Green and Gold Futures Prospect Weekly: Burress Debuts With Pop, Turley Drives the Week
By Ethan Price ·
Green and Gold Futures Prospect Weekly covers the last 7 days of action for the Athletics farm system.
Drew Burress Debuts With Pop at Stockton
Drew Burress (A, OF, Rank: 2) went 8-for-31 with 2 home runs, a triple, a double, 4 RBI, and 7 walks across his first professional week at Stockton, and the numbers align closely with the scouting report. Signed 8th in the 2026 draft for a reported $7.5 million over-slot bonus, the 21-year-old outfielder from Georgia Tech landed in Single-A and immediately showed the two traits that define his profile: plus power and elite zone judgment. Seven walks in 31 plate appearances mirror the career 111-to-79 walk-to-strikeout ratio that made him a safer bet in the draft class. The 60-grade power showed up quickly, and the 55-grade hit tool did its job keeping the strikeouts manageable despite a contact rate that still sits below 70 percent on wood.
The debut sample is small, but nothing here reads as fluky. Burress is a contact bat with disciplined approach, running a 20.7 percent walk rate and a swing rate of 36.4 percent through his first 87 plate appearances, among the most selective marks in the system. The profile still carries real questions: he is an undersized corner outfielder with a pull-side orientation that better breaking balls will probe, and the contact rate will be tested as pitchers get more looks. His projection as an everyday outfielder, likely in right field at the professional level, hinges on whether the plus power holds against wood and advanced spin. So far, the answer is pointing in the right direction. A promotion to High-A Lansing is the logical next challenge, and there is no reason from this debut to think he will need much time to earn it.
Gavin Turley Drives In Runs All Week
Gavin Turley (A, OF, Rank: 21) had a standout week on the stat sheet of any Athletics hitter, going 8-for-29 with 3 home runs, 3 doubles, and 10 RBI while drawing 2 walks at Stockton. Those 3 home runs pushed him to 14 on the season across 348 plate appearances, and his last-30-day slash at Single-A sits at .307/.372/.573 with 5 home runs and 22 RBI in 86 plate appearances. The plus raw power is absolutely real, and weeks like this one are a reminder of what the ceiling looks like when he squares pitches at his pull-side launch point. The power projection has never been the debate with Turley; the 60-grade there is not in question.
The tension in his profile is the 40-grade hit tool and what it means for how often the power shows up in games. His contact rate is 64.4 percent season-long, and his swing rate has climbed to 56 percent over the last 30 days, the most aggressive mark among tracked hitters in the system. That combination produces 10-RBI weeks and also produces games where he fans against breaking balls away and never gets to the launch point at all. His strikeout rate sits at 32.5 percent for the season, and a brief High-A stint earlier this year produced a .111 average in 30 plate appearances. The power projection is a legitimate 60, but the hit tool has to close some ground for Turley to avoid the Quad-A ceiling his scouting report honestly assigns. A sustained stretch of production at Single-A would make the case for another High-A look; the swing decisions he makes there will tell us more than any one week in Stockton.
Quick Hits
- Devin Taylor (AA, OF, Rank: 5) · drove in 3 on 7 hits in 28 plate appearances, adding a homer and 2 doubles while drawing 7 walks and punching out 11 times. The home run was his 14th of the season, and his 15th double came on August 26. Over his last 30 days at Double-A he is slashing .333/.433/.528 with 5 home runs and 22 RBI across 127 plate appearances, a stretch that has lifted his combined season line to .312/.415/.499 with 20 home runs and 97 RBI. He is a bat-first corner outfielder with a 55 hit tool and 60-grade power, and both are producing at Double-A. The swing-and-miss against upper-level breaking balls is the remaining concern, with his strikeout rate climbing to 32.3 percent over the last 30 days, but the walk rate has held and the production has been consistent enough to make a Triple-A case before the calendar turns.
- Jamie Arnold (AA, LHP, Rank: 4) · allowed 1 earned run on 3 hits over 5.1 innings, walking 4 and striking out 4. The outing was uneven by his standards, but it fits inside a last-30-day stretch that looks very different from his season totals: a 2.30 ERA across 27.1 innings with 35 strikeouts, a 7.1 percent walk rate, and a 50.3 percent strike rate over five starts. His 65-grade slider and 60-grade fastball are legitimate weapons, and when they tunnel off the same release point, Double-A hitters have limited answers. The four walks this week are a reminder that command volatility has been the recurring gap between his present results and a reliable mid-rotation projection, but the trend over the last month points the right direction. The season ERA sits at 3.57 across 113.1 innings.
- Corey Avant (AA, RHP, Rank: 31) · delivered his best outing of the season: 4.2 innings of no-hit ball, no earned runs, 4 walks, and 5 strikeouts on 79 pitches. He got 6 whiffs with only 33 strikes thrown, highlighting the command tightrope he walks. The 95-to-99 mph fastball and flashing slider are good enough to miss bats in short bursts, and a hitless outing at Double-A shows the stuff can dominate when everything syncs. His season ERA sits at 5.80 across 102.1 innings with a 12.7 percent walk rate, numbers that point to a reliever profile rather than a rotation future. Still, nights like this make the mid-innings power reliever projection look achievable if the strike-throwing takes even a modest step forward.
- Will Johnston (AA, LHP, Rank: 25) · struck out 8 batters over 4.1 innings, allowing 2 earned runs on 2 hits and 1 walk. The 18 whiffs on 68 pitches is the standout figure; his whiff rate over the last 30 days sits at 45.3 percent across 13.1 innings of relief, with a 2.02 ERA and 19 strikeouts in that span. Johnston is a 92-to-96 mph lefty whose stuff in short bursts has looked better than the season ERA of 4.13 suggests. The walk rate remains inconsistent, but over his last 11 appearances the execution has been noticeably sharper, making an up-down role look increasingly realistic for 2027.
- Brennan Milone (AA, 3B, Rank: 23) · went 4-for-13 with a double and 3 walks across 13 plate appearances in a limited week. He has a 55 hit tool and an 18.1 percent walk rate on the season, both of which are legitimate assets. His season average of .228 at Double-A reflects a power deficit rather than a contact problem; the 45-grade power grade has produced only 7 home runs in 360 plate appearances, and first base is the likely long-term defensive home. The walk total is real, and the approach is advanced, but the offensive ceiling stays constrained without a meaningful uptick in over-the-fence production.
- Clark Elliott (AA, OF, Rank: 37) · was a walk machine this week, drawing 6 free passes against only 3 hits in 17 plate appearances. His 20.9 percent walk rate on the season is among the higher marks in the system, and his last-30-day on-base percentage sits at .435 across 85 plate appearances, driven almost entirely by plate discipline. The 40-grade power keeps the profile from projecting beyond a depth outfielder, but 20 stolen bases and a genuine feel for the zone give him a path to a Quad-A role where the on-base skills can still play.
- Edgar Montero (A, SS, Rank: 20) · went 3-for-21 with a double, 2 RBI, 5 walks, and a hit by pitch in a subdued week at Stockton. The walks are on-brand for a 19-year-old with a 14.9 percent walk rate over his last 30 days and a 55 hit tool. His last-30-day slash of .288/.402/.562 with 5 home runs over 87 plate appearances is a meaningful step forward from his season-long .223 average; the contact rate of 63.3 percent in that span shows the swing-and-miss is still a real obstacle, but the power-walk combination is encouraging for a teenager in full-season ball. Shortstop is the projected long-term home if the body holds.
- Kade Morris (MLB, RHP, Rank: 17) · was recalled to Oakland on August 21. He has posted a 4.46 ERA across 84.2 innings at Triple-A Las Vegas but a 10.66 ERA in four MLB appearances, so the big-league track record is rough. A reliever-leaning profile with enough stuff to get big-league opportunities, though the results have not yet matched the chance.
- Dylan Fien (A+, C, Rank: 32) · went 4-for-10 with a double and 2 RBI in a short week. The 4-hit effort looks good in isolation, but his season line at High-A Lansing sits at .208/.281/.312 across 278 plate appearances, a number that reflects his 40-grade hit tool and the swing-and-miss against more advanced arms. He is a 20-year-old switch-hitting catcher with a 50-grade arm and real defensive promise; the bat needs time and repetitions, and the recent contact rate of 71.9 percent over the last 30 days is at least trending in a useful direction.