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Keith Law reveals his top 10 Athletics prospects for 2015

Though there are only two in his Top 100 overall, the rest of his top 10 can still do wonders.

Oakland's top prospect, Matt Olson, at the Arizona Fall League.
Oakland's top prospect, Matt Olson, at the Arizona Fall League.
Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports

ESPN's Keith Law continues his big prospect week by revealing top 10 lists for all the major league teams. So far, we know Matt Olson and Franklin Barreto are the top two, and now we have the rest (subscription required):

  1. Matt Olson, 1B
  2. Franklin Barreto, SS
  3. Matt Chapman, 3B
  4. Renato Nunez, 3B
  5. Dillon Overton, LHP
  6. Raul Alcantara, RHP
  7. Chad Pinder, 2B
  8. Yairo Munoz, SS
  9. Kendall Graveman, RHP
  10. Bobby Wahl, RHP

Beyond those ten, Law also mentions in his commentary that 2014 second round pick right-handed pitcher Daniel Gossett is ranked 11th, acquired lefty Sean Nolin is #12, and third round pick Brett Graves (who is 22 today) at #13.

With Matt Chapman, Law is not sure that his low walk rate will enable him to stick at third base, but thinks his defense is good enough that he should be given a shot to become an average shortstop. Chad Pinder might also move to shortstop, though he still has the same plate discipline issues as Chapman. His shortstop sleeper is Yairo Munoz, who he sees as having "All-Star upside with the bat."

Rangel Ravelo, acquired in the Jeff Samardzija trade, also gets an unranked mention as someone who "might end up as an average everyday player at first because he'll get on base."

The top two pitchers in the system, Dillon Overton and Raul Alcantara, now both have Tommy John surgeries in their history. Alcantara will likely spend most if not all of the year recovering from his surgery last April. Overton's command has returned, but Law only sees Overton as a "potential mid-rotation guy if he gets his old velocity back."

As for 2015 contributors, Law sees Graveman, Nolin, and Chris Bassitt as competing for the rotation, though he considers it an upset for any of them to win a job out of spring training. Law does think R.J. Alvarez's fastball-slider combination will spend most of the year in the major league bullpen, but walks too many to achieve setup man status.

I'm afraid I have to keep harping on this, but Law does not mention one outfielder, not one, in his entire write-up, which is disconcerting as we approach a 2017 with the only primarily outfielder under contract on the projected 25-man roster Coco Crisp's vesting or team option. There's plenty of time to acquire the future outfield by other means, but it seems the farm is not going to be the way forward.