Three Athletics prospect rank in FanGraphs’ Top 100
Luis Morales predictably ranks as the top gun here, but Fangraphs pulls a surprise with their next-highest rated player.
Over at Fangraphs Eric Longenhagen and Tess Tarukin rolled out their top 100 prospects, and the Oakland Athletics were well-represented on the list. While Luis Morales and Mason Miller were obvious picks that could be expected to make the list, Fangraphs pulled a surprise out by pushing Royber Salinas up to top 100 status.
Luis Morales stunned evaluators with his breakout 2023 campaign, bringing electrifying performances to his affiliated debut. Morales started all the way down in the Dominican Summer League, but quickly shot up to High-A Lansing where he ended with a 3.52 ERA across two starts. The Cuban fireballer has quickly received notoriety nationally, ranking as the near-consensus best prospect in the system and coming in at 77th for Fangraphs. Oakland had just one 50 FV prospect on their updated list last season, but Morales made a jump from a 40+ FV to a 50 FV to land as the system’s best prospect.
Royber Salinas has spent his short A’s career battling injuries and inconsistency, but when he is active he is one of the purest arm talents in the system. In 71 2⁄3 innings Salinas struck out 93 batters, and Fangraphs felt strongly enough about that performance to bump him to 87th overall and a 50 FV prospect. Salinas has four pitches he can use in any situation, and while his delivery and current command make it difficult to project command long term he has the raw stuff to succeed in the bullpen and may have enough to overcome that and stick in a rotation.
Mason Miller rounds out the top 100 at 100th, and his injuries have prevented him from taking hold of a major league role. Even with the injuries likely pushing Miller to a bullpen role in the near future, his raw stuff is still enough to make him a top 100 prospect as he is one of just a handful of players with the talent to be an elite closer. Fangraphs makes long note of the issues with his delivery that exacerbate his injury problems, and see him as a closer long term.