Down On The Farm: Minor League Roster Time!

Well, major league opening day might have been the big story last week, but we also had minor league opening day - which was a slightly less celebrated event. Nevertheless, the minor league season kicked off for all four of the A’s full-season affiliates on Thursday. I’ve been back in action with daily updates on all the games on my Athletics Farm blog, and I’ll be back in action bringing you weekly minor league updates every Monday morning right here on Athletics Nation too!

Just to bring everyone up to date on the basics, the A’s affiliates this year are the Sacramento River Cats of the Triple-A Pacific Coast League, the Midland RockHounds of the Double-A Texas League, the Stockton Ports of the High-A California League and the Beloit Snappers of the Class-A Midwest League. The Vermont Lake Monsters of the NY-Penn League and the Arizona League A’s will be joining the action after the amateur draft in June. But for now, we’ve got these four affiliates to focus on.

Next week, after we’ve got about a week and a half’s worth of games under our belts, I’ll start taking a look at the top performers for each team at that point. But in my kickoff post for the season, I just wanted to take a basic look at the rosters for all four of the full-season teams so at least you can get a handle on who’s where in the A’s system to start the season.

You’ll find the complete, current rosters for all the A’s affiliates listed below, but there are a few interesting things to note. First off, the River Cats actually have five of the A’s recent 1^st-round draft picks on their roster: pitcher Sonny Gray (2011), outfielder Michael Choice (2010), infielder Grant Green (2009), second baseman Jemile Weeks (2008) and pitcher James Simmons (2007). And just when you thought he might be gone for good, look who’s back at first base for the River Cats – that’s right, it’s none other than Daric Barton. And you can bet your bottom dollar that when the North Koreans decide to nuke California, Daric Barton will still be left standing at first base! And after his stellar start, another familiar name, Dan Straily, has also rejoined the River Cats.

At Midland, Miles Head is probably the top prospect on the roster. You can look for him and Jefry Marte, a talented young hitting prospect who came over from the Mets in return for Collin Cowgill, to be spending time at third base, first base and designated hitter. It’ll also be interesting to keep an eye on pitching prospect Arnold Leon, who’s being stretched out to start for the RockHounds.

At Stockton, everyone’s got their eye on the golden child, last year’s top draft pick for the A’s, shortstop Addison Russell, who’s making his debut in the California League just shortly after turning 19. Another top A’s prospect from last year’s draft, 22-year-old first baseman Max Muncy, is also making the leap to Stockton and is already off to a hot start.

Beloit is loaded with top picks from last year’s draft, led by the A’s third overall pick, 19-year-old first baseman Matt Olson. The team’s 4^th overall pick, catcher Bruce Maxwell, is there a well, along with prized international signees, third baseman Renato Nunez and pitcher Michael Ynoa, who’s finally on the road to recovery and back on the mound.

It’ll be a lot of fun to watch these guys develop over the course of the season. And remember, this is the A’s – so there’s a good chance you’ll be seeing a lot of them at the Coliseum before the season’s through!

--SACRAMENTO RIVER CATS ROSTER--

--HITTERS--

Luke Montz C

Stephen Vogt C

Andy Parrino SS

Jemile Weeks 2B

Grant Green 2B

Josh Horton 3B-SS-2B

Scott Moore 1B-3B-DH

Daric Barton 1B

Shane Peterson OF-1B

Michael Choice OF

Michael Taylor OF

Conner Crumbliss OF

--STARTING PITCHERS--

Dan Straily RHP

Sonny Gray RHP

Andrew Werner LHP

Jesse Chavez RHP

Bruce Billings RHP

Justin Thomas LHP

--RIGHT-HANDED RELIEVERS--

James Simmons RHP

Mike Ekstrom RHP

Brian Gordon RHP

Dan Otero RHP

Travis Banwart RHP

--LEFT-HANDED RELIEVERS--

Hideki Okajima LHP

Jordan Norberto LHP

Pedro Figueroa LHP

--MIDLAND ROCKHOUNDS ROSTER--

--HITTERS--

David Freitas C

Ryan Lipkin C

Nick Rickles C

Anthony Aliotti 1B-DH

Miles Head 3B-1B-DH

Jefry Marte 3B-1B-DH

Tommy Mendonca 3B-DH

Dusty Coleman SS

Darwin Perez 2B-SS

Tyler Ladendorf 2B-SS-OF

Jeremy Barfield OF

Chad Oberacker OF

D’Arby Myers OF

Jake Goebbert OF

--STARTING PITCHERS--

Murphy Smith RHP

Zach Neal RHP

Josh Bowman RHP

Carlos Hernandez LHP

Arnold Leon RHP

--RIGHT-HANDED RELIEVERS--

Carlos Fisher RHP

Kyler Newby RHP

Darren Byrd RHP

Paul Smyth RHP

Nate Long RHP

Sergio Perez RHP (DL)

--LEFT-HANDED RELIEVERS—

Jeff Urlaub LHP

Frank Gailey LHP

--STOCKTON PORTS ROSTER--

--HITTERS--

Ryan Ortiz C

Ryan Delgado C

Max Muncy 1B

B.A. Vollmuth 3B

Tony Thompson 3B-1B-DH

Addison Russell SS

Wade Kirkland 2B-SS

Michael Fabiaschi 2B-SS

Myrio Richard OF

Josh Whitaker OF

Dusty Robinson OF

Bobby Crocker OF

--STARTING PITCHERS--

Drew Granier RHP

Blake Hassebrock RHP

Sean Murphy RHP

Tanner Peters RHP

Andres Avila RHP

--RIGHT-HANDED RELIEVERS--

Seth Frankoff RHP

T.J. Walz RHP

Jose Macias RHP

Jonathan Joseph RHP

Pedro Vidal RHP

David Mota RHP

--LEFT-HANDED RELEIVERS--

Jacob Brown LHP

Omar Duran LHP

--BELOIT SNAPPERS ROSTER--

--HITTERS--

Bruce Maxwell C

Phil Pohl C

Matt Olson 1B

Renato Nunez 3B

Chris Bostick 2B

Wilfredo Solano SS

Sam Roberts 2B-SS

Jacob Tanis 1B-3B-DH

John Wooten OF

Brett Vertigan OF

Aaron Shipman OF

Ryan Mathews OF

--STARTING PITCHERS--

Michael Ynoa RHP

Raul Alcantara RHP

Seth Streich RHP

Vince Voiro RHP

Austin House RHP

--RIGHT-HANDED RELIEVERS--

Tyler Vail RHP

Dakota Bacus RHP

Tucker Healy RHP

Derek DeYoung RHP

Kris Hall RHP

Ryan Dull RHP

Stuart Pudenz RHP

--LEFT-HANDED RELIEVERS--

Chris Lamb LHP

You can check out my blog - Athletics Farm - for daily updates on the A’s minor league teams and all the top prospects down on the farm.