7/28/2015 MINORS TUESDAYFINAL ... Riley homers again

[rico43]

MOVES
1B, Jordan Lennerton, a LH hitter from Canada, has signed with Gwinnett following his release by the Tigers. He hit 21 homers in AA in 2012, 17 homers in AAA in 2013, 10 last year and only four so far this year.
RHP Clayton Cook assigned to Carolina after release by Indians (3-2 in 18 g)
Mike Siroka promoted to Danville from GCL.
***Kolby Allard assigned to GCL Braves
Dilmer Mejia placed on DL of GCL


TUESDAY SCHEDULE

ALL TIMES EDT

CLASS AAA

Gwinnett 9, Durham 3

SP: G. Smith 4 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K.
WP: Peterson (1-0) 2 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 1 K.
Moylan 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K.
M. Smith 2-5, R, 2 SB; Cunningham 4-4, 2 RBI; Bethancourt 3-5, 2 2B, 3 R; Terdoslavich 1-5, 2B, 2 RBI; Peraza 1-5, 2B, 2 R.

CLASS AA

Mississippi 12, Birmingham 3

18 total hits.
WP: Ross (4-9) 7 IP, 6 H, 1 ER, 1 BB,
Kang 3-5, 2 R, 2B, HR (4th), 2 RBI; Hyams 2-4, 2 R, 3B, 2 RBI; Mateo (AA debut) 2-5, 2B, 3 RBI; Godfrey 2-6, 3B, 2 R, 2 RBI; Ruiz 2-4, 2 R, BB; Rohm 2-5, 2B, R, 2 RBI.

ADVANCED CLASS A

Carolina 7, Frederick 4

SP: Thurman 4 IP, 6 H, 4 ER, 1 BB, 5 K.
WP: Salazar (1-1) 2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 3 BB, 3 K.
Tate (Save, 3) 1.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K.
Schrader 1-3, HR (11th), 2 RBI: Camargo 2-4, 2B, 2 R; D. Peterson 2-5, 2B, R, 2 RBI.

CLASS A

Asheville 3, Rome 2

LP: Gil (1-4) 6.2 IP, 6 H, 2 ER, 3 BB, 4 K.
Edgerton 2-4, 2B, R, RBI; De La Rosa 2-4, RBI; Gaylor 2-3, 2 CS.

SHORT-SEASON

GCL Tigers 9, GCL Braves 1 (7)

LP: Avalos (1-2) 4 IP, 5 H, 2 ER, 1 BB, 4 K.
Cockrell (debut) 0.1 IP, 2 H, 4 ER, 3 BB, 0 K.
Riley 1-3, HR (6th), RBI; Yelich 2-2, BB.

Burlington @ Danville (16-17), ppd.

DSL Mets 2, DSL Braves 1

LP: Henry (0-3) 3 IP, 2 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 1 K.
F. Sanchez 3 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 0 K.
Ventura 2-4 (.340); J. Fernandez 20-3.

[nsacpi]

Allard, Soroka, Yepez, Acuna, Wilson, Rangel, Mejia and Guardado were all 17 as of June 30. Being successful against players older than you is a big deal, one of the best predictors for future success.

[smootness]

Allard, Soroka, Yepez, Acuna, Wilson, Rangel, Mejia and Guardado all turn 18 after June 30.

Crazy. And boy, Riley is doing some serious work. If he can cut his K rate down to something more like 25% next year, he's going to fly up prospect boards.

[nsacpi]

Crazy. And boy, Riley is doing some serious work. If he can cut his K rate down to something more like 25% next year, he's going to fly up prospect boards.

I think several of the guys in the GCL will fly up the prospect boards. There is resistance though to including them when they are playing at this level. Albies for example didn't make BA's list at the start of this season. He should have but didn't. And he played most of last season in Danville.

[50PoundHead]

GCL team finally lost today, but Riley with another big fly.

[nsacpi]

GCL team finally lost today, but Riley with another big fly.

I like the way this GCL team out-performs its Pythagorean.

[cajunrevenge]

I hope Riley becomes a great player so 10 years from now I can still rail on the idiots who were complaining about the Braves not drafting according to "experts" value rankings.

[nsacpi]

I hope Riley becomes a great player so 10 years from now I can still rail on the idiots who were complaining about the Braves not drafting according to "experts" value rankings.

You should shoot for a more knowledgeable group to rail against. We have a nice group of posters here who have been following the draft for years. And every year when the draft occurs, we have another group that drops in and shares their opinions. Not all of them are ignorant, but some are.

[Jay212033]

I hope Riley becomes a great player so 10 years from now I can still rail on the idiots who were complaining about the Braves not drafting according to "experts" value rankings.

Exactly I can't stand when folk harp on picks because of where "experts" rank them

[CJ9]

Is there any chance we'll see Cruz or Pache this season, or is that something we'll probably have to wait for DSL/GCL next year?

[Horsehide Harry]

I hope Riley becomes a great player so 10 years from now I can still rail on the idiots who were complaining about the Braves not drafting according to "experts" value rankings.

I guess you can count me in as one of those who were concerned that the Braves were reaching with their picks. But, let me explain my position.

My position was not that Riley, nor Herbert, nor Soroka were bad picks or were not worthy. My position was that the Braves were consistently picking players higher than their industry projected spots. So, Allard I was fine with but could Soroka have been had as a competitive balance at #41? Most felt he would go after that. Would Riley have been available at #54? Most thought he would. Would Herbert been available one Braves pick later? Quite possibly.

So, my complaint and it was a minor one was that the Braves appeared to have overdrafted these guys by one Braves pick. Now, they may have had good reason for that, mainly money considerations, I don't know. But, would I have felt better about the draft if the Braves had gone for Cam Diaz at 28, Soroka at 41 and Riley at 54? Sure I would assuming the money could be made to work which it very well might not have been (even if that meant not signing 25 players but instead 10, but high quality).

I just believed that the 2015 draft, 2016 draft and the international signings were going to be critical moving forward and needed to be maximized to fullest benefit. It's hard to know if that happened and we probably won't until 2018 or so.

[auyushu]

I guess you can count me in as one of those who were concerned that the Braves were reaching with their picks. But, let me explain my position.

My position was not that Riley, nor Herbert, nor Soroka were bad picks or were not worthy. My position was that the Braves were consistently picking players higher than their industry projected spots. So, Allard I was fine with but could Soroka have been had as a competitive balance at #41? Most felt he would go after that. Would Riley have been available at #54? Most thought he would. Would Herbert been available one Braves pick later? Quite possibly.

Yep, I don't think most are critical of the players picked as much as when they are picked and the idea that the Braves are skipping BPA in certain cases to grab them. Particularly when the expected BPA would have fit areas of need. At #28 we skipped over 3B Ke'Bryan Hayes (hitting .385 with a .951 OPS at the same level as Riley) and at 41 skipped C Chris Betts (who is by all accounts much more highly thought of than Herbert). We most likely could have grabbed Riley at 54 anyway.

I hope Riley becomes a surefire stud (seeing that kind of power at rookie league is definitely awesome), but we are talking about a prospect currently hitting .230 and striking out in over 1/3 of his ABs in rookie league. But I'm far less likely to be critical of Braves picking hitters in the sandwich and 2 rounds, that's where most of our successes have come from over the past 20 years.

Time will tell on all this stuff, but I'm not sure why people are surprised when people are critical of weird Braves drafting moves, our success rate over the last 25 years (particularly with drafting pitchers early) is nothing to write home about. Very few of our top draft picks that were pitchers over the last 25 years have even managed to be solid #4 starter types, most of our true success has come from finding good players like Millwood and Hanson in the later rounds.

[thethe]

Did the Braves have money leftover after Allard signed? Are these players that everyone is suggesting we have taken fit into the budget? To me it was clear, after drafting Allard the Braves were going to take the highest on their board that allowed them to ensure that ALlard was going to sign.

[thethe]

Mallex with 2 hits and 2 stolen bases. Baby steps. I still think he has a shot to be in the outfield come opening day next year.

[thethe]

Peraza with another double. Would change everything if he could all of sudden become a 50+ XBH hitter.

[Horsehide Harry]

Did the Braves have money leftover after Allard signed? Are these players that everyone is suggesting we have taken fit into the budget? To me it was clear, after drafting Allard the Braves were going to take the highest on their board that allowed them to ensure that ALlard was going to sign.

Considering Allard signed last, I can't see how you say that. I think Allard and his agent were holding out for what he would have gotten had he never been hurt and taken near the top of the draft. I think the Braves went after all the guys they felt like they had to have, keeping a certain number back and then went back to Allard and said "this is what is left. It's x amount above slot and it's yours if you will sign. There is no more." And he ultimately signed.

In no way do I think they played hard ball with him. I think they just put aside a reasonable amount, went about their business and came back and said here it is take it. It's a good deal. And he did.

[thethe]

Considering Allard signed last, I can't see how you say that. I think Allard and his agent were holding out for what he would have gotten had he never been hurt and taken near the top of the draft. I think the Braves went after all the guys they felt like they had to have, keeping a certain number back and then went back to Allard and said "this is what is left. It's x amount above slot and it's yours if you will sign. There is no more." And he ultimately signed.

In no way do I think they played hard ball with him. I think they just put aside a reasonable amount, went about their business and came back and said here it is take it. It's a good deal. And he did.

So would the amount leftover assuming they took the more highly touted players been enough to pry Allard away from his UCLA committment?

[Horsehide Harry]

So would the amount leftover assuming they took the more highly touted players been enough to pry Allard away from his UCLA committment?

It was. It did.

You have to look at the order of the signings. I think the Braves had a good idea that he WANTED to sign. They also knew It would have to be over slot, which it ultimately was.

It came down to the point where they offered a good contract, well above slot to a player that they obviously knew wanted to sign. It's not like they offered him second round money and said take it or leave it.

[dak]

I guess you can count me in as one of those who were concerned that the Braves were reaching with their picks. But, let me explain my position.

My position was not that Riley, nor Herbert, nor Soroka were bad picks or were not worthy. My position was that the Braves were consistently picking players higher than their industry projected spots. So, Allard I was fine with but could Soroka have been had as a competitive balance at #41? Most felt he would go after that. Would Riley have been available at #54? Most thought he would. Would Herbert been available one Braves pick later? Quite possibly.

So, my complaint and it was a minor one was that the Braves appeared to have overdrafted these guys by one Braves pick. Now, they may have had good reason for that, mainly money considerations, I don't know. But, would I have felt better about the draft if the Braves had gone for Cam Diaz at 28, Soroka at 41 and Riley at 54? Sure I would assuming the money could be made to work which it very well might not have been (even if that meant not signing 25 players but instead 10, but high quality).

I just believed that the 2015 draft, 2016 draft and the international signings were going to be critical moving forward and needed to be maximized to fullest benefit. It's hard to know if that happened and we probably won't until 2018 or so.

HH, this is basically my position as well. Well said.

[auyushu]

Did the Braves have money leftover after Allard signed? Are these players that everyone is suggesting we have taken fit into the budget? To me it was clear, after drafting Allard the Braves were going to take the highest on their board that allowed them to ensure that ALlard was going to sign.

The players I was mentioning would have easily fit in the budget. Hayes actually signed for less than Soroka (though I'm sure he would have signed for the same amount if drafted a couple spots earlier by us). Chris Betts signed for 300k over slot, so it wouldn't have been that big of a deal either (losing a late round pick or two is not that big of a deal to get your top tier players signed). It's not like we couldn't have adjusted who we signed or didn't in the later rounds to have the money to keep Allard.