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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 1st-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 4th 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.