Michael Harris is the "left handed Acuna" per Chipper

[bravesfanMatt]

I assume we're talking about black meaning African Americans born in the states?

I don’t know. If I don’t like brown people is that all brown people or only those who live in my country.

[Southcack77]

I don’t know. If I don’t like brown people is that all brown people or only those who live in my country.

I guess Acuna would be all right with you.

[bravesfanMatt]

I guess Acuna would be all right with you.

I would say so.

[atl717]

I enjoyed the article on fangraphs pointing out how Kyle Lewis is overrated. His batted ball profile isn't impressive. You know who was more impressive than Lewis last year? Ian Anderson.

[PawPawMaxwell]

I dont know about the overrated debate but it is worth noting that Lewis signed at full slot with his pick. Full value for Andersons slot was $6.5M. He signed for $4. My point is great value with SSS to date. But who else did Braves get with the $2.5M Ian left on the table?

[Enscheff]

The general consensus was that the Braves were able to sign Anderson, Wentz and Muller due to that extra cash. Lewis signed for $3.8M at #11, so who knows if he would have signed for $4M as the #3 pick.

We also don't know what the freak knee injury at home plate did to his career. Maybe he would be the next Kris Bryant like I dreamed of him being absent that injury. Maybe he was going to be this overrated young guy right now regardless.

What I do know is he was the guy I wanted the Braves to draft, and the fact he would be a black kid playing for the Braves was something like the 7th most important reason...but it would have undoubtedly been nice icing on that cake.

[SJ24]

Back to Michael Harris.

Rosenthal is joining the train.

"One of the most intriguing players in any camp this spring"

https://twitter.com/Ken_Rosenthal/st...01078727036928

[msstate7]

Back to Michael Harris.

Rosenthal is joining the train.

"One of the most intriguing players in any camp this spring"

https://twitter.com/Ken_Rosenthal/st...01078727036928

I can't wait to see where this kid starts this spring. Hopefully I get to see him in Mississippi

[Deester11]

The general consensus was that the Braves were able to sign Anderson, Wentz and Muller due to that extra cash. Lewis signed for $3.8M at #11, so who knows if he would have signed for $4M as the #3 pick.

We also don't know what the freak knee injury at home plate did to his career. Maybe he would be the next Kris Bryant like I dreamed of him being absent that injury. Maybe he was going to be this overrated young guy right now regardless.

What I do know is he was the guy I wanted the Braves to draft, and the fact he would be a black kid playing for the Braves was something like the 7th most important reason...but it would have undoubtedly been nice icing on that cake.

Nice post. I feel this way.

[TheBravos]

The general consensus was that the Braves were able to sign Anderson, Wentz and Muller due to that extra cash. Lewis signed for $3.8M at #11, so who knows if he would have signed for $4M as the #3 pick.

We also don't know what the freak knee injury at home plate did to his career. Maybe he would be the next Kris Bryant like I dreamed of him being absent that injury. Maybe he was going to be this overrated young guy right now regardless.

What I do know is he was the guy I wanted the Braves to draft, and the fact he would be a black kid playing for the Braves was something like the 7th most important reason...but it would have undoubtedly been nice icing on that cake.

Yeah. There is such a process in drafting between the scouts and strategy of what player will sign for what amount, etc. Their complete motives are to get as much talent with the cash they are given. They could care less what color you are.

They “do” at least have Micheal and Trey Harris, Dean, Backstrom off the top of my head.

This is more about African American kids not playing baseball as much as they used to. It has become super expensive to play travel ball these days compared to say football. I think MLB is supposedly making an effort to help. I remember an article that criticized MLB for dumping all kinds of money into international areas but almost none into US cities.

I do think you have a point, but I do not think this is a Braves problem. It’s a MLB problem in general. They have lost major talent to the NFL etc.

[NYCBrave]

Don't worry guys. Pretty soon we will be seeing the entire generation of black players throughout the deep south that BJ Upton inspired to pick up a bat and a ball once he signed with the Braves.

[Tapate50]

Celebrating an African American prospect LITERALLY rocketing through the minors without a season last year turns into racist overtone posting

Wow.

[Heyward]

Anderson over Lewis was the right pick. Wright over Adell looks bad in hindsight but we'll see.

Hopefully Michael Harris ends up being special, what happens with Waters if you have Pache, Acuna and Harris? But i guess that's a good problem to have.

[SJ24]

Anderson over Lewis was the right pick. Wright over Adell looks bad in hindsight but we'll see.

Hopefully Michael Harris ends up being special, what happens with Waters if you have Pache, Acuna and Harris? But i guess that's a good problem to have.

Enscheff is right about Waters.

I'd trade him tomorrow while his "Hype" is still there.

[Carp]

Moral, marketing, and competitive reasons. They all tie in to each other.

It's no wonder African-Americans in the South don't play baseball as much as they used to.

They turn on their TV and try to watch the Braves, and they don't see one black player.

Not one.

If you don't think that's a problem, I'm not sure what to say.

Not calling anyone "racist" per se.

I'm sorry but what color are Acuna, Ozzie, and Ozuna? Or are they not black enough because they're foreign born?

[thethe]

Looks like it may be time for an avatar change.

What could go wrong?

[nsacpi]

Looks like it may be time for an avatar change.

What could go wrong?

if you went with Ender as your new avatar i could pretend to forget (but not forgive) some of your transgressions both old and recent

[DirkPiggler]

Disagree.

The Braves had an African-American from Mercer begging to be selected by them and they took Ian Anderson. That young man from Mercer was AL Rookie of the Year last year.

The Braves took Kyle Wright over another African American Southerner, Jo Adell.

The Braves took some idiot injured pitcher over Jordyn Adams.

The Braves took Shewmake directly above Greg Jones.

That is 4 of the past 5 drafts where the Braves have chosen a white prospect over a similar (or much better) black prospect.

From a moral, marketing, and competitive standpoint, it's a disaster.

Kumar Rocker and Jordan Lawlar may go in the top 3 in the next draft. The draft after that has two of the best prospect I've seen in some time- Elijah Green and Termarr Johnson.

All 4 of those guys are African Americans. Low participation is a baseball problem, yes, but the Braves have to recognize their role as being THE ONLY TEAM IN THE SOUTH and try to get the African American community more involved.

So yes, it IS a selection problem by the Atlanta Braves, and you add the fact the we moved to the boring suburbs from Atlanta?

It's, like I've said, a disgrace.

Counterpoint, mainly to the part about moving to the suburbs.

In all the games I attended at Turner Field or Fulton County Stadium (probably 20 to 25 - not a ton, but not bad for someone who lives eight hours away), I can count the number of African-Americans (or Black people in general) in the stadium who weren't either working at the game or playing on the field on one hand, with fingers left over. This was for teams that included players like Marquis Grissom, Fred McGriff, David Justice, and Jason Heyward, just to name a few. If the Braves have an obligation to have players on the field who match the demographics of the community (they do as a general rule, but not to the point where an inferior player should be chosen on the basis of race), shouldn't the community surrounding the stadium also have somewhat of an obligation to attend games and otherwise support the team that is located in its own back yard?

Taking it a step further, the city of Atlanta bent over backwards to provide a state of the art stadium for the Falcons (and other events), yet apparently had little to no interest in even assisting with needed upgrades to the Braves' stadium. A downtown ballpark for the Braves would've been ideal, but apparently the city wasn't interested in helping to make that happen. As much as it sucks for the city to lose the Braves to the suburbs, from the team's perspective the move was a no brainer. Why not move closer to the area where the paying customers live, especially when the taxpayers of that area are footing the bill?

The lack of African-American participation and interest in the sport is a long-term problem that threatens the future of the game. The Braves are no better, no worse than most other teams at addressing it, and have no more (or less) of an obligation to combat it.

[SJ24]

https://twitter.com/DOBrienATL/statu...51101461909515

It's really happening.

We legitimately have another superstar, folks.

[SJ24]

https://twitter.com/DOBrienATL/statu...42074057207813