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, in fact, produced some exciting young talent.
Please note that some level assignments had not been released at the time of this article being written, so some of the level assignments are educated guesses.
AL West
Top 10 Prospects
Prospects I am most excited about
- Luis Baez, OF, HOU – Baez is a hulky right-handed bat that performed at a nuts level in 17 rookie-ball games in 2023. In those contexts, Baez belted seven homers, finishing with a .390 ISO. That put Baez on the map and he earned a promotion to Single-A as a 19-year-old. He held his own there, but those who scooped him up in dynasty leagues following his Complex League performance were hoping for a little bit more. He still had a .174 ISO, but his strikeout rate climbed to 26.8%. Let’s see if he can make an adjustment to full-season ball in 2024, and if he does, he will climb up lists once again. The High-A assignment out of the gate shows that the organization has some confidence in him.
- Joey Loperfido, 2B/OF, HOU – Loperfido is off to a sizzling start at Triple-A, belting three home runs in his first three games. The soon-to-be 25-year-old put up a 24/24 season between Double-A and Triple-A a season ago, so the upside here is significant, but he struggled once he made it to Triple-A in 2023. It’s encouraging to see his hot start there now and he may be an injury away from a promotion at this point.
A couple of other names to know
- Waner Luciano, SS, HOU – Luciano is barely 19 years old and playing in full-season ball. The shortstop triple slashed .247/345/.476 with 10 home runs and five steals in 45 Complex games. He also walked at an 11.3% clip while keeping his strikeouts very much in check. He’s run really low BABIPs in his two rookie-level seasons—if he can turn some of his pop-ups and flyballs into line drives Luciano could break out in a big way.
Top 10 Prospects
Prospects I am most excited about
- Jonny Farmelo, OF, SEA – The Mariners selected Farmello with the 29th overall pick in the 2023 draft. He didn’t get into any regular season minor league action last year, but he received an invite to Spring Training and appeared in six games. The speedy and powerful outfielder hit .400/.455/.900 with a home run and a steal in those games, though he did strike out 36% of the time. There isn’t a lot to take away from 11 spring training plate appearances, of course, but Farmelo has one of the most intriguing power/speed combinations in all of minor league baseball, so his professional debut is highly anticipated. As mentioned above, the Mariners have had a knack for developing their early-round bats, so Farmelo (or Tai Peete) could be the next in that mold.
- Logan Evans, P, SEA – Evans has become one of the buzzier prospect names in recent weeks. The Mariners took the right-hander in the 12th round out of the 2023 draft even though he wasn’t exactly good in college—in fact, he was pretty bad. In his draft year, he posted a 5.88 ERA in 49 innings, while fanning 42. That ERA number was actually an improvement on his 2022 campaign Things got better in the minors. As a 22-year-old he allowed just one run in 15 innings after the draft, though most of those frames came at Single-A. But now the word on the street is that Evans is experiencing a significant jump in his fastball velocity. The rumors are that the organization is high on Evans, and we’ve seen Seattle develop several impact arms over the last few years. He could be the next.
A couple of other names to know
- Jeter Martinez, P, SEA – Why not go for another Seattle arm? Martinez is certainly further away from big-league action than most, but he was one of the better DSL arms a season ago. In 47 frames, the right-hander posted a 1.72 ERA and a 19.5% K-BB rate. The walk rate itself was in the double digits, but Martinez was just 17, so there is plenty of time for development in that part of his game. Most encouraging is that Martinez consistently pitched outings that went at least five frames. There is no doubt that the Mariners are developing him as a starter.
Top 10 Prospects
Prospects I am most excited about
- Wyatt Langford – I mean, what kind of baseball fan would I be if I wasn’t excited about Langford? Langford made the Opening Day roster for the Rangers and is the odds-on favorite for the AL Rookie of The Year. I’m sure where he hits in the lineup is going to be dependent on his performance, but for now, it looks like he is going to hit in the middle of the order for Texas. This is one of the best lineups in baseball, so there will be plenty of counting stat opportunities for Langford. The sky is the limit here for an all-categories contributor, and there is a chance by this time next year Langford will be going in the first round of dynasty startups.
- Jack Leiter – Leiter’s fantasy value hit pretty close to rock bottom at the end of the 2023 season, but now we are seeing some glimpses of the arm that was taken second overall in the 2021 draft. Leiter had a nice spring, and looked electric in his 2024 debut at Triple-A, striking out nine in five frames while allowing two runs on two hits. Maybe a bounce-back year?
A couple of other names to know:
- Echedry Vargas – Vargas was an elite performer at the Complex level in 2023, triple slashing .315/.387/.569 with 11 long balls and 17 steals in 52 games. He’s not huge but hits the ball hard. His strikeout rate was in the mid-20s, so we’ll see if he can keep that part of his game under control as he continues to climb the minor league ladder.
- Paulino Santana – Santana signed out of the Dominican Republic during the 2024 signing period, and he has a big ceiling from a power/speed combination perspective. Let’s see how he looks in rookie ball.
Oakland A’s
Top 10 Prospects
Prospects I am most excited about
- Denzel Clarke – Clarke had a really nice 2023 at Double-A, though he was limited to 64 games. He made the most of those contests though, tallying 12 home runs and 11 steals while triple-slashing .261/.381/.496. Clarke’s power and speed combo makes him a legitimate 25/25 threat in a full season’s worth of games, but whether or not he can make enough contact to maximize his tools will be the determining factor. The outfielder’s contact rate checked in at 63.7% last season. That’s less than ideal, and I have to imagine that unless he makes some significant improvements on that end, we are looking at someone who is more of a .230 hitter in the majors than one who can hang around .250. Still, the upside here is enormous, and if he can perform at Triple-A there is a very good chance we see Clarke with the MLB team this summer.
- Jacob Wilson – Wilson is a very contact-oriented batter. In his 23 games at High-A last season, he made contact 88.6% of the time. That’s an elite rate, but Wilson lacks power and game-changing speed. If either one of those tools tick up, Wilson could be in store for a breakout, and he’s already one of the safer prospects in baseball.
Notable Performances
- Henry Bolte – There is big upside here with Bolte. In 2023, he tallied 14 home runs and 32 steals in Single-A as a 19-year-old. He did strike out 33% of the time, too, so the floor here is a non-prospect. But he’s young enough to dream on the ceiling and if he does cut down his strikeout rate to a more manageable level he immediately becomes a Top 5 prospect in this system.
Top 10 Prospects
Prospects I am most excited about
- Nelson Rada – We know that the Angels are aggressive with their assignments and they are sticking to form with Rada for 2024. He’s kicking off the year as an 18-year-old in Double-A, which is super aggressive. To put it into perspective, Jackson Chourio started his age-18 season in Single-A. Rada spent the entire 2023 season at Single-A, where he held his own as a 17-year-old, triple-slashing .276/.395/.346 while swiping an eye-popping 55 bags. Skipping High-A is certainly a choice, and I’m not sure if it’s a result of the Angels’ overly aggressive nature or their belief Rada.
- Caden Dana – Dana feels a bit overlooked despite having somewhat of a breakout campaign in 2023. The Angels took the 6’4 righty with the 328th overall pick in the 202 draft, and while he didn’t pitch much that year, he logged 68.1 innings last season, most of which (53.1 to be exact) came at High-A. At Hight-A, Dana made 11 starts, finishing with a 4.22 ERA and a 21.0% K-BB rate. The ERA is a little higher than we’d like to see, but for a 19-year-old in High-A, it is certainly acceptable, especially given the strong strikeout to walk ratio. The walk rate itself was also a bit high at 10.7%, but again, we are talking about an arm that is very young for the level. Dana tossed 7.2 innings in Spring Training this year, and they were forgettable to say the least, but there aren’t a ton of 20-year-olds in Double-A. If he looks good there, I wouldn’t rule out a big league debut at some point this season.
Feature Image Adapted by Aaron Polcare (@bearydoesgfx on X)