10 Athletics Prospects To Know Beyond The Top 30 in 2024
Baseball America’s Top 30 Oakland Athletics Prospects entering 2025 are here exclusively for subscribers. The list includes updated scouting reports, BA grades and tool grade projections every player.
Inevitably, there are players every year who barely miss the cut when we narrow down the list. Last year’s version of the A’s next 10, for example, included two pitchers who went on to pitch in the majors. These players are all worth monitoring for various reasons and it’s likely some will either reach the big leagues in 2025 or enjoy breakout seasons lower in the minors.
Here are next 10 players to know in the Athletics system beyond their Top 30. You can find the complete index of players who just missed their teams’ respective lists here.
31. Noah Murdock, RHP. After acquiring three Royals prospects at the deadline in exchange for RHP Lucas Erceg, the A’s went back to the well to land Murdock in the Rule 5 Draft. He was drafted as a starter but excelled in a relief role in the upper minors in 2024, where his 95-97 mph sinker generated groundballs at a 70% clip. He also works in a low-to-mid-80s sweeper and an upper-80s cutter.
32. Ryan Lasko, OF. The A’s gave Lasko a $1.7 million bonus in the second round of the 2023 draft. He’s a plus runner and defender in center field—which he plays with borderline reckless abandon—but he has yet to make consistent contact as a professional, and there are real concerns about whether his swing is set up to do so. Lasko’s defense could get him to the big leagues as a fourth outfielder even if it doesn’t.
33. Ayden Johnson, SS/3B. Johnson signed for $1.5 million as the top prospect from the Bahamas in the 2025 international signing class. The 6-foot-1, 190-pounder boasts physicality, bat speed and plus raw power potential, albeit with some questions about his feel to hit. He’s an above-average thrower and sticking at shortstop may be a challenge as he fills out and require a move to either third or second.
34. Blake Beers, RHP. The 26-year-old righty has re-emerged as a potential depth starting option for the A’s after throwing more strikes in 2024. Beers’ plus low-80s slider is the jewel of his arsenal and has roughly a foot of sweep at its best. The rest of his arsenal is more fringy. He predominantly leans on his mid-90s fastball when not deploying the breaking ball, while also mixing in an upper-80s cutter and upper-80s changeup.
35. Jackson Finley, RHP. A two-way player at Georgia Tech, Finley has pitched full-time since the A’s drafted him in the eighth round in 2023, so he was more raw than the average 23-year-old college arm in Low-A. Finley has big stuff that didn’t necessarily translate to production (5.62 ERA). The 6-foot-4 righty throws a mid-90s fastball, a 78-82 mph curveball that the A’s believe is the best in the system and a firmer upper-80s changeup from a deceptively low arm slot. He will need to land his breaking stuff for strikes more consistently to remain a starter.
36. Dylan Fien, C. The A’s selected Fien in the seventh round of the 2024 draft and bought him out of a UCLA commitment by signing him to a nearly double-slot $550,000 bonus. The switch-hitting catcher is already a physical 6-foot-3, 205 pounds and will only continue to fill out as he matures. Such size and strength suggests potential above-average power while also inviting questions about whether he can stick behind the plate, especially considering his fringy arm. Fien is a long way away, even if he made a solid first impression in instructs.
37. Kyle Robinson, RHP. Robinson ranked as Baseball America’s No. 101 prospect in the 2024 draft, yet the A’s landed the 6-foot-6 righty in the 11th round for $150,000. He has a solid 90-94 mph fastball from a vertical release height that he pairs with a plus mid-80s changeup. He’ll need to find a consistent and more effective breaking ball while cleaning up some crossfire action in his delivery to remain a starter in pro ball.
38. Sam Stuhr, RHP. Stuhr’s underlying pitch data at Portland impressed clubs and enticed the A’s to draft him in the fifth round and sign him to a $510,000 bonus. His mid-90s fastball scraped 98, and he has two separate breaking ball shapes that generated solid swing-and-miss in a low-80s curveball with two-plane break and mid-80s gyro slider. Stuhr was a fringy strike-thrower as a starter in college, and his stuff may get even friskier if deployed in shorter doses.
39. Carlos Pacheco, OF. The Venezuela native was Oakland’s top international signing in 2022. So far as a professional, Pacheco has shown some impressive physical tools, as well as an elevated strikeout rate, which continued in his complex league debut in 2024. He’s a strong, speedy outfielder with solid arm strength and a chance to stick in center field if he can sustain more contact.
40. Darling Fernandez, OF. The A’s signed Fernandez for $750,000 in 2023. He DH’d a bit early in 2024 as he recovered from a nagging foot injury, but when healthy, showed some hitterish traits and a good approach in the Dominican Summer League. The A’s hope he’ll grow into a bit more power, as he’s a likely left fielder given his fringy foot speed and arm strength.
