Ben Cherington sure wishes he could have Miles Head back. (Greg M. Cooper-USA TODAY Sports)

Let’s take a look though at his time with the Stockton Ports first.  In 293 PA he hit a ridiculous .382/.433/.715 with 18 home runs, a wRC+ of 190, an ISO of .333, his BABIP though was a sky high .431 so some of his success could be attributed to some good fortune.  His production earned him a promotion to Double A Midland where things didn’t quite go as smoothly.

With the Rockhounds Miles Head didn’t exactly struggle, but he didn’t light up the stat sheet quite like he did in Stockton.  His .272/.338/.404 line over 234 PA looks like a completely different player than the one he posted in Single A, and for the most part he seemed like a different player.  His 109 wRC+, and his .131 ISO jump out as having gigantic differences to what he showed before.  It seemed that he wasn’t seeing the ball well in Double A, as his K% jumped from 18.8 to 32.1.  He was flailing at the ball, and he wasn’t making contact.

If you look at his career though this seems to be his pattern, once he adjusts to a level he excels there and gets promoted.  He suffers as bit of a setback as he finishes the season there.  The following season though he makes the adjustment to the higher level of competition  and excels once again.  This may make for a long process of making it to the Show if he continues on this pattern, but once he does the outlook will be bright.

In 2013 Miles Head will likely start the season in Double A Midland with the Rockhounds, the Texas League is generally hitter friendly, so I expect him to get his numbers back up to par.  That doesn’t mean posting the rather insane numbers he did in Stockton last year, but somewhere in the .300/.375/.550 range would be more than satisfactory for the 21 year old.  The good news is that time is on his side still, and even if he takes it slow he could still reach Oakland by age 24.

The trade that sent Andrew Bailey and Ryan Sweeney to the Boston Red Sox for Josh Reddick, Miles Head, and Raul Alcantara would have been a success based on Reddick’s production alone.  But the emergence of Miles Head as a legitimate corner infield prospect has to have Billy Beane and co. chuckling about fleecing Ben Cherington and his crew in Boston on this deal.  Miles Head will be one Athletics prospect to watch in 2013 without a doubt.

One day Grant Green will finally get to play in front of Section 149. (Kelley L Cox-USA TODAY Sports)

The first member of the Athletics organization to show up on this list is shortstop/everything else Grant Green.  The first round pick from 2009 out of USC has had quite an interesting ride thus far in his career.  He appears on this list at number 110, which is not a disappointment because at this juncture the simple fact that he still appears on a prospect list like this is a good thing.  Be it his lack of defensive prowess, or the Athletics lack of decisiveness with him, but he’s bounced all around the diamond, moving from short to second to third to the outfield and back around again.  It’s not much of a shock he’s been inconsistent throughout his career considering his nomadic nature in the field.

Green has finally become well established at the Triple A level, just one quick phone call away from Oakland.  He performed well in 2012 at that level, and seemed primed for a call up at some point in the latter stages of the season.  In 562 PA Green hit .296/.338/.458 for the Rivercats, his 102 wRC+ isn’t spectacular, but he isn’t going to generate a lot of power that will drive that number up.  The most noteworthy number though is his strikeout % which went from hovering at or above 20% for his career to just 13.3%.

When 2013 rolls around there really is no reason not to make him part of the Athletics roster, save for the fact that you can only have 25 players on the roster.  He probably won’t develop into the impact bat the A’s hoped they had acquired when drafting him in 2009, but there’s no doubt about it he can be a useful piece in the puzzle to make another AL West championship run.  At 25 years old right now, Green is teetering on the brink of no longer being a prospect and simply being a Minor Leaguer.  The A’s should take their first chance to see what they truly have with him, there’s no reason not to.  I’ve said it before, I’ll say it again, free Grant Green.

He’s currently batting .305/.397/.678 with 6 HR and 17 RBIs this fall, which suggests, to me, at least, that Choice is continuing to play at a very respectable level. His offensive capabilities are highlighted by his big-time power potential, and he’s currently a player the A’s are excited about.

Choice’s abilities don’t stop there, however. He had a pretty impressive season this year in Stockton, putting together a .285/.376/.542 slash line with 30 HR and 82 RBIs in 118 games. Choice also played well in Stockton’s outfield as well. He may not be the greatest defender, but his strong arm should help make him a reliable defender in the future.  (more…)