Atlanta Braves Mock Draft Monday, Version 4.3

Atlanta Braves Mock Draft Monday: New Names In Other Mocks?

If you read the All Questions Answered discussion that started last Friday (a recurring feature we do around here on the last Friday of the month), you’ll notice a lot of the discussion was about the draft, and specifically about how recent mock drafts from Baseball America and MLB Pipeline either mocked players previously thought off the Braves’ radar or mentioned players previously thought off the Braves’ radar.

Here is what I can tell fans, as I mentioned to Fred in the AQA post. I have a number of scouting sources I’ve been blessed to make over the last two years throughout the country, inside and outside of professional baseball. A couple of those guys are involved in the Braves scouting department, and specifically in the draft “room” of that department. Those guys were instructed not to talk further to any media until after the draft roughly two weeks ago.

My belief is that these names that were publicly denied by the team before that point are only now being linked to the team because the team is not out there denying their interest in those players. To those making the inquiries, silence = not saying no to having interest. Thus, in spite of an interview with the team’s GM just a couple weeks ago with Jonah Keri describing going for high-ceiling and even high school players, not playing any pick safe, now the Braves are listed in these mocks as having a desire for college players over high school players. It’s all too obvious to me.

Those who are NFL fans know about the two weeks or so prior to the draft when you basically assume anything you hear from a team is littered with “draft speak”, double talk that is intended to keep the press and other teams off of the scent of what a team is truly trying to do. This is the time we’re in now in the MLB draft, so be wary of which report you believe from writers out there!

Now to the picks!

Next: The Draft