Hello Dynasty Baseball fans, and welcome to our poorly-named-yet-well-written, Companion Article Series! We will be publishing these the day after each team’s Top 10 Prospect Lists are shared. And while we will focus on the same organization, our companion pieces will not always be prospect-centric. Every author will choose to share their thoughts on whatever aspect of the team they are writing about.

To start us off, you’re stuck with me writing about the Athletics and I will discuss their prospects. Summarily, my opinion is that the organization is in solid shape. It’s not an outstanding farm due to lots of recent (and successful) graduations. But it does boast plenty of depth with a potential future all-star crowning the top of their prospect Christmas Tree.

After our consensus process, the Gurus said “no need” to debate the org’s Top 10. And if I were to break that list into tiers, I doubt there would be much need to hash them out. Leo De Vries is the singular jewel, with both Gage Jump and Jaime Arnold the tier below. Below those pitchers comes the org’s depth. Depending on your tastes, you have LOTS of options to choose from, and I’m here to introduce many of them to you.

From the pitching side, we considered (though not all were listed yesterday): Wei-En Lin, Luis Morales, and Brandon Nett. Lin came in at #4 in our ranks and showed a large, relatively polished arsenal for a teenager last year. My opinion is he’s more floor than upside in the big picture sense. It will be interesting to see how his kitchen-sink repertoire fares vs upper-level bats. Morales’s 7.1 IP this year actually crosses him to the ‘graduated’ column, but we included him in our ranks (#10). It’s been a rocky first 56 innings for the Cuban but he’s still not a finished product. Don’t expect big impact this year but keep an eye to see if he’s able to reel in his command issues as the season progresses (regardless if he stays on the MLB roster or not). Nett also received votes from the Gurus but didn’t make our Top 10. The previously UDFA came over as the second piece for Mason Miller and sits in the mid 90s with a LOT of pitch types at his disposal. Nett is another raw arm who could surprise if the A’s can tame the potential.

If you like toolsy offensive bats, the A’s have plenty in that bucket too. Devin Taylor, Henry Bolte, Tommy White, and Junior Perez were each considered Top 10 prospects by at least one of the Gurus. But each of these have warts as well. Taylor, Bolte, and White all have swing and miss issues. Taylor (our #5) hit tons of homers in college but doesn’t have much defensive or speed value. So this ’25 draftee will need his bat to perform. White has become more of an aggressive swinger in the pros and his power hasn’t quite shone like anticipated. Perez just missed our Top 10 and could get extended MLB time this summer. The power really came together last year and now he tempts us with a more ‘all-category’ fantasy offensive profile.

Lastly, we have the lotto options: Shotaro Morii, Johenssy Colome, Edgar Montero, and Breyson Guedez as more players who were ranked by one of us in the Top 10. Morii is a two-way player who didn’t pitch last year during his debut season. His bat was successful in the Complex and grades out average or better. All signs point to the A’s allowing him to develop on both sides of the ball for the time being. Colome was our #8 A’s prospect and was the team’s top International Amateur signing this past January. He’s got the bloodlines and size to let you dream of a 30-homer outcome from the hot corner. There’s a long road to get there, but he’s already considered a Top 200 Prospect by many. Montero was a DSL repeater who busted out the big bat in the second go-round. Solid power and approach give him a good foundation when he comes stateside this year. Guedez is a player likely available outside of very deep (300+ rostered prospects) leagues. His DSL performance last year was pretty ho-hum for counting stats, but his hit and approach were intriguing. 6.7% walk rate and a 9.5% strikeout rate show that he swings a lot and can put the bat to the ball. Further raising our eyebrows is the fact the Athletics are jumping him past CPX ball right to Low A. I’m very excited to see how this gamble pays off for him and the team.

(Chris Knock)