A’s Minor League Update & More

With May already upon us, I figured it might be nice to do a piece about the Oakland Atheltics farm system. So, without further adieu, here’s a look at some of the promising young stars (and other players) of the A’s minor league system:

Grant Green (SS/Single-A, Stockton Ports):  Green, considered the A’s shortstop of the future, has a .278/.389/.699 line along with 2 homers and 9 RBIs.

Chris Carter (1B/Triple-A, Sacrament0): Carter, who is considered a big part of Oakland’s future, is currently hitting .261/.364/.500 with 6 homers and 18 RBIs. Carter has played in 24 games thus far for Oakland’s Triple-A team.

Michael Taylor (OF/Triple-A, Sacrament0): Taylor, who was brought to Oakland via trade with Toronto (part of the big Cliff Lee-Roy Halladay debacle), is currently hitting .235/.297/.441 with 2 homers and 18 RBIs. Through 26 games, Taylor is hitting just .235, which is very un-Taylor like. Many scouts and writers, including myself, figure Carter to be at least a .280’s/.290’s hitter with the capability of hitting 25-30 homers per season. While his current numbers could suggest otherwise, I wouldn’t read too much into them just yet. Taylor is the real deal when it comes to talent.

Adrian Cardenas (2B/Triple-A, Sacramento): Cardenas, who was ranked among the A’s top 10 prospect heading into this season, is currently hitting .200/.200/.200 with just one RBI. It’s important to know, however, that Cardenas has played in only five games this season.

Fernando Hernandez (P/Triple-A, Sacramento): Hernandez has compiled a 3.09 ERA in 11.2 innings of work.

Clay Mortenson (SP/Triple-A, Sacramento): Mortenson has compiled a 3-1 record as well as a 3.98 ERA in 31.2 innings of work. He currently owns a K/BB ratio of 24K/9BB.

Jack Cust (OF/DH/Triple-A, Sacramento): Cust, who was demoted by the A’s before the season, is currently hitting .267/.433/.467 with 4 homers and 13 RBIs. Cust’s homerun totals are more than Oakland’s DH, Eric Chavez‘s total of zero. Chavez, who is coming off multiple surgies to his shoulder and back, has yet to go deep for the A’s this season. Cust could be on his way up, if Oakland fails to get the much needed pop from Chavy or Jake Fox.

In other news, the A’s did not get much from last night’s starter, Vin Mazzaro. Mazzaro walked four and gave up four in less than four innings of work. Mazzaro, who filled in for ailing Justin Duchscherer (hip-inflammation), will need to make the most of his next start (assuming he gets a chance).

Vote! Fans of the Oakland A’s will need to show their support as MLB All-Star voting is under way. Eric Chavez, the A’s starting DH, highlights the A’s candidate list that also includes the likes of Kurt Suzuki, Mark Ellis, Ryan Sweeney and more.

Last night’s game attracted a little over 10,000 fans and that’s not an ecouraging site to see. The A’s are a young team with a ton of potential, so why aren’t fans showing up to the games? C’mon.

Former A’s ace, Barry Zito, will be looking to go 5-0 for the first time in his career today. Zito will face the Flordia Marlins in Florida (tonight, 7:10EST).

Other than that, all I have left to say is GO OAKLAND!!