Oakland A’s to bring new group of prospects to Las Vegas

Over the past six seasons, 51s fans have grown accustomed to seeing top Mets prospects.

Jacob deGrom, Noah Syndergaard, Steven Matz, Michael Conforto and Brandon Nimmo are among those who once called Cashman Field home in recent years.

But now it’s the Athletics who will be bringing their Triple-A operations to town, so it’s time to learn about some of the prospects who might swing by over the next few seasons.

The Athletics were ranked No. 7 in MLBPipeline’s top 10 farm systems to begin the season.

They’ve dropped some, but still currently possess a farm system stronger than the Mets, and many of their top prospects are at higher levels, so some solid players should be making their way to Las Vegas soon.

In fact, their top prospect, Jesus Luzardo, might possibly start the season in with the 51s next year as he rises fast through the system.

Luzardo, a 20-year-old southpaw, ended last season with four Triple-A starts. He posted a 2.88 ERA in 109 1/3 innings last season across three separate levels.

“Our (Double-A) Midland team had a really great group this year led by Jesus Luzardo who ended up making a couple starts in Nashville. He’s clearly our No.1 prospect,” A’s general manager David Forst said. “Jesus will probably be a candidate to be with us at some point early next year so it’s hard to say how much if any time he would spend in Vegas.”

Luzardo is the No. 12 prospect, per MLBPipeline. Fellow starter A.J. Puk, the team’s top pick in the 2016 draft — he went No. 6 overall — is No. 38 overall.

Puk, the team’s No. 2 prospect, was a high-profile college pick but underwent Tommy John surgery in April, wiping out the entire season.

Forst said Puk would “hopefully … be back from Tommy John surgery to play in Las Vegas.”

Catcher Sean Murphy, the team’s No. 3 prospect and No. 51 overall, is also someone to expect in Las Vegas, Forst said.

Shortstop/outfielder Jorge Mateo, who lit up the 51s to the tune of 8-for-12 for three games in July, is the team’s No. 7 prospect and spent all of this season in Triple-A.

The team’s No. 10 prospect, Sheldon Neuse, also spent the year in Triple-A.

“There’s a group of position players, Richie Martin, Eli White, Tyler Ramirez, all of whom had great years in Midland and would look to be candidates to start the year in Vegas next year,” Forst said. “All these decisions are a ways away. Luckily, we’re not at a point with the major league club where I’m focused on the offseason yet, so we’ll have to figure that out when the season here in Oakland finally comes to an end.”

Another thing they’ll have to figure out is how to adapt from more of a pitchers’ park in Nashville to Las Vegas, where the ball flies.

“From a development standpoint, we’ll have to do some homework and maybe talk to the Mets people on how it affects some of the player development part of it but again, no one knows quite yet how the new ballpark will play,” Forst said. “(We’re) dealing with a similar environment but we’ll have to sort of hold off until we see how the ballpark plays.”

But all that aside, the Athletics are excited about their prospects walking into a new facility next April.

“I don’t have a ton of experience at Cashman Field but playing in a dated facility in the big leagues, we’re aware of the affects that a dated facility can have,” Forst said. “Knowing that the Summerlin ballpark is going to be ready and the effect it has on our players and staff and our development is a big factor.”

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Contact Betsy Helfand at bhelfand@reviewjournal.com. Follow @BetsyHelfand on Twitter.