A Quick Look at Fangraphs’ Rankings of Atlanta Braves Prospects
Feb 23, 2015; Dunedin, FL, USA; Toronto Blue Jays catcher Russell Martin (55) participates in pitching machine drills during morning work outs at Bobby Mattick Training Center. Mandatory Credit: Tommy Gilligan-USA TODAY Sports
A Comment on Fangraphs’ Rankings of Atlanta Braves Prospects
Fangraphs.com does a lot of excellent work for the baseball community. They really do. They have built their site up to one of the top “go to” places on the Internet for anything about statistics, reviews, player breakdowns, and so much more.
That’s why more than a few people were left scratching their heads this morning when Dan Farnsworth did a piece on the Braves’ farm system and his rankings of the Top 20 prospects.
His missive was a reminder to me that those of use who do this blogging thing really do expose ourselves to what could be a lot of criticism. Often it’s warranted… if we miss a key stat or crucial piece of information (and I’ve done both in the past couple of days). Sometimes it’s a matter of one opinion versus another… and we do welcome constructive engagements like that here. But it’s because I recognize that the blogosphere is a risky place that I will almost always refrain from casting stones toward another writer from my own glass house.
That nevertheless brings me to Dan’s piece on the Atlanta Braves farm system today. It’s long and very detailed, as you would normally expect from a fangraphs writer. I do recommend that you take the time to go through it for his take… a quite different opinion from many, which is what I’m going to get to in just a bit.
The comments Dan received were pretty …. ah, energetic. They actually led Dan to do an edit this afternoon, and I waited until that was done before responding. But since (a) he wrote a lot of words that I don’t have space for, and (b) I don’t wish to take away from his work; here is the summary: his Top 20 Braves farmhands:
- SS Ozhaino Albies
- RHP John Gant
- LHP Sean Newcomb
- LHP Kolby Allard
- RHP Ryan Weber
- 3B Austin Riley
- RHP Lucas Sims
- 3B/LF Hector Olivera
- RHP Max Povse
- CF Mallex Smith
- RHP Mike Soroka
- LHP Max Fried
- RHP Touki Toussaint
- RHP Mauricio Cabrera
- RHP Chris Ellis
- Util Daniel Castro
- RF Braxton Davidson
- LHP Ricardo Sanchez
- RHP Tyrell Jenkins
- 3B Rio Ruiz
Curiously enough, the 2014-15 version of this list was written a year ago by Kiley McDaniel… who is now employed by the Atlanta Braves. For the record, that list isn’t really worth attempting a comparison to this new edition, given the changes to the organization.
Next: The Devils is in the Details