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In-season farm system grades: AL, NL West

Dodgers, Padres, Astros earn high marks for performance so far
Alex Verdugo, who represented the Dodgers at this year's Futures Game, has crushed the Pacific Coast League in 2017. (Bobby Stevens/MiLB.com)
July 21, 2017

With about six weeks remaining in the Minor League regular season, members of the MiLB.com staff hand out grades to all 30 farm systems based on their prospect and team performance so far. The American and National League East Division made up the first installment in the series, followed by

With about six weeks remaining in the Minor League regular season, members of the MiLB.com staff hand out grades to all 30 farm systems based on their prospect and team performance so far. The American and National League East Division made up the first installment in the series, followed by the Central Divisions on Thursday and the West today. Josh Jackson provides the grades here for the AL West, while Tyler Maun breaks out his red pen for the NL West.

American League West


Houston Astros
Grade: B+

The Astros have graduated two pitchers to the big leagues who are ranked among MLB.com's top-100 prospects. Francis Martes (No. 15) has been used primarily out of the bullpen of late and is finding success there, allowing two earned runs in his last four appearances. David Paulino (No. 44), on the other hand, hit a wall in his development after nine big league games. The 6-foot-7 fireballer has been banned for the rest of the season due to a positive PED test. But in the Minors, things are sunny. The organization ranks seventh with a collective .534 winning percentage as Class A Quad Cities and Class A Advanced Buies Creek -- thanks in part to prized pitching duo Forrest Whitley and Franklin Perez -- each hold second-half division leads. Kyle Tucker, the club's top position playing prospect, is more than holding his own at age 20 for Double-A Corpus Christi. Up at the Triple-A level, fellow Futures Game participant Derek Fisher has batted .314/.381/.589 with 21 homers and 16 steals over 81 games. He also had a five-game stint in the Majors in June and went 5-for-18 with two homers. There's individual talent and team success to be found throughout the system.

Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim
Grade: D

Relying almost exclusively on the Draft can be a slow way to conduct a rebuild, but nobody can claim the Angels haven't brought aboard some promising pieces over the last three. Outfielders Jordon Adell (this year's 10th overall pick), Jahmai Jones (2015 second-rounder) and Brandon Marsh (2016 second-rounder) have speed and power worth dreaming on, and slugging first baseman Matt Thaiss has shown signs of being a quality bat. Still, of those four, only Jones and Thaiss have played above Rookie ball. Thaiss reached Double-A just this month and homered in his Southern League debut. Jose Rojas, an Anaheim-born 36th-round pick from last year's Draft, was among the California League's best hitters before his own move to the Southern League. As with the Rangers (see below), the Angels' .497 winning percentage has more to do with what's not in the system than what is. Triple-A Salt Lake (52-46) sits atop its division, but every other full-season club has a losing record. 

Oakland Athletics
Grade: C+

Oakland has had a bit of a revolving door with Triple-A Nashville this year, which has given several of the organization's top prospects -- including middle infielder Franklin Barreto, slugging third baseman Matt Chapman, outfielder/first baseman Matt Olson and righty Daniel Gossett -- a taste of the Majors. A.J. Puk, the No. 57 overall prospect, came into the system in the first round of last year's Draft, but he's already in the rotation with Double-A Midland. His first three starts there have been bumpy, but the 22-year-old southpaw spent the first half of the season proving he was ready for more of a challenge than the Class A Advanced California League could offer. His 3.69 ERA over 14 games (11 starts) may not blow your hair back, but look at his .196 average against and 98 strikeouts across 61 innings, and it's clear the circuit wasn't a match for him. As with Houston, Oakland has a good collection of top-shelf prospects but it hasn't lent itself to a lot winning up and down the Minor League ladder as its .481 winning percentage ranks 23rd in the Minors. In fact, no full-season affiliate owns a winning record at this juncture. The amount of Major League-ready talent and Puk's affinity for the K earns the C+ for now, but there remains room for growth, which could certainly happen if the A's are deadline sellers.

Seattle Mariners
Grade: C-

It's not fair to say the stock has fallen for the two most exciting Mariners prospects, but the unavoidable fact is that neither Kyle Lewis nor Tyler O'Neill gave anybody a whole heck of a lot to swoon over in the first half. A five-tool player with two or three "best" tools, Lewis suffered a torn ACL last July, finally got back into action this June and was placed on the DL with knee soreness a couple days later. O'Neill heated up with the weather, belting six homers in June and six more through the first 15 games in July. But the tater-mashing Canadian hit just three in April and two in May, and his season slash line stands at .244/.328/.479. Nick Neidert, Seattle's top pitching prospect, was perhaps the California League's most effective pitcher, going 8-3 with a 2.76 ERA and 109 strikeouts over 104 1/3 innings, before a recent move to Double-A Arkansas. His old Modesto club took the first-half North Division title (39-31) and opened the second half at 15-11. No. 4 prospect Andrew Moore has been another Minor League pitching success story, using a 2.67 ERA between Double-A and Triple-A to earn a Major League debut. All M's affiliates combined rank 22nd with a .481 winning percentage, and it's going to take more from all involved to earn an impressive grade in the second half. That became a slightly more uphill battle Thursday when the organization sent four prospects -- three of which were ranked among its top 30 -- to the Marlins for reliever David Phelps.

Texas Rangers
Grade: D+

Top Texas prospect Leody Taveras, an 18-year-old center fielder, has hit .251/.304/.362 with six homers and 14 steals in 92 games at Class A Hickory. Those numbers don't pop off the page, but he's made solid developments for someone who would still be in an American high school. Left-hander Yohander Méndez, who pitched his way from Class A Advanced to the Majors last year, has been steady enough (3.78 ERA) through 18 Double-A starts this year, but his strikeouts have fallen off -- he's whiffed 96 over 112 frames compared to 113 in 111 Minor League innings last year. Those are the organization's only top-100 prospects right now, and that's unlikely to change when MLB.com's rankings are updated this month. That said, No. 4 prospect Ronald Guzmán continues to show an impressive hit tool with a .315 average and 125 wRC+ at Triple-A Round Rock, and he might be the system's success story of the season thus far. The Rangers didn't have a single affiliate above the complex level with a winning record, and the organization ranks 26th with a .454 winning percentage.

National League West


Arizona Diamondbacks
Grade: C

The D-backs' resurgence hasn't just been at the Major League level in 2017. A system drained of talent due to moves at the big league level has rebounded in surprising fashion with veterans leading the way for the best team in the family, Triple-A Reno. The three-headed offensive monster of Oswaldo Arcia, Christian Walker and Ketel Marte boast the top three OPS marks of full-season performers in the organization. Walker has challenged for the Minor League home run lead all season. Among its top prospects, outfielder Sócrates Brito has returned from March hand surgery with a strong start for Reno, and righty Jon Duplantier dominated the Midwest League with a 1.24 ERA in 13 starts before a promotion to Class A Advanced Visalia. For a system devoid of top-100 prospects, the D-backs are making due. Their .527 system-wide winning percentage is eight-best in baseball, and that saves the grade here. 

Colorado Rockies
Grade: B

Colorado's surprise ascendancy to contention in the National League West has been behind the graduations of rookie starting pitchers like Kyle Freeland, Jeff Hoffman, German Márquez and Antonio Senzatela. Behind them, the system has produced some breakout seasons along with some steps backward while putting up a .505 winning percentage, 12th best in the game. Top prospect Brendan Rodgers has been a revelation in his second full pro season, batting .400/.419/.700 in 48 California League games to push his way to Double-A Hartford. Fellow infielder Ryan McMahon did the same one step ahead on the ladder, raking through his second tour of the Eastern League with a .926 OPS to make the jump to Triple-A, where he's been even better. Colton Welker also deserves a shoutout for the way he's led the South Atlantic League in hitting for most of the 2017 season. Top pitching prospects Riley Pint and Ryan Castellani have struggled a bit. Pint owns a line of 53 strikeouts against 39 walks in 62 2/3 innings with Class A Asheville to go along with a 4.02 ERA and 4.36 FIP, but he's still just 19. Castellani has been hit hard with a .277 opponents' average but could get some relief from a high .328 BABIP. Yency Almonte, however, boasts a 2.21 ERA through 13 Double-A starts, and Sam Howard's 2.33 mark through nine outings there earned him a ticket to Albuquerque. Rodgers and Pint might be the only two top-100 prospects right now, but there's plenty else to work with in this system from a team and individual standpoint.

Los Angeles Dodgers
Grade: A-

Like just about everything with the Dodgers in 2017, things are going well on the farm. Aside from graduating their latest phenom in Cody Bellinger -- following in the footsteps of previous rookie stars like Joc Pederson and Corey Seager the last two years -- the Dodgers have more prospects making waves. Futures Game selection Alex Verdugo has crushed the Pacific Coast League with a .336/.408/.451 slash line in 85 games, and Oklahoma City teammate Willie Calhoun boasts an even better OPS with a .302/.353/.576 line. Pitcher Walker Buehler provides one of the second half's most intriguing story lines. Limited to just five innings last year after 2015 Tommy John surgery, Buehler fanned 83 batters in 61 2/3 innings between Class A Advanced and Double-A this year to move up to the Pacific Coast League, and the Dodgers are reportedly considering using him in a relief role for the Major League stretch run. DJ Peters' power has come on strong for Rancho Cucamonga with 19 homers and a .543 slugging percentage in 91 games. If all that wasn't enough, the Dodgers own a .535 winning percentage, sixth-best in the game. A top-five spot and a better season by top prospect Yadier Álvarez (5.31 ERA with control issues in Rancho) would have made this a solid A, but like the big league club, there are few reasons to complain.

San Diego Padres
Grade: B+

The Friars haven't gotten an inning of work yet this season out of their top prospect, right-hander Anderson Espinoza, due to forearm tightness, but beyond that the headlines are largely positive for San Diego's rebuilt system. Stanford product and 2016 first-rounder Cal Quantrill was solid in the California League with a 3.67 ERA in 14 starts for Class A Advanced Lake Elsinore and has moved up to Double-A San Antonio. Down the ladder, lefty Adrian Morejon is showing why he was such a tantalizing international talent when the Padres nabbed him last July. Morejon has struck out 27 batters while walking just three in his first 29 1/3 innings for Class A Short Season Tri-City. Infield whiz Luis Urías has excelled no matter where he's been in the San Diego organization and is doing the same with Double-A San Antonio this year, batting .316/.412/.406 in 89 games, and shortstop Fernando Tatis Jr. is coming on strong as well. With Class A Fort Wayne, Tatis has posted a .267/.361/.491 slash line with 16 homers in his first full season. Slugger Josh Naylor hasn't yet tapped into the considerable power for which he was touted when the Marlins made him a first-round pick in 2015, but now in his first full year with the Padres, he had .813 OPS with Lake Elsinore to make the jump to San Antonio. Friars affiliates have won at a .495 rate, 17th in baseball, so in this case, the individual pieces might be greater than their sum.

San Francisco Giants
Grade: D-
With three World Series titles since 2010, the Giants aren't going to get much sympathy from the baseball world for a brutal 2017, but it hasn't stopped at the big league level for San Francisco. The Giants' Minor League family has posted the second-worst winning percentage of any organization (.429). On an individual level, San Francisco's top two prospects have had roller-coaster seasons. Infielder Christian Arroyo tore up the Pacific Coast League in April to earn his first call to the Show but was sent back to the Minors in June and suffered back-to-back hand injuries in his return to Triple-A Sacramento. The second sent him to the disabled list with a broken left hand and could cost him the rest of the season. Right-hander Tyler Beede has shown flashes of his promise but has been inconsistent through 17 starts, posting a 4.79 ERA and a 17.4 percent strikeout rate, nearly a five-point drop from 2016. But things aren't all bad. After a strong start with Double-A Richmond, first baseman-turned-outfielder Chris Shaw has kept it going with Sacramento. Lefty Andrew Suárez has done the same on the mound, registering a combined 3.64 ERA in 16 starts between the two levels. Perhaps the brightest rebound story in the system is righty Kyle Crick, who seems to be figuring himself out as a reliever. In 24 appearances with Sacramento, Crick has put up a 2.76 ERA and 39 K's against just 13 walks in 29 1/3 innings and is up with the big club after making his Major League debut on June 22.

Josh Jackson and Tyler Maun are contributor to MiLB.com. Follow them on Twitter: @JoshJacksonMiLB and @TylerMaun.