Atlanta Braves 2019 Draft Preview: the year of the position player?
By Clint Manry
It’s time to add more talent to the Atlanta Braves organization and this year’s Draft offers a more diverse pool of talent. Could this be the year a position-player is drafted first?
The 2019 MLB Draft is near us, as we’re now just 7 weeks away from another wave of young talent becoming part of the Atlanta Braves organization. The Draft will begin on June 3 and end on June 5, airing on MLB Network and also MLB.com.
There have been, by my count, two different articles provided by this site covering the upcoming draft; one by former co-editor Benjamim Chase in January of this year, and one by Kyle Walter last October.
Both writers did an excellent job of informing readers of the various draft prospects and also who they thought the Braves should or would be targeting. So there’s no need to rehash those points, as you can refresh your memory by re-reading those previously written pieces.
Though, being that this is my new wheelhouse here at Tomahawk Take, I must write something!
So today I’m just going to build off of those two articles and talk a little more about a few of these top future draftees, while also giving you some info on other aspects regarding the Braves in the upcoming draft.
Important Details
This season’s draft should be an exciting one for the Braves as they will pick twice in the first-round (9th pick and 21st pick).
The ninth-pick is a compensation-pick that stemmed from the Braves failure to sign high school pitcher Carter Stewart, as their first selection in the 2018 Draft. The 21st pick is the Braves ‘regular’ pick for the 1st-round.
In the 2nd-round, the Braves will have the 19th-pick, or 60th overall; and to round out the top-4 picks, the Braves will pick 20th (98th overall) in the 3rd-round of the Draft.
You can look up every single pick the Braves will have in the Draft HERE.
Another important aspect of the Draft is of course money. Bonus pools are basically what drives each and every big league team’s draft strategy, and determines the size of bonuses they can offer to potential draftees. Here’s the full list of MLB teams and their bonus pool amounts:
1. Diamondbacks — $16,093,700
2. Orioles — $13,821,300
3. Royals — $13,108,000
4. Marlins — $13,045,000
5. White Sox — $11,565,500
6. Braves — $11,532,200
7. Rangers — $11,023,100
8. Padres — $10,758,900
9. Tigers — $10,402,500
10. Rays — $10,333,800
11. Pirates — $9,944,000
12. Twins — $9,905,800
13. Reds — $9,528,600
14. Giants — $8,714,500
15. Blue Jays — $8,463,300
16. Mets — $8,224,600
17. Dodgers — $8,069,100
18. Angels — $7,608,700
19. Mariners — $7,559,000
20. Yankees — $7,455,300
21. Rockies — $7,092,300
22. Cardinals — $6,903,500
23. Phillies — $6,475,800
24. Indians — $6,148,100
25. Nationals — $5,979,600
26. Cubs — $5,826,900
27. Athletics — $5,605,900
28. Astros — $5,355,100
29. Brewers — $5,148,200
30. Red Sox — $4,788,100
As you see, the Braves are sitting pretty at #6, with a little over $11.5 million. That’s a nice bonus pool to play with for Atlanta, especially given that they have two first-round picks they will have to spend on.
For reference: in 2018 and 2017 their bonus pools were just around $8.2 million and $9.8 million, respectively.
The Braves have a real nice opportunity to add some impressive talent to develop, and that’s what this is all about: Talent and Development.
Up above I listed the Braves picks in the Draft, the first 4 picks they have, covering the first 3 rounds. Those four picks will obviously be less expensive as they progress through the Draft.
Here’s the pick values (or slot value) for each of the Braves first 10 picks in the Draft:
- #9 pick (RD 1) — $4,949,100 (compensation pick)
- #21 (RD 1) — $3,132,300
- #60 (RD 2) — $1,157,400
- #98 (RD 3) — $593,000
- #98 (RD 4) — $447,400
- #98 (RD 5) — $333,300
- #98 (RD 6) — $257,400
- #98 (RD 7) — $201,600
- #98 (RD 8) — $166,100
- #98 (RD 9) — $151,300
- #98 (RD 10) — $143,200
Not to spend to much time on details and money, the real important aspect of this upcoming draft is the players.
If you haven’t really kept up with the top college or top high school talent — don’t worry, as you’re talking about a very large pool of players that feature very small amounts of professional-caliber talent. Baseball is hard!
You can find lists of the top-50 or top-100 players on the internet all day long. These are the guys that will most likely make an impact at the big league level any where from immediately to the next 3-5 years.
Ben and Kyle mentioned some of these guys in their write-ups, so I will do the same, but maybe feature a few you haven’t read about here – and hey: finding diamonds in the rough are definitely a part of the middle rounds.