Originally Posted by
smootness
The most important aspect of a FO is not where they choose to focus, but to properly evaluate players and to maximize value at every opportunity. The first is very hard to do, and the difference between front offices there is very slim, but that slim separation can make all the difference. And based on the consensus around the league after most of the Braves' moves, it's hard to argue they haven't done a very good job of maximizing value.
Some pitching prospects will hit. It is an obvious fact that if there are good pitchers in the majors, then some prospects will hit and become good pitchers. You can either decide you will wait to see which ones do hit and spend tons of money or other assets to get them (and they still have the same injury risk as everyone else), or you can stockpile enough talent that the odds become in your favor that you will have enough hit.
Obviously if you do that, you have to find out how to also get position players, but the Braves have done a decent job of that. Freeman, Inciarte, and Swanson is a start at the major league level, and Albies/Maitan/Acuna is a pretty darn good group to have assembled in the minors. If we use our #5 pick on offense, suddenly you have the makings of a good group of position players to go with a ton of talented pitching. You can call that 'stone-aged thinking' if you want, but there are plenty of organizations that would kill for that mix of young players.