Oakland A's Top-50 Prospects: 35-31

It’s that time of the year when we take stock of the Oakland A’s organization and analyze the top prospects. For the next few weeks, we will profile our top-50 prospect list in groups of five. Today, we continue the series with a review of prospects 35-31.   Full Story

In the final part of our interview with 2009 Kane County Cougars manager Steve Scarsone, we discuss a number of the Oakland A's younger prospects, including Max Stassi, Rashun Dixon, Anthony Capra, Ben Hornbeck and more...   Full Story

The 2009 Mobile BayBears went 37-33 in the first half of the season before falling to a disappointing mark of 29-41 in the second half. Perhaps no other Arizona Diamondbacks affiliate suffered more from their star players advancing through the system, as new D-backs manager A.J. Hinch aggressively promoted some of his favorite prospects up to help him at the big league level.   Full Story

The Oakland A's 2009 Instructional League camp is in its final two weeks. On Monday, we caught-up with A's minor league pitching coordinator Gil Patterson to discuss the pitchers who are participating in camp. Patterson gives us some rehab updates, as well as progress reports on the attempts at improvement by the pitchers participating in camp. This is Part One of a two-part interview...   Full Story

With the 2009 minor league season finally in the books, it is time for us to bestow our awards on the best individual performances for 2009. In the second of our series, we hand out the awards for the top players and pitchers for the Oakland A's A-ball affiliates.   Full Story

Arizona Diamondbacks third baseman Mark Reynolds broke his own record of 204 strikeouts in a season set last year. After whiffing three times Tuesday night, Reynolds now has 206 strikeouts with 10 games remaining in the 2009 season.   Full Story

If there was a “Comeback Player of the Year” vote for Oakland A’s minor leaguers, Steve Kleen would be near the top of that list for 2009. After missing all of last season with injury, Kleen bounced back with a vengeance, appearing in all 140 games and hitting .312 with 15 homers, 85 RBIs and an 856 OPS for Kane County and Stockton. We spoke with Kleen about his season and more...   Full Story

SAN ANTONIO, Texas - Chad Tracy's outstanding second half has helped him drive home a Frisco-record 107 RBIs this season. Lone Star Dugout sat down with the 24-year-old first baseman before a recent RoughRiders game.   Full Story

Lone Star Dugout announces Frisco first baseman Chad Tracy and Hickory pitcher Carlos Pimentel as its players of the month for August 2009.   Full Story

Evan Frey’s five-hit explosion led to a 12-2 Mobile BayBears romping of the Jacksonville Suns Wednesday night. It has been a difficult season for Frey after a great 2008 campaign generated some high expectations, but the excellent defensive centerfielder is finally showing signs of breaking out of his season-long slump.   Full Story

Frisco slugger Chad Tracy came through in a big way on Thursday night, hitting a pair of clutch home runs in the eighth and tenth innings, respectively. Lone Star Dugout takes a look at all of the day's minor league action.   Full Story

While Gerardo Parra is a legitimate Rookie of the Year contender, he is by no means the only impact rookie on the Arizona Diamondbacks this year. Trent Oeltjen and Rusty Ryal are the latest D-backs prospects to impact the big league squad in a major way.   Full Story

Through 20 starts, Arizona Diamondbacks starter Dan Haren is 10-5 with a 2.14 ERA, 141 strikeouts, and 19 walks. Find out where these numbers rank among the best pitching performances of recent years and what we can expect from Haren in the second half.   Full Story

During the off-season, we named our top-50 prospects in the Oakland A's system. Now that we have passed the midway point of the season, we thought it would be a good time to check the progress of those players. In the fourth in our series, we take a look at the progress of prospects 20-11 from our off-season list.   Full Story

The Kane County Cougars had a terrific first half of the season, so it is no surprise that their pitching staff has put up some impressive numbers. Nathaniel Stoltz takes a closer look at those numbers to see if the actual performance has merited the tiny ERAs.   Full Story

Duquesne rising senior first baseman/catcher Mark Tracy was drafted by the Colorado Rockies in the 49th round of this past June's draft. Mr. Tracy is working to improve his game in an amateur collegiate summer league, the one that is in southern ... Alaska.   Full Story

InsideTheIvy.com publisher Steve Holley spoke with top Arizona Diamondbacks pitching prospect Barry Enright at the Southern League All-Star Game Monday night. Enright discussed not only his experience on the All-Star team, but the adjustments he has made as a pro, his secondary pitches, his relationship with fellow Pepperdine product Dan Haren, and more.   Full Story

The Frisco RoughRiders offense came up big on Friday while the pitching got the job done in Hickory and Spokane. Lone Star Dugout takes a look at all of the day's minor league action.   Full Story

The first-half division champion Kane County Cougars are off to a quiet start to the second half. David Malamut gives an update on the Cougars play over the week of June 29th.   Full Story

The absence of Brandon Webb has perhaps been the biggest culprit in a disappointing season for the Arizona Diamondbacks. The D-backs finally got some good news regarding the status of their ace - he will not need to undergo shoulder surgery, and hopes to return for the final month of the season.   Full Story

Eight Mobile BayBears were chosen and six will appear in the Southern League All-Star Game on July 13th after the team went 37-33 to finish second in their division in the first half of the season. The organization's two top pitching prospects coming into this year - Jarrod Parker and Barry Enright - highlight those selected.   Full Story

Adam Olbrychowski didn't have the greatest season in Charleston last year in the starter's role. Always credited for having a big league arm, however, he seems to have found a home in the bullpen these days after making a quick transition to relieving.   Full Story

CEDAR RAPIDS, IA - After his first full professional season started off on a high note with two scoreless spring training appearances at Oakland’s major league camp, it's been all downhill for pitcher Brett Hunter. The seventh-round pick in 2008, a former preseason All-American at Pepperdine, lost his command and confidence at Low-A Kane County.   Full Story

The Arizona Diamondbacks spent all of April looking for ways to score runs. Now that they are scoring under the supervision of new manager A.J. Hinch and new hitting coach Jack Howell, they aren't pitching as well under the guidance of Mel Stottlemyre Jr.   Full Story

Dan Haren had a 5-1 lead over the Los Angeles Dodgers when he left Tuesday night's game after seven innings, but the bullpen couldn't make it stick. Tony Pena was a major part of a huge blown lead for the second time in a week and Daniel Schlereth proved that he was mortal as the Dodgers scored five runs with two outs in the eighth inning to win 6-5.   Full Story