Catcher--Bethancourt, Herbert, Abraham Guttierez (assuming reports are true)
First--Freeman, Yepez
Second--Albies, Jace Peterson, Dykstra
SS--Simmons, Castro, Alejandro Salazar, Derian Cruz
Third--Olivera, Riley, Maitan (assuming reports are true), Ruiz
Right--Davidson, Isranel Wilson, Pache
Left--Acuna, Dustin Peterson, Baez
Center--Mallex Smith, Lien, Ventura
Obviously, some of these guys are very young and many years from being in the majors. Some will not pan out. However, the list could also grow given our draft position and reports about how much we will spend on the international market.
I make this list for two reasons. One is because it is fun. And secondly as prologue to a discussion about how we might use these assets to accelerate the rebuild. The FO has repeatedly stated that they are targeting 2017. Yet many of these young prospects won't be ready by then. As the list above indicates, we are building up some depth and options. The Braves have over the years shown a willingness to trade prospects to fill needs at the major league level. I don't anticipate those kinds of trades happening this off-season. Rather the team seems likely to use 2016 to see what it has at the major league level and also to give itself an additional year to evaluate the young talent. But come next off-season we might well see some of these long-term assets moved to help the major league team.
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