Braves rated the best farm system of the decade by MLB

[nsacpi]

Don't forget fellow Golden Wrens, Jacob Webb was an 18th rounder.

Sobo was a 4th rounder.

Shame Shae Simmons hurt his arm. He looked like a mini Kimbrel when he first came up.

[Southcack77]

Imagine Wren with this payroll.

Padres fans would appreciate Preller not making the worst moves anymore.

[Heyward]

Imagine Wren with this payroll.

Wren couldnt draft and thats why he got fired, he had so many misses, you need more than 2 hands to count them. Him getting fired was the best thing for this organization.

[nsacpi]

Him getting fired was the best thing for this organization.

Hartcoppy say hello.

[Horsehide Harry]

Hartcoppy say hello.

The Golden Wrens did great on the international front. HartCoppy was a disaster there. I was going to say that HartCoppy did well in the draft, but, they didn't really.

If you take a critical look at the positions where they drafted and the number of picks taken, I would have to say that HartCoppy really was a disaster all the way around, except for the one outlier trade with Arizona.

[Heyward]

Hartcoppy say hello.

Well yeah them too, but not sure we ever rebuild if Wren stays so yeah.

[bravesfanMatt]

I have a feeling a lot of these pitchers draftees have a Cox and JS influence on them. They were always about reliving the 90’s and somehow getting 3 hall of fame pitchers in the .org. I bet they had influence on the Hart Coppy era as well. Those guys riding off into the sunset is probably the best thing that could have happened. We need to get away from the 90’s way of thinking.

[Carp]

The Golden Wrens did great on the international front. HartCoppy was a disaster there. I was going to say that HartCoppy did well in the draft, but, they didn't really.

If you take a critical look at the positions where they drafted and the number of picks taken, I would have to say that HartCoppy really was a disaster all the way around, except for the one outlier trade with Arizona.

Hart/Coppy actually "hit" very well on their draft classes, though certainly the focus on pitching was overkill. There hasn't been much graduation from his classes yet, but from a prospect stsndpoint those classes produced a bunch of a potential.


2015 class was very strong. It produced Allard, Soroka, Riley, and Minty as guys who have already made an impact at the ML level and seem like MLB mainstays. Weigel, Phillips (with Baltimore), Graham, and Withrow all have varying degrees of potential and seem like impactful BP arms.

2016 was the most debated draft class of them all and it also has turned out very strong at least among prospect ratings. Anderson is our top pitching prospect currently and Wilson is probably our 2nd or 3rd best pitching prospect. Muller has been shooting up prospect lists and Wentz is a solid, though unspectacular pitching prospect in Detroit now. Cumberland is still a solid prospect in the Orioles system. Davidson is doing well. Burrows, Walker, and Clouse are potential impact BP arms too.

2017 was his weakest class, though he still had some hits. Wright and Waters are top prospects. Tarnok is a very solid pitching prospect. Zimmerman (in Baltimore) has some helium,

The over emphasis on pitching notwithstanding, he did very well with his draft classes.

[nsacpi]

Hart/Coppy actually "hit" very well on their draft classes, though certainly the focus on pitching was overkill. There hasn't been much graduation from his classes yet, but from a prospect stsndpoint those classes produced a bunch of a potential.


2015 class was very strong. It produced Allard, Soroka, Riley, and Minty as guys who have already made an impact at the ML level and seem like MLB mainstays. Weigel, Phillips (with Baltimore), Graham, and Withrow all have varying degrees of potential and seem like impactful BP arms.

2016 was the most debated draft class of them all and it also has turned out very strong at least among prospect ratings. Anderson is our top pitching prospect currently and Wilson is probably our 2nd or 3rd best pitching prospect. Muller has been shooting up prospect lists and Wentz is a solid, though unspectacular pitching prospect in Detroit now. Cumberland is still a solid prospect in the Orioles system. Davidson is doing well. Burrows, Walker, and Clouse are potential impact BP arms too.

2017 was his weakest class, though he still had some hits. Wright and Waters are top prospects. Tarnok is a very solid pitching prospect. Zimmerman (in Baltimore), Delgado, and Lugbauer have some helium, but aren't impactful prospects yet.

The over emphasis on pitching notwithstanding, he did very well with his draft classes.

Soroka was a great pick. The rest is to be determined. We already have one second round pick, Herbert, who has busted.

[zbhargrove]

Hart/Coppy actually "hit" very well on their draft classes, though certainly the focus on pitching was overkill. There hasn't been much graduation from his classes yet, but from a prospect stsndpoint those classes produced a bunch of a potential.


2015 class was very strong. It produced Allard, Soroka, Riley, and Minty as guys who have already made an impact at the ML level and seem like MLB mainstays. Weigel, Phillips (with Baltimore), Graham, and Withrow all have varying degrees of potential and seem like impactful BP arms.

2016 was the most debated draft class of them all and it also has turned out very strong at least among prospect ratings. Anderson is our top pitching prospect currently and Wilson is probably our 2nd or 3rd best pitching prospect. Muller has been shooting up prospect lists and Wentz is a solid, though unspectacular pitching prospect in Detroit now. Cumberland is still a solid prospect in the Orioles system. Davidson is doing well. Burrows, Walker, and Clouse are potential impact BP arms too.

2017 was his weakest class, though he still had some hits. Wright and Waters are top prospects. Tarnok is a very solid pitching prospect. Zimmerman (in Baltimore), Delgado, and Lugbauer have some helium, but aren't impactful prospects yet.

The over emphasis on pitching notwithstanding, he did very well with his draft classes.

Not that its a big deal, but Burrows wasn't a draft pick... we got him with Gohara in the Mallex trade I believe.

[Southcack77]

Soroka was a great pick. The rest is to be determined. We already have one second round pick, Herbert, who has busted.

Simply having so many retain prospect status is a pretty successful result.

[Carp]

Not that its a big deal, but Burrows wasn't a draft pick... we got him with Gohara in the Mallex trade I believe.

You're right. Not sure where I got that from.

[nsacpi]

Simply having so many retain prospect status is a pretty successful result.

the 100 meters gold medal does not get awarded to the guy who looked good the first 25 meters

but while we are declaring winners/losers prematurely I want to note that the #14 pick in the entire 2015 draft netted us half a season of Chris Martin

i also note that Alex Wood (who accumulated 14 WAR in his pre-free agency seasons) never made BA's Top 100 and that the best that Andrelton Simmons ever did was #92 on their list. It's really major league output NOT "maintaining prospect status" that is the coin of the realm when evaluating a draft

[Carp]

Soroka was a great pick. The rest is to be determined. We already have one second round pick, Herbert, who has busted.

Sure. Obviously, ML success is the ultimate measuring stick. But so far, his drafts have produced several top 100 overall prospects and several other prospects that are developing nicely. Compared to a few of Wren's drafts that failed to produce more than 1 or 2 top prospects

[Metaphysicist]

i also note that Alex Wood (who accumulated 14 WAR in his pre-free agency seasons) never made BA's Top 100 and that the best that Andrelton Simmons ever did was #92 on their list. It's really major league output NOT "maintaining prospect status" that is the coin of the realm when evaluating a draft

I don't disagree with the general point, but Alex Wood was never a BA top 100 guy because he was in the majors less than a year after being drafted. He would certainly have been on the 2013 lists, which would have been his first full season, had he kept his eligibility.

BA midseason top 50 2013 chat:

Jerry (San Diego): If Alex Wood had remained in AA and continued to put up numbers consistent with his first 10 games, would he have made the list?

J.J. Cooper: Yes. Probably closer to the back end, but off the top of my head, I’d see him as a top 50 guy.

Sickels Midseason 2013:

Q: Alex Wood: Is he one of the guys that you think will exceed rookie eligibility this year? If so, do you have a rough idea of where he might have been ranked in this list?

A: yeah I thought wood will exceed the limits. He would be somewhere in the 50-60 range I think

[Southcack77]

the 100 meters gold medal does not get awarded to the guy who looked good the first 25 meters

but while we are declaring winners/losers prematurely I want to note that the #14 pick in the entire 2015 draft netted us half a season of Chris Martin

i also note that Alex Wood (who accumulated 14 WAR in his pre-free agency seasons) never made BA's Top 100 and that the best that Andrelton Simmons ever did was #92 on their list. It's really major league output NOT "maintaining prospect status" that is the coin of the realm when evaluating a draft

I'm pretty sure you're arguing past me with that one.

It doesn't seem particularly responsive to what I said, to me. So you must be making an entirely different point.

[Southcack77]

Sure. Obviously, ML success is the ultimate measuring stick. But so far, his drafts have produced several top 100 overall prospects and several other prospects that are developing nicely. Compared to a few of Wren's drafts that failed to produce more than 1 or 2 top prospects

Correct. The majority of draftees are not prospects for long.

If several years out, your draft still has a bunch of prospects, it has largely been a success.

I don't see what that has to do with Alex Wood or Simmons, who were certainly still prospects when they were promoted to the Majors.

[goldfly]

well, this is certainly better than winning a world series

[Horsehide Harry]

Simply having so many retain prospect status is a pretty successful result.

I disagree.

The Braves tanked (or semi-tanked) for a reason. They traded ML talent to get back talent and draft picks (where possible) for a reason. When you go that route, what was essentially a 5 year rebuild no matter if Hart wants to call it a re-load or not, then you should expect more than 1 core piece from your high draft picks.

In 2015 the Braves chose Allard at 1/14, Soroka at 1/28, Riley at CBA 1/41, Herbert at 2/54 (bust), Minter at CBA 2/75 with the only later round guy being Weigel

In 2016 the Braves chose Anderson at 1/3, Wentz at CBA 1/40, Muller at 2/44, Cumberland at CBA 2/76; they did grab some later round guys who at least show a pulse in Wilson, Davidson, Walker, Watts, Clouse

In 2017 they chose 1/5 Wright, 2/41 Waters then added Tarnok in the third and that is about it (they also had an absolutely disastrous international class - signed a lot, spent a lot, cheated a lot, got caught a lot, and failed miserably to choose even one with real promise)

In 2018 they chose 1/8 Carter Stewart who they didn't sign, 2/49 Greyson Jenista who so far is a nothing burger after that there are a few interesting long shots like Vodnik, Dean and Alexander.

In 2019 (arguably after the rebuild was over but I include because of the Stewart compensation from the botched 2018 draft), they got 1/9 Langeliers, 1/21 Shewmake gave away 2/60 with signability guy Beau Philip and then picked up a bunch of guys that it's too early to draw any conclusions outside of the fact that they were passed by all the other teams, many multiple times, before being selected by the Braves.

Out of the last 5 drafts (15 first or second round picks) I see 1 core guy - Soroka. Herbert washed out. Cumberland was a throw in on a trade. Wentz and Allard were used in trades that did not bring core players in return (useful but not really what you're looking for from a rebuild draft return). Waters may pan out as a core guy if he's not traded. All the pitching, outside of Soroka looks pretty suspect with Anderson providing the most hope and Wright still having time. Muller may eventually be something. Minter was a gamble because of health when picked and continues to be so. Riley needs a lot of work.

Right now, I would rank the 15 from the last 5 drafts as:

1. Soroka

2. Waters
3. Riley
4. Anderson
5. Minter
6. Shewmake
7. Laneliers
8. Wright
9. Muller
10. Allard
11. Wentz
12. Jenista
13. Cumberland
14. Philip
15. Herbert

If you were wondering, the 2014 draft produced 1/32 Braxton Davidson and 2/66 Garrett Fulenchek.

Any one particular draft can be bad luck. BUt when you are in a rebuilding mode, gaining only one core player from 15 picks over five years is pretty poor. Maybe Riley pulls it together or Waters blossoms or Wright and Anderson meet their pre-draft promise or Langeliers or Shewmake shine. But, right now, the draft isn't helping the 2020 Braves that much outside of Soroka.

[Enscheff]

It’s a little early to call Anderson and Waters busts, as if high schoolers drafted at age 18 become “core players” in 2 years. Wright is going down the bust path though.