Atlanta Braves Draft Choices Still a Mystery

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Atlanta Braves Draft Choices Still a Mystery As Draft Day Approaches

The rule four draft starts in six hours and the Atlanta Braves preferences are still a mystery. We all know the needs but the GM told Mark Bradley they aren’t the motivating factor.

That’s not a surprise, this isn’t basketball or football where the rookie take the field almost immediately, difference between a high school team and a high A team is huge; the jump between even the best college team and a good AAA team is just as big. It’s a rare player that can make that move in under three years so the draft depends on how the Braves project the future.

Clues?

I scanned the Bradley piece for clues and found some pointers. Of course what they point to is up to interpretation like the first quote from the GM about needs.

"“We never draft on need. We always seek out the highest-upside player who can help us win a championship. Needs change. We could go out and sign a power bat this offseason.”"

More from Tomahawk Take

That’s true and it’s not. The number of good power bats in the Braves price range this is small…make that tiny. But It is true that they should never draft to fill the needs of the team in Atlanta, for reason I noted that would be silly. On the other hand the needs of the minor league teams are exactly the same as that of the major league teams. I believe Coppy has a quote for that too.

". . . Coppolella has said his vision is of “wave after wave of prospects.”"

If you’re going to have waves of talent it can’t all be one kind of talent and right now the Braves system is heavy on pitching and middle infielders but little else That being the case, drafting bats isn’t the kind of drafting for need Coppy was shooting down. There’s this from a Mark Bowman post that seems to support that idea.

"“I think you’ve got to take [hitters] to get them, and you can’t just take one here and one there,” Braves scouting director Brian Bridges said. “You have to make a commitment to go in that direction. We’re thinking long and hard about it. That’s something we need to address as an organization — to not be so lopsided and get some more position players.”"

Lopsided? As I noted in an earlier post the Braves draft philosophy since 1984 – minus the Wren Era – has been draft pitching, trade for everything else and the general consensus is that they drafted pitchers like they were fishing with a large seine.

Next: Braves Draft History Review

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