MESA, Ariz. -- Last year hardly could have gone worse for the Athletics. They suffered 112 losses, their most in 106 seasons and the second-most in franchise history. Their odds for the No. 1 pick in the 2023 Draft lottery were as good as any club's, but they dropped all the way to No. 6 in a year with five elite talents who separated themselves from the pack.

If there was a silver lining to a rough season, it's that Oakland did acquire several talents who now rank among its best prospects for the future. Six of the first 10 guys on our new A's Top 30 Prospects list joined the organization in 2023: shortstop Jacob Wilson, right-hander Steven Echavarria and third baseman Myles Naylor from the Draft; righty Luis Morales via the international market; and middle infielder Darell Hernaiz and righty Joe Boyle via trades.

The top prospect in the system, Wilson had the best bat-to-ball skills in last year's Draft. The son of former All-Star Jack Wilson, he set a Grand Canyon record by batting .411 last spring and topped NCAA Division I in contact rate in each of his last two seasons, striking out just 12 times in a combined 492 plate appearances (2 percent). He hit .333 with a 10 percent K rate in his pro debut while advancing to High-A.

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Wilson's hitting ability gave him one of the higher floors in the 2023 Draft class, though he comes with some debate about his ultimate ceiling. His lackluster exit velocities lead to worries about how much power he'll have in the big leagues, and some evaluators wonder if he has the quickness and range to stick at shortstop. Oakland doesn't share those concerns.

"Jacob knows how to get hits," farm director Ed Sprague said. "We brought him to instructional league and asked him what his plan was for the offseason. He said he's got to get stronger. He reads what everybody writes about his exit velocities.

"He has elite bat-to-ball skills. He just needs to shrink what he swings at and the hard contact will take care of itself. He concentrated on that in instructional league and we saw an increase in exit velocity. He wasn't trying to get elevated, just attacking a smaller zone.

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There's no question about the power Morales brings to the mound. Signed for $3 million as the consensus top pitcher in the 2023 international crop, the Cuban can overwhelm hitters with a fastball that sits in the mid-90s and a high-spin slider that parks in the low 80s. He earned three promotions during his pro debut, moving from the Rookie-level Dominican Summer League to High-A Lansing while posting a 2.86 ERA with 53 strikeouts in 44 innings.

"He was up to 98 from the start in the Dominican Republic last year," Sprague said. "Mechanically, he's solid. He has a curveball/slider/changeup mix, and the slider and changeup are plus and the curveball is more to steal strikes. We'll maybe get him up to 75 innings this year."

Hernaiz entered pro ball with less fanfare than Wilson or Morales, signing with the Orioles for $400,000 as a 2019 fifth-rounder out of a Texas high school. Acquired in exchange for Cole Irvin in January 2023, he stands out more with advanced skills than loud tools. The A's initially weren't sure what to make of him when he performed poorly in Spring Training following the trade, but he batted .321/.386/.456 between Double-A and Triple-A and led the system in hitting.

"Darell goes out and just hits," Sprague said. "He's kind of an old-school slasher who sees where the defense is playing him and then hits it where they ain't. He has some power but doesn't elevate the ball yet. Down the road, when he learns to do that, he'll be more of a 15-home run guy.

"You can wonder about his arm and feet at shortstop, and then over the course of the year you see that he makes the plays. He has such good instincts."

Camp standout: Max Schuemann

Schuemann is another guy who plays better than his pure tools. A 20th-round pick out of Eastern Michigan in 2018, he topped A's farmhands in on-base percentage a year ago while hitting .276/.402/.430 between Double-A and Triple-A while starting games in center field, left field and right field as well as at shortstop, third base and second base. He has made an impression this spring by going 10-for-33 (.303) in Cactus League action while continuing to showcase his versatility.

"Max is a super-utility guy who has opened eyes in big league camp," Sprague said. "He's kind of like Chad Pinder was for us, playing a lot of different positions. Max has more athleticism and is a better runner and defender than Chad but has less pop."

Breakout potential: Denzel Clarke

A fourth-round pick out of Cal State Northridge in 2021, Clarke has the best combination of physicality (6-foot-5, 220 pounds) and tools (plus raw power and speed) in the system. He has extensive athletic bloodlines, as his mother Donna was an Olympic heptathlete, his uncle Kevin Smellie played in the Canadian Football League and his cousin Gavin Smellie was an Olympic sprinter. He's also a cousin of Naylor and Myles' older brothers Josh and Bo, who are both in the big leagues with the Guardians.

Clarke batted .261/.381/.496 with 12 homers and 11 steals in 64 Double-A games last year before injuring his left shoulder in July and missing the rest of the season.

"Denzel is as tooled up as anybody," Sprague said. "He's so physical. You can watch him play and when he's making contact and running around, he looks like Bo Jackson. There are times when he swings at everything too, but he's a plus-plus athlete."

Something to prove: Gunnar Hoglund

A supplemental first-round pick by the Pirates out of a Florida high school in 2018, Hoglund opted to attend Mississippi and had pitched himself toward the top of the 2021 Draft before blowing out his elbow and requiring Tommy John surgery that May. The Blue Jays still drafted him 19th overall, then sent him to Oakland in the Matt Chapman trade in March 2022.

Hoglund worked just eight innings in his 2022 pro debut and got pounded for a 6.05 ERA in 45 frames last year while moving from Single-A to Double-A. The velocity on his fastball and slider were down from where they had been in college, which also made his changeup less effective. Now his arsenal looks like it's bouncing back.

"Last year, Gunnar pitched at 91-92," Sprague said. "This spring, it's been 94s and 95s. The stuff has been more firm. His changeup is good while his breaking ball is more of a work in progress. To know his velocity is coming back has been very encouraging for him."