A's Farm System Jumps in Recent Re-Ranking

Jason Burke | Aug 10, 2024

Jun 17, 2023; Omaha, NE, USA; Wake Forest Demon Deacons first baseman Nick Kurtz (8) celebrates after retiring Stanford Cardinal third baseman Tommy Troy (not pictured) to end the game at Charles Schwab Field Omaha. Mandatory Credit: Dylan Widger-USA TODAY Sports / Dylan Widger-USA TODAY Sports

With the Oakland Athletics holding the No. 4 overall selection in the MLB Draft, the A's farm system was due to get a bit of a boost. Add in some extra prospects that were brought aboard in the Lucas Erceg and Paul Blackburn trades at the deadline, and the top-30 list also became a little bit deeper.

Three of the four minor leaguers the A's received in those two deals ended up on the team's top-30 ranking over at Baseball America, who have right-handers Mason Barnett at No. 12 and Will Klein at No. 22 from the Erceg deal, and righty Kade Morris at No. 23 from the Blackburn trade. The only player not included on these re-rankings was 22-year-old outfielder Jared Dickey. All he has done since joining the High-A Lansing Lugnuts is go 13-for-33 (.394) with a .500 OBP, two doubles, five RBI, five walks, and seven strikeouts in nine games.

The A's recently received an infusion of talent to their minor leagues, and BA has taken notice. With the addition of first-rounder Nick Kurtz out of Wake Forest, the A's now have three top-100 prospects according to the outlet, with Kurtz joining shortstop Jacob Wilson (No. 21) and right-hander Luis Morales (No. 93) among the game's best talent. Kurtz is ranked No. 58.

With three top-100 prospects, they have the A's ranked as the No. 16 farm system overall. While that may not seem like a big deal with Oakland flirting with a third straight 100-loss season, they've also moved up nine spots from where they were when the season began.

Here is what they had to say about Oakland's collection of minor leaguers: "After years of rebuilding the farm system the Athletics have turned a corner in 2024. The performance of Jacob Wilson alongside the addition of Nick Kurtz give the Athletics a legitimate duo of impact position players. Pitcher Luis Morales ranks at the backend of the Top 100 but has big upside as a power righthander, and OF Henry Bolte could just as easily be the system’s prospect success story of 2024."

When Wilson inevitably loses his prospect status and graduates from the list, Bolte will be in that mix for best prospect in the A's system. Even though he was drafted in 2022, he was taken out of high school and just turned 21 a week ago. He's already in Double-A.

The A's farm system may not have the huge names that some of the other clubs have compiled, but they do have an intriguing collection of guys they've acquired through the draft and via trade that could become the next wave of players to join the A's core group in the big leagues in the fairly near future.