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Like the undulating haze on a flat desert road to nowhere during a long road trip, the Athletics’ farm system is a mirage. Also like a long road trip on a flat desert road to nowhere, you had better strap in and prepare to be bored if the A’s are your second team.
Evaluators Rankings
Baseball America: 9th in organizational rankings, 3 Top-100 prospects: SS Leo De Vries (11th), LHP Jamie Arnold (39th), LHP Gage Jump (40th)
Baseball Prospectus: 14th in organizational rankings, 3 Top-101 prospect: SS Leo De Vries (5th), LHP Gage Jump (37th), LHP Jamie Arnold (58th)
FanGraphs: Org rank not updated, but ended 2025 ~20th, 2 Top-100 prospects: SS Leo De Vries (6th), LHP Gage Jump (81st)
MLB Pipeline: Not updated, but post-draft 2025 ranked 27th, 3 Top-100 prospects: SS Leo De Vries (4th), LHP Jamie Arnold (41st), LHP Gage Jump (57th)
The Leo
Shortstop Leo De Vries was a huge get for the organization, the headliner for the bombshell Mason Miller trade, who arrived alongside three right-handed pitchers. From that haul, only one (Braden Nett) lands in the A’s top 10 prospects per Baseball Prospectus and Baseball America. De Vries is a legit No. 1 prospect candidate, with most giving him a 60 grade. Who wouldn’t love a teenage, high-floor, switch-hitting shortstop with superb bat-to-ball skills, a little latent pop, and good enough defense to stick there for now, even if he’s projected to eventually move off shortstop in their farm system?
Last season, he ran a 125 wRC+ in 2025 split between High-A and Double-A as an 18-year-old, including a 144 wRC+ in his 20 games in Double-A. He hit 15 home runs, showing some future pop, and also went double digits on steals with 11. He also flashed some plus-potential with the glove and some soft hands, something he’s continued to demonstrate in Spring Training this year.
De Vries is a clear-cut gem sitting atop the A’s farm system. He has potential to be a .270+, 30 home run, 20 steal player with strong defense. Considering his age and the Athletics’ approximate window, they shouldn’t rush him, especially considering the rest of their farm system. In a perfect world, De Vries would debut in 2028, ready to lead the Las Vegas Athletics to potential playoff contention. Realistically, I could see him getting a cup of coffee with a couple of injuries this season, and he will likely have the starting job this time next year.
Get ready for this guy to be a royal pain in the ass.
The Lefties
There’s either one or two other top-100 prospects in the system, depending who you ask: left-handed starting pitchers Gage Jump and Jamie Arnold.
The big 4 prospect evaluators are split on which they are higher on.
2024 Comp B pick Jump is a strike-thrower who has three good pitches, his mid-90’s fastball, a sharp slider and a single-plane curveball. A highly-regarded prep prospect, he elected to go to college, and saw his stock rise for it. He might have a slightly higher average evaluation than Arnold, likely due to his more conventional and projectable profile. You should expect to see Jump debuting later in 2026, unless he dominates out of spring training – the A’s current rotation doesn’t necessarily preclude that possibility.
2025 1st-rounder Arnold is a little more of a peculiar profile, an ultra low-slot lefty, throwing a solid fastball with a flat approach angle and a gnarly east-west sweeper that should trouble even right-handed hitters. Fangraphs published an interesting interview with him, and noted that he fell just outside of their Top 100 list.
He portrays himself as a bit of a tinkerer – he currently uses two change-ups, an outlier-kick change and a split change, as part of his six-pitch arsenal. Consider him a high-ceiling low-floor guy.
The L-ugly
So, why is this system a mirage? It’s the depth. The farm has been ranked in the 10-14 range generally speaking, but that’s been buoyed by having three top-100, even top-50 guys. Most systems don’t have that. However, beyond Leo and the Lefties, it’s looking grim. The big-league team will likely improve and enter a window of contention starting next year, but it’s fair to say that barring huge breakout seasons from the depth of this system or a generational draft, I don’t see how this isn’t a bottom-10 or bottom-5 system by the 2027 Draft.