2024 Minor League Thread

[50PoundHead]

Seeing that the AAA season starts on Friday (3/29) and all other levels a week from Friday (4/5), I thought it would be good to get ahead of things and have a thread ready for when the final rosters for each entry take shape and other pertinent news becomes available.

Gwinnett's starting rotation looks to be almost as good as some lower-tier major league rotations with Smith-Shawver, Elder, Winans, Dodd, and Vines. I'm not even counting Ynoa who is working his way back. My guess (and it's only a guess) is that Waldrep will start in Mississippi. Bullpen is pretty solid as well with Kerr, Hernandez, and Giles.

[CyYoung31]

Thanks, 50.

[zbhargrove]

Really excited to see Perdomo get his first professional at bats. Sounds like his approach is way ahead of his age. Also can’t wait to follow Isaiah Drake this year. Has some Michael Harris vibes IMO

[Deester11]

Thanks 50. I'll be all over the fields this year. Rome and Augusta mostly. I'm excited about those teams. Most of high end talent I'll watch too. Gonna be a more fun year than last I hope.

[chop2chip]

Pretty impressed by how much starting pitching depth AA has been able to cobble together. The Chirinos era must have been difficult for AA to stomach.

[50PoundHead]

It's the time of year that I find extremely interesting. Which prospects will be pushed? Everything I've read about Drake would seem to indicate another year in the FCL, but the Braves have never been shy about moving guys up. Baldwin and Alvarez in AAA? Which prospects will be shuffled out (some have probably been let go already)? Morton? Paolini? Franklin (no spring training invite)? Where do college guys from the 2023 draft end up? Ceballos to Rome? Hackenburg and Kuehler? Who repeats a level? Quintero? Keller? Shoemaker? Which of the seemingly thousand AAAA guys who got some spring training ABs will never see the field for Gwinnett? Just a ton of questions.

[cajunrevenge]

I am pretty hyped for the minor league season too. I dont think our farm system ranks too highly but we have so few holes in the major league team that I satisfied with what we have coming down the line. Looking forward to seeing AJSS/Waldrep at AAA. Schwellenbach, Lara, and Owens are the three I am eyeing for big breakout years. I am even a little hype about Ignacio Alvarez. Not sure where he would play but he would be my bet to get traded in a midseason trade. I think there are a few others who have shown good signs but I am not going to hold my breath on. Hoping for the best but too early to get hyped on.

[Tapate50]

Lot of guys coming off injury that could really hit the ground running and improve the system status.

Looking forward to it !

[CJ9]

Thanks for starting this, 50. Excited to see some minor league rosters soon.

[CJ9]

Looks like Tyler Collins was released. He was an overslot 8th rounder in 2021 -- one round after Smith-Shawver -- out of a Texas high school, and he just never hit. Still a little surprised to see them cut him when he's only 21, but there wasn't much reason for any optimism in the numbers.

[cajunrevenge]

Might have been by his request to move on in life to a new career.

[50PoundHead]

Looks like Tyler Collins was released. He was an overslot 8th rounder in 2021 -- one round after Smith-Shawver -- out of a Texas high school, and he just never hit. Still a little surprised to see them cut him when he's only 21, but there wasn't much reason for any optimism in the numbers.

Is that from Baseball America or is there another site that lists the guys let go? I imagine for Collins is was an up-or-out decision. He hasn't hit enough at Augusta to warrant being moved up to High-A after two years in the FCL. They probably have a lot of guys they want to have playing full-time in Augusta and thought Collins would just be taking ABs away from them. Still, as you say, great speed and I remember the excitement around him when they signed him to an over-slot deal.

Edit: I found it on the Braves' major league page. Interesting to see both Max Maria and Christian Jackson let go as well. Neither performed well, but I believe Maria got the third-highest bonus the same year the Braves signed Benitez and Glod. Jackson was a local Atlanta guy. I think Jackson turned down a football scholarship to sign. Young enough to still go that direction.

[steveAKAslick]

I am pretty hyped for the minor league season too. I dont think our farm system ranks too highly but we have so few holes in the major league team that I satisfied with what we have coming down the line. Looking forward to seeing AJSS/Waldrep at AAA. Schwellenbach, Lara, and Owens are the three I am eyeing for big breakout years. I am even a little hype about Ignacio Alvarez. Not sure where he would play but he would be my bet to get traded in a midseason trade. I think there are a few others who have shown good signs but I am not going to hold my breath on. Hoping for the best but too early to get hyped on.

Owen Murphy? Tyler Owens got traded for J.P. Martinez…

Im hoping Nacho is eventually Arcia’s replacement at SS…he’s been able to hit and get on base since he signed & hopefully that continues against stronger pitching…I didn’t realize how good his glove was till reading this …

A third baseman at Riverside, the Braves liked how Alvarez’s feet and hands worked, so even though he’s not a runner and has a thicker lower half, they wanted to see how he looked at shortstop. It’s turned out that he’s looked very good, even being mentioned as one of the best defenders in the Minors by executives from other teams. If he can stay there long-term, that increases his value and puts a little less pressure on him to become a run-producer, and there’s definitely an up arrow next to his name.

[cajunrevenge]

Yes I was referring to Owen Murphy. My understanding is that Alvarez cant handle SS as a fulltime starter defensively. Much better chance than Grissom had but I dont really even want an average/below average defensive SS. The position is too important to have a quality defender.

[jpx7]

Yes I was referring to Owen Murphy. My understanding is that Alvarez cant handle SS as a fulltime starter defensively. Much better chance than Grissom had but I dont really even want an average/below average defensive SS. The position is too important to have a quality defender.

Recent reports are that Alvarez has become an excellent defensive SS after moving up the spectrum from 3B.

[cajunrevenge]

I hope he has. My understanding is that the praise for his defense is regarding the fundamentals and actions. Not about his range.

[50PoundHead]

Baldwin and Alvarez aren't on the Gwinnett roster, so I suspect is will be Mississippi for them. Makes sense given age/experience. Not sure where Waldrep ends up. I wouldn't be surprised if it's Mississippi, but they usually start college guys from the previous draft no higher than High-A.

Waddell did get moved up and if he hits, I wouldn't be surprised if he would be in line for a call-up in the case of injury to an IF.

[CJ9]

Waldrep officially starting at Double A.

[msstate7]

Elder was outstanding yesterday...
6.1 ip 2 h 0 er 0 bb 7 k

Dodd on Saturday...
5.0 ip 3 h 0 er 5 bb 7 k

Get the walks down, Dodd

[OcalaBrave]

The discussion of Alvarez's defense kind of reminds me of Riley when he was in the minors. The initial take was he would never be fluid enough/have enough range to stick at 3B and LF was his future. Then as he kept getting better at 3B, some never reconsidered the initial take. Despite being one of the better defenders at 3B in MLB, there are some that will still question his defense based upon that initial take. Hopefully Alvarez follows a similar path.