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
- Walker Janek, C, HOU – It’s been a slow start out of the gate for Janek, Houston’s first round pick in this summer’s draft. Houston started the catcher at High-A and he’s appeared in 19 games, triple slashing just .189/.218/.311. This is an incredibly small sample and it’s easy to handwave these numbers for someone like Janek, who played 58 collegiate games as a catcher this spring, hitting .364 with 17 home runs.
Notable Promotions and News
- Zach Dezenzo, INF, HOU – Dezenzo has been a borderline Top 5 prospect in this system for quite some time now, showcasing some speed and pop in the minors. He battled some injuries here in 2024 so he hasn’t seen a ton of game action, but the 24-year-old got the call to the bigs in August. He hasn’t done much in his small sample since, triple slashing .208/.255/.313, but he’s getting a little bit more playing time than expected due to some ongoing soreness for Alex Bregman.
- Luis Baez, OF, HOU – Baez is a powerful outfielder who at 20-years-old belted out 20 home runs in 92 games in High-A this year. Houston promoted him to Double-A in the middle of August and he’s struggling to find his footing, triple slashing .216/.311/.333. Despite the high homer tally in High-A, Baez held a low walk rate (5.4%) and high strikeout rate (27.3%), so expect there to be a learning curve next year as he continues to face upper-level arms.
Top 10 Prospects
Notable Prospect Performances
- Logan Evans, P, SEA – It always feels compelling to discuss Evans given his stock value fluctuation this season. He was one of the pop-up prospects prior to the season kicking off this spring, with rumors that the Seattle organization valued him very highly. That was backed up with him starting the year in Double-A. He was fine in April, but didn’t show off the dominant, strikeout-caliber stuff we were expecting to see. Then he found his groove in May (33 strikeouts, two earned runs in 28.2 innings) and it looked like the top arm we had been expecting to see was surfacing. From there, he was moved to a bullpen role – the thought seemed to be that if he flashed here, Evans would be fast tracked to the majors in a relief capacity. He didn’t really take to it, allowing seven earned runs in 10.1 innings with nine strikeouts. So…he’s returned to the starting rotation and has been mediocre (4.54 ERA, 10.9% K-BB rate) since. It’s only natural to wonder what Evans would have looked like had Seattle just kept him as a starter for the whole season instead of moving him, and his workload, all around. Maybe that will be the plan next year and we will see more of a breakout.
- Lazaro Montes, OF, SEA – Similar to Evans, Montes is a player whose valuations vary greatly and has seen his stock rise and fall throughout the season. Right now? The hulky lefty-handed bat has a stock arrow up next to his name. After struggling initially following his promotion to High-A, the 19-year-old caught fire in August, hitting .411 with seven home runs. His strikeout rate during that span was down to 30%, which while still high, is an improvement from his first month of action at the level. Strikeouts will always be a part of his game but so will the power.
Notable Promotions and News
- Colt Emerson, SS, SEA – Emerson slots in as the top prospect for Seattle, which is really saying something given the top-end talent and depth of this form. The 19-year-old received the bump to High-A in early August, though he’s struggling out of the gate – hitting just .198 through his first 24 games. Emerson had no issued at Low-A, though, triple slashing .293/.440/.427 while walking more than he struck out in 40 contests. He will adjust to High-A pitching.
Top 10 Prospects
Notable Prospect Performances
- Cameron Cauley, SS, TEX – Cauley had skyrocketed up these rankings last month following what appeared to be a breakout campaign, but the shortstop has struggled since then. Since the start of August the 21-year-old is hitting just .194. Prior to this slump the shortstop was triple slashing .253/307/.460. The good news is that his walk and strikeout rates have trended in the right direction since then, so he may just be running into bad BAPIP luck. On the season he has tallied 12 home runs and 26 steals in 88 High-A games, so the ceiling here is quite high if he can keep an acceptable average.
Notable Promotions and News
- Jack Leiter, P, TEX – Leiter had been up earlier in 2024 and got the call again in late August. He’s made two starts since then and neither of them went particularly well – the right-hander allowed eight baserunners in four innings against the White Sox before allowing five earned runs in five innings against the Yankees. Across those nine frames he struck out six. Leiter’s stuff looks like it should be more dominant than it is, so it wouldn’t surprise me if a slight adjustment unleashes him next year.
- Kumar Rocker, P, TEX – If we are talking about Leiter, we might as well talk about Rocker. The 24-year-old right-hander returned to the mound in July and made his first start at Triple-A in late August, fanning 10 in five shutout innings. As a whole, Rocker has been electric since returning, striking out 47 batters in 31.2 innings – most of which have come at Double-A. He’s been slowly pitching deeper and deeper into games and there is a good chance he breaks camp with the team in 2025.
Oakland A’s
Top 10 Prospects
Notable Prospect Performances
- Tommy White, 3B, OAK – White was the second round selection for Oakland in the 2024 draft. Unfortunately, he’s off to a bit of slow start at Low-A, triple slashing just .218/.292/.310. You would like to see a bit more production from a college draftee than what White has shown so far, but a 20-game sample is not enough to move the needle in any direction. White belted 75 home runs while hitting .355 across three college years (his final two at LSU).
Notable Promotions and News
- Nick Kurtz, 1B, OAK – We detailed Kurtz here last month but why not do it again? Oakland took the first base slugger fourth overall in this past summer’s draft and after tearing up Low-A to the tune of a .400/.571/.960 triple slash in seven games, Kurtz got promoted to Double-A. It’s an extremely small sample there, too, but in five games Kurtz is 4-for-13 with a double. We know from his college days that Kurtz has big pop but we will keep an eye on how much he strikes out against upper-level pitching.
- Darell Hernaiz, INF, OAK – The A’s optioned the struggling Hernaiz back to Triple-A at the end of August. On the season the infielder saw a good amount of MLB action, but hit just .193 with one home run in 44 games. He’s only 23-years-old so there is plenty of time to turn it around, and he’s close to a career .300 hitter in the minors. On the flip side, he doesn’t offer a ton in terms of power or speed, so in terms of fantasy relevance, it feels like a long shot.
Top 10 Prospects
Notable Promotions and News
- Caden Dana, P, LAA – Dana no longer appears on the list above because the Angels have given him his first shot in the bigs. The 20-year-old right hander had a solid first outing, tossing six innings of two-run ball with four strikeouts and four walks against the Mariners. Obviously you never want to see four walks in an outing but we have to imagine there were some jitters going on here. Dana is still a very promising arm and it’s likely that by the time that this article has been posted that Dana will have made his second MLB start.
- Ryan Miller, P, LAA – Miller is another late-season call-up for the Angels, so he also won’t appear on the list above. He’s a career minor leaguer and a true relief-only arm, and one that has bounced between organizations the last few seasons. The Angels may have found something here with Miller though, as the righty put together a nice season in Triple-A (2.45 ERA and a 19% K-BB rate). It’s not likely that he develops into anything more than a lower usage bullpen arm, but it’s nice to see him get his shot.
- Christian Moore, 2B, LAA – Nobody’s stock from this year’s draft has risen quite as much as Moore’s has. After a brief sting at Low-A, Moore is now up to 22 games at Double-A and his hot start has not slowed. The second baseman is triple slashing .302/355/.512. Unfortuntaely, he recently suffered a knee injury and the details have yet to surface. Fingers crossed that it is nothing serious as we head toward the offseason.
Adapted by Kurt Wasemiller (@kurtwasemiller on Twitter / @kurt_player02 on Instagram)
Walcott was promoted to AA earlier this week. Quite the move for an 18 year old. Thoughts?