Atlanta Braves Mock Draft: The Morning After Reactions

Dec 7, 2015; Nashville, TN, USA; MLB commissioner Rob Manfred answers question from the media after naming Cal Ripken Jr. (not pictured) Senior Advisor to the Commissioner on Youth Programs and Outreach during the MLB winter meetings at Gaylord Opryland Resort . Mandatory Credit: Jim Brown-USA TODAY Sports /

Reacting To An Atlanta Braves Mock Draft

Yesterday, Saturday, June 4th, Tomahawk Take writer Benjamin Chase acted as Atlanta Braves General Manager in the annual mock draft held at John Sickels’ minorleagueball.com site. The draft went four rounds (I mistakenly thought 5, but oh well!), and we’ll take a look at who Benjamin got for the Braves:

Round 1, Pick #3, Slot ~$6.5M: Kyle Lewis, OF, Mercer University

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The Braves have Lewis as their #1 guy on their board, and this draft fell with the Braves having a choice among Lewis, Mickey Moniak, and the two big high school arms, Jason Groome and Riley Pint. Lewis is that #1 guy, and that’s why I went with him as the selection here.

Round 1, Pick #40, Slot ~$1.6M: Kevin Gowdy, RHP, California HS

This pick ended up being a pick that I doubt will be made by the Braves simply due to the guys that likely will be picked by the Braves already being off the board at this spot. One of the things to note with this draft is that most teams simply selected the best player for their team at their draft slot without a lot of thought to whether their team could sign that player. I certainly kept that in mind, but that also meant that players like Matt Manning, Ian Anderson, Joey Wentz, and Braxton Garrett, one or more of whom will likely fall to #40 due to financial reasons, were already off the board. Gowdy was the next highest-rated high school arm on the board and a guy the Braves have scouted quite a bit, and everything I’ve been told has the Braves picking a high school arm at #40. They’ll likely have a deal in place already with a guy like the four I mentioned previously to get their guy to “fall” to them.

Round 2, Pick #44, Slot ~$1.5M: Brandon Marsh, OF, Georgia HS

I have a feeling that the Braves will be going for a bat here, but once again, the guys that I have a feeling will end up at 44 were off the board already due to a heavy run on high school hitters. Marsh is actually a guy that I think will be gone before the #44 selection, but if he’s there, the Braves would love this selection!

Round 2, Pick #76, Slot ~$839K: Austin Hays, OF, Jacksonville University

I got one of the college bats I liked here in Hays. I was between two college options here, either Hays as a bat, or Matt Krook as a falling college arm that could be a guy that Braves really turn around his big-time stuff, but Krook went the pick right before me at #75, so that made my decision easy. Hays is a solid power bat, but he also brings some very good overall athleticism to a likely left field profile.

Round 3, pick #80, Slot ~$789K: Matthias Dietz, RHP, John A. Logan Junior College

The Braves LOVE Dietz, and getting him at this point would be a huge coup for the organization. I think they’d have to pay near slot or even a little over to get him to sign, but they are big fans of Dietz, so I would wager he gets himself the money he wants from the team.

Round 4, pick #109, Slot ~$547K: Bobby Dalbec, 3B/RHP, University of Arizona

The way the draft broke, I hadn’t really spent heavy, and I felt I could go after a guy that I knew the Braves were fans of last summer. Dalbec knocked the stuffing out of the ball at Cape Cod this last summer, but his pitching was actually much more impressive this year than his hitting as he was in a prolonged slump during the season. That said, Dalbec hit a home run Friday in the NCAA regionals that was a thing of beauty. I’d love to get that kind of power into the system, and especially as scouts have talked about Dalbec showing much better defense at third and possibly being able to stick there or move to outfield rather than being forced to first base.

Next: Braves Minor League Database

So, looking forward, the Braves in this scenario would still have money to go near slot for a few more picks, allowing them to pursue college arms that were looking for $500K or so. Remember that after round 3, no pick is protected, so picking a guy that doesn’t sign no longer gets you a compensation pick the next season AND you also lose the slot money, so the Braves will likely not risk a high school guy after round 3. There are a lot of very solid college guys still on the board here, though, and I do think you’ll see the Braves with a chance at some very good players if they end up with similar finances going into the 5th round.

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