Royber Salinas, Ryan Cusick)
Changeup: 55 -- Freddy Tarnok (Echavarria) Control: 60 -- Gunnar Hoglund