Farm Futures: 136 AL West Prospects You Need To Know

Usually I use these divisional articles to write up every fantasy-relevant prospect in each team's farm system, but given the lack of a minor-league season in 2020, there's just not much new to say about a large percentage of the prospect universe. I am still going to rank the fantasy-relevant prospects in all 30 systems, and I've already written outlooks on the site for the majority of the top-250 prospects on my top 400. I'm also providing a list of prospects in each org. that could contribute in 2021 along with an overview of each system. 

Feel free to ask me any prospect-related questions in the comments or on Twitter.

ASTROS

Players We Could See In 2021: Forrest Whitley, Pedro Leon, Luis Garcia, Tyler Ivey, Brett Conine, Shawn Dubin, Taylor Jones, Chas McCormick, Bryan Abreu

Dynasty Overview: At the very top are two players I'm most excited to watch this spring. With Whitley, we know the story at this point, and many prospect rankers are out or almost out on him after a tumultuous last few years. He's still just 23, and you almost never see a 6-foot-7 starting pitcher with electric stuff figure it out at 21 or 22, so I'm more concerned about the health issues than the poor performance. I don't think anyone outside the Astros organization knows exactly how close to the majors Leon is. He turns 23 in May, so it's not crazy to think he could be up this year if he's as good as I think he might be. He is already getting rave reviews for his defense at shortstop, which is a pleasant surprise, although I still think it's more likely he ends up in the outfield. Richi Gonzalez is one of my favorite power/speed lottery tickets in the minors and Conine is a sneaky pitchability/command guy in a system flooded with high-velocity arms.

ANGELS

Players We Could See In 2021: Brandon Marsh, Chris Rodriguez, Reid Detmers, Jose Alberto Rivera

Dynasty Overview: Jo Adell would still rank first in this system and in the top 15 overall if he were eligible. The Angels have had such an outfield-heavy system in recent years that they've converted guys like Jahmai Jones (now with Baltimore) and D'Shawn Knowles to second base in an effort to get them on a track toward a potential big-league role. Rodriguez is one of the bigger wild cards in the minors, as he has frontline stuff and is on the 40-man roster. After Dylan Bundy and Shohei Ohtani, Rodriguez's stuff is the best in the entire organization, and with the Angels in perpetual win-now mode, I think we see him (and Detmers) at some point this summer. David Calabrese and Denzer Guzman are two of my favorite late-round FYPD picks, while Jack Kochanowicz and Jose Bonilla are strong candidates to join the top 400 at some point this season.

ATHLETICS

Players We Could See In 2021: A.J. Puk, Daulton Jefferies, Luis Barrera, Ka'ai Tom, James Kaprielian, Cody Thomas, Buddy Reed, Greg Deichmann, Grant Holmes

Dynasty Overview: Oakland never seems to have an overly deep or exciting farm system, but they've developed a handful of high-end players over the past few years and have been able to remain competitive at the big-league level. Puk has frontline upside and is big-league ready, yet I have him ranked No. 75 overall due to durability concerns. After the top seven guys, there's not much to get excited about here, although I'm monitoring Peluse and Guldberg as potential breakout players for really deep leagues. Jefferies, Barrera and Tom are a few guys I've liked for a while and they should all see time in the majors this year.

MARINERS

Players We Could See In 2021: Julio Rodriguez, Jarred Kelenic, George Kirby, Logan Gilbert, Taylor Trammell, Jake Fraley, Sam Delaplane, Cal Raleigh, Sam Haggerty

Dynasty Overview: Kelenic and Gilbert should spend most, if not all, of the season with the big club, while Rodriguez and Kirby are long shots to debut this year. However, I like Rodriguez more than Kelenic and Kirby over Gilbert long term. I just buy Rodriguez being one of those rare .300 AVG, 100+ runs, 100+ RBI, 30+ homer hitters and think he'll chip in 8-15 steals. Kirby has all the ingredients to be an SP1 in fantasy. Jonatan Clase and Brandon Williamson could be breakout prospects while Levi Stoudt and Adam Macko are trending up after strong showings in the fall instructional league.

RANGERS

Players We Could See In 2021: Josh Jung, Leody Taveras, Dane Dunning, Sherten Apostel, Sam Huff, Demarcus Evans, Anderson Tejeda, Joe Palumbo, Jonah Heim, Kyle Cody, Steele Walker

Dynasty Overview: Somewhat reminiscent to what's going on in Baltimore, the Rangers are going to be cycling prospects up and down from Triple-A and the majors all season long. Jung and Taveras are the only players (including big leaguers) I'm confident will be a part of the next good Rangers lineup, and they should get plenty of reps this year. It's difficult to say whether to blame the organization or the pitchers, but Texas has done a terrible job of developing pitching over the past decade. Ricky Vanasco was my bet to break that trend, but he'll miss the year recovering from Tommy John surgery and will need to be added to the 40-man roster after the season, which hopefully doesn't negatively affect the way he is developed. Chris Seise could be a huge riser this season if he comes back as good as advertised.