The divisional reports are a new series put out by the PitcherList dynasty team. These reports provide a list of the top ten prospects on each team in the division and highlight two players from each organization. Each division will be updated once per month by our divisional experts.
As far as farm systems go, the American League West is a very unique division. The Houston Astros are well known for getting the most out of their prospects, but it feels like it has been a decade since they had a farm system that was considered to be one of the best in the sport. The defending World Series champion Texas Rangers were picking toward the top of drafts as recently as last summer, and have arguably the best prospect in baseball. There aren’t many teams that have drafted as well as the Seattle Mariners in recent years, and the Los Angeles Angels have been more aggressive than just about any other organization when it comes to promoting their young players to the bigs. Then, of course, we have Oakland, who despite not having a strong farm system has produced some exciting young talent.
We are only a few weeks into the minor league season, so there isn’t a ton of movement here, but some players are performing out of the gates while others are still finding their footing.
For the purposes of these articles, players currently in MLB will not be included on the prospect lists.
AL West
Top 10 Prospects
Notable Prospect Performances
- Zach Dezenzo, INF, HOU – Dezenzo’s first week at Triple-A is worth highlighting. In 34 plate appearances, the 24-year-old hit .448 with three home runs, three doubles, four walks and a steal. That’s not a bad way to start off in the highest level of the minors. Dezenzo has gotten a late start to the season due to injury, but he’s back in full force now. His strikeout rate at Double-A last year was uncomfortable at 28.5%, so it’s an important metric to monitor was the infielder climbs toward the big leagues.
Notable Promotions and News
- Walker Janek, C, HOU – Janek firmly fits the bill as a better real-life prospect than fantasy one. The Astros used the 28th overall pick on the backstop out of Sam Houston State, who had a breakout campaign in his junior season. This spring, Janek triple-slashed .364/.476/.709. Those numbers are on par with some of the top picks in this draft, but Janek was facing a lesser competition in the CUSA than most other first-rounders. Janek is praised for his arm behind the dish, and there is some potential here with the bat, too. He’s worth keeping an eye on.
- Jacob Melton, OF, HOU – At this point, it has become undeniable that Melton is the best prospect in Houston’s system, and his power and speed combination make him an intriguing player for fantasy purposes. The 23-year-old spent 58 games at Double-A where he hit .248 with 10 home runs and 19 steals. Toward the end of July, Melton was promoted to Triple-A, which is his final test before we see him in Houston.
Top 10 Prospects
Notable Prospect Performances
- Lazaro Montes, OF, SEA – Montes has been a divisive prospect in the community over the course of the last 12 months. Some think that he is one of the top prospects in the sport, a game-changing power bat that will be a middle-of-the-order force for years to come. Others are more skeptical that Montes will be able to produce against higher-quality pitching. So far in 2024, both camps are kind of right? The 19-year-old Montes absolutely tore up Single-A, hitting .309 and belting 13 homers in 65 games. That earned him a promotion to High-A and he’s struggled in his month of game action there, batting just .188 with one home run and a 32% strikeout rate. The jury is still out on Montes and while he does have a high ceiling, his floor may be the lowest of all of the Mariners in the Top 10.
Notable Promotions and News
- Tyler Locklear, 1B, SEA – Locklear is a power-hitting right-handed bat and he’s been bouncing between Triple-A and the bigs over the last few months, despite starting the year at Double-A. He absolutely raked at Double-A (.291/.401/.532) in 41 games and has held his own in 32 Triple-A games (.262/.368/.444). He is yet to find his footing at the MLB level, striking out 40% of the time in 16 contests. It’s a small sample and an adjustment time is needed for Locklear, but it’s not likely to come until 2025 – the Mariners traded for Justin Turner and Randy Arozarena, so expect Locklear to spend most of the season back in Triple-A.
- Jurrangelo Cijntje and Ryan Sloan, P, SEA – The Marines have been so good at drafting bats in the early rounds of recent drafts (just look at the current Top 10 for evidence), that it came as a little bit of a surprise to see Seattle select Cijnte and Sloan with their first and second rounders, respectively, in 2024. That being said, the farm is so deep with hitters that perhaps it actually made the most sense to go with pitchers. Either way, Sloan is an 18-year-old flame-throwing righty with a big build. Cijntje is a switch-pitcher (!) which should be fun to follow. Seattle has been one of the best in the sort at developing pitching in recent years, so this is an exciting pair of selections to follow going forward.
Top 10 Prospects
Notable Prospect Performances
- Alejandro Rosario, P, TEX – The Rangers selected Rosario with the 144th overall pick in last season’s draft. The right-handed Rosario had eye-popping numbers pitching during his junior season for the University of Miami, and not in a good way. In 18 games (15 starts), Rosario finished with a 7.11 ERA. He did have 91 strikeouts, though it came with 41 walks. Even with that in mind, Texas clearly saw something with him and it’s been paying off. Rosario started the season in Single-A and proved to be too dominant, posting a 2.11 ERA with a 34.2% K-BB rate in 47 frames. That earned him a promotion to High-A where he’s been close to just as good – through 23.2 innings, Rosario has a 3.04 ERA (1.33 FIP) and a 32% K-BB rate. His stock is clearly on the rise, and with many dynasty players focused on the incoming class of prospects, there is a good chance that someone like Rosario has been overlooked in your league.
- Paulino Santana, OF, TEX – Santana was one of the more highly anticipated debuts from the 2024 International Class, and he hasn’t disappointed in his debut. Through 40 Dominican Summer League games, the 17-year-old has triple slashed .289/.468/.352. He’s also added 18 steals. The outfielder has yet to hit his first professional home run and his ISO sits at a lowly .063, but at 17 years old he has plenty of time to grow into his frame. For now, the plate approach and stolen base success rate are encouraging signs for the youngster.
Notable Promotions and News
- Kumar Rocker, P, TEX – It has been an injury-plagued few years for the former Vanderbilt standout, but Rocker is back in game action following a 2023 Tommy John surgery. The now 24-year-old kicked off July with three Complex Level starts, tossing innings while allowing five earned runs and striking out eight. On July 26th, Rocker was reinstated to Double-A and he had his best start of the year, throwing three shutout frames while striking out four. He only allowed one hit. Given the long layoff and injury history, just seeing Rocker on the mound is more encouraging than anything. He’s not likely to make any sort of 2024 impact at the MLB level, but fingers crossed for mid-2025.
Oakland A’s
Top 10 Prospects
Notable Prospect Performances
- Luis Morales, P, OAK – It’s been a nice month of July for Morales. The 21-year-old right-hander has logged five starts, tossing 16.2 innings, and allowed just three runs while striking out 14. On the season, which has been spent entirely at High-A, Morales has a 3.60 ERA in 55 innings. He’s posted a solid 24.4% strikeout rate paired with a slightly elevated 10.2% walk rate. Morales has already thrown more innings than he did a season ago, when he spent time in four different minor league levels, so it wouldn’t be surprising to see Oakland keep his starts down to three from here on out.
Notable Promotions and News
- Nick Kurtz, 1B, OAK – The Athletics officially signed their first-round pick, Kurtz, for $7 million. Oakland took Kurtz with the fourth overall pick in this year’s draft after Kurtz had a powerful junior season at Wake Forest. Kurtz posted a 1.294 OPS with 22 homers in 54 games this spring and closes his career at Wake Forest with 61 home runs in 164 games. Kurtz should mash against lower-level pitching, whenever Oakland decides to give him his first taste of professional baseball. He should move relatively quickly through the minors.
- Henry Bolte, OF, OAK – We highlighted Bolte back in the June edition of this series but he’s worth talking about again just because he feels like a high-ceiling prospect that doesn’t get discussed all that much. Bolte finished his High-A tenure with impressive numbers – the 20-year-old triple slashed .278/.393/.519 with 11 home runs and 28 steals in 69 games. There aren’t many players in the minors putting up those types of numbers. Bolte’s performance earned him a promotion to Double-A, and in 21 games there he’s triple slashing just .235/.323./.329. He’s still stealing bases (eight) but his power has vanished (.094). It’s a small sample, so there is plenty of time to turn it around, but the 37.5% strikeout rate is concerning. Bolte’s strikeouts have always been an issue and it’s tough to see them getting better as he climbs the minor-league ladder.
Top 10 Prospects
Notable Prospect Performances
- Caden Dana, P, LAA – Dana had his best outing of the season on July 26th, throwing a complete game while striking out 10. He allowed two runs and four baserunners. The 20-year-old continues to more than hold his own at Double-A. In 18 starts, he’s logged 104.1 innings (14th most in the minors) with a 3.11 ERA and 20% K-BB rates. It feels likely that we see Dana with the big-league team in 2025.
Notable Promotions and News
- George Klassen, P, LAA – Klassen has been one of the bigger pop-up prospects in 2024, and the Angels acquired him at this year’s deadline as the headliner for Carlos Estévez. The Phillies took the right-hander out of Minnesota with the 193th overall pick in last year’s draft, but Klassen didn’t get into any minor-league action until this spring. The Phillies started Klassen in Single-A and he threw 38 innings there, posting a 0.71 ERA and a 31.3% K-BB rate. He then got bumped up to High-A and has been a little bit more human there with a 4.22 ERA (3.38 FIP) and 25.3% K-BB rate in 21 innings. Basically, everything written above about Alejandro Rosario rings true here – Klassen looks like one of the steals of last year’s draft and has seen his stock rise dramatically in the past four months. There may be some hesitation here now, though, as the Angels don’t have a great history of developing their pitching prospects.
- Christian Moore, 2B, LAA – If there was a surprise in the top 10 of this year’s draft, it might have been Moore, who selected the second baseman with the eighth overall pick. Not surprisingly, Moore signed underslot. That being said, Moore is a solid prospect in his own right and was simply one of the best hitters in the country this year as a junior at Tennessee. In 72 games, Moore slugged 34 home runs while finishing with a 1.248 OPS. The power bat is Moore’s calling card and he should have no trouble with lower-level pitching. In his Single-A debut, Moore went 2 for 5 with a triple. The Angels like to move their early picks quickly and they already have with Moore, promoting him to Double-A at the start of this month.
Feature Image Adapted by Kurt Wasemiller (@kurtwasemiller on Twitter / @kurt_player02 on Instagram)