2021 MLB Draft

Cusick was connected to a lot of teams in the late first round, so I doubt he's an under slot guy. That probably limits the possibilities for today. I'd guess one of Ky Bush or Schwellenbach is the pick if they make it to our second pick.
 
Fangraphs' take --

Goldstein: The Braves were attached to all sorts of players over the last few weeks, but Cusick had been associated with them for months. In the end, the power stuff was just too much to resist, command troubles and reliever risk be damned.

Longenhagen: Teams had Cusick placed in wildly variable spots on their boards, with some having him deep in the second round due to issues with his command. His stuff is inarguably nasty, among the best in the draft, especially his fastball. He’s a huge, athletic power arm with bullpen risk. Atlanta has been able to get young arms in their system to throw harder but haven’t been quite as successful at getting guys with big stuff to hone command. But the Braves are competitive and could push Cusick in a way that mimics the White Sox handling of Garrett Crochet, which means they may soon have an elite, homegrown relief piece here.
 
CJ9 said:
Fangraphs' take --

Goldstein: The Braves were attached to all sorts of players over the last few weeks, but Cusick had been associated with them for months. In the end, the power stuff was just too much to resist, command troubles and reliever risk be damned.

Longenhagen: Teams had Cusick placed in wildly variable spots on their boards, with some having him deep in the second round due to issues with his command. His stuff is inarguably nasty, among the best in the draft, especially his fastball. He’s a huge, athletic power arm with bullpen risk. Atlanta has been able to get young arms in their system to throw harder but haven’t been quite as successful at getting guys with big stuff to hone command. But the Braves are competitive and could push Cusick in a way that mimics the White Sox handling of Garrett Crochet, which means they may soon have an elite, homegrown relief piece here.
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I remember one of the first mocks I saw related to this draft had the Braves picking Cusick. I imagine most of these writers get their supposed inside angles second-hand so the Braves could have been throwing all kinds of smoke out there. Command will be the big thing here. He's probably a guy who spends a week in the FCL, goes to Augusta and blows through the league only throwing his fastball, but from then on it will be a challenge without improved command. Still, a consistent high-90s fastball is a good base from which to build a pitcher.

Curious about today. I agree that it isn't likely Cusick will be throwing the Braves the same bone Shuster did, which could stunt the strategy going forward.
 
the Rays and Dodgers took guys ranked in the 40s by MLB dot com. as usual, rankings mean very little.
 
Guessing Lonnie White Jr. will also be a long shot in round 2 for us. I would assume any HS player picked at 59 would probably be a toolsy guy that most of us would consider a big reach.

I think we'll go with a college bat of some sort will be the 2nd pick. Ethan Wilson and Schwellenbach would be my top preferences at this point, though it seems unlikely either one will drop to us. I like Cody Morissette, Connor Norby, Christian Franklin, and Trey Swinney too.
 
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not a fan of the pick. Seems like Newcombe or Folty are your likely outcomes. Folty with mental strength is a very good player, but that is a high side likely outcome.

I'm hoping he signs for 2.5 million tops and we are looking at spending 2 million on the second pick.
 
Carp said:
Guessing Lonnie White Jr. will also be a long shot in round 2 for us. I would assume any HS player picked at 59 would probably be a toolsy guy that most of us would consider a big reach.

I think we'll go with a college bat of some sort will be the 2nd pick. Ethan Wilson and Schwellenbach would be my top preferences at this point, though it seems unlikely either one will drop to us. I like Cody Morissette, Connor Norby, Christian Franklin, and Trey Swinney too.
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Sweeney was drafted by the Yankees.

If they take Schwellenbach, it would almost have to be as a pitcher. The guy never hit .300 at Nebraska and while batting average isn't a tell-all, I think it's a marker, especially given he was hitting with an aluminum bat. Add to that, there are questions whether he can stay at shortstop in the pros. As far as his pitching goes, he had arm surgery in high school and didn't pitch much until this year at Nebraska and that was as their closer. I'm just seeing red flags when it comes to him.

Norby might be there, but it sounds like he's a second baseman only at the next level, which is another bit of a red flag.

I'm with you on Lonnie White, but he's probably out of our reach in terms of price. But he'd be the guy for me.
 
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Kiley wrote this in his day one recap: "I'll assume Jackson Merrill (27 to the Padres), Ryan Cusick (24 to the Braves), and Gavin Williams (23 to Cleveland), among others, will also come in a bit below slot."

So, there's hope for more money!
 
CJ9 said:
Kiley wrote this in his day one recap: "I'll assume Jackson Merrill (27 to the Padres), Ryan Cusick (24 to the Braves), and Gavin Williams (23 to Cleveland), among others, will also come in a bit below slot."

So, there's hope for more money!
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gotta save that money since we got screwed on ASG revenue
 
Schwellenbach is the pick. Probably not a huge surprise since basically every outlet connected us to him for months. I'm intrigued.

Either way, we'll sign two of Keith Law's top 27 prospects and two of Kiley McDaniel's 46 prospects.
 
CJ9 said:
Fangraphs' take --

Goldstein: The Braves were attached to all sorts of players over the last few weeks, but Cusick had been associated with them for months. In the end, the power stuff was just too much to resist, command troubles and reliever risk be damned.

Longenhagen: Teams had Cusick placed in wildly variable spots on their boards, with some having him deep in the second round due to issues with his command. His stuff is inarguably nasty, among the best in the draft, especially his fastball. He’s a huge, athletic power arm with bullpen risk. Atlanta has been able to get young arms in their system to throw harder but haven’t been quite as successful at getting guys with big stuff to hone command. But the Braves are competitive and could push Cusick in a way that mimics the White Sox handling of Garrett Crochet, which means they may soon have an elite, homegrown relief piece here.
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Remember that time the Braves took Devine with the 27th pick in 2005 because he was a BP arm that could help the MLB quickly?
 
We just took a 23-year-old senior sign in the third round. I'm pretty confused why that was necessary.
 
Enscheff said:
FG has him listed as SS/SIRP. Do you know what SIRP stands for? Single Inning Relief Pitcher.

Did the Braves just take 2 BP arms with their first 2 picks?
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I don't think I've seen any other site refer to him as a reliever. Law's report actually says "His real upside is as a future starter. He’s athletic, has a starter’s delivery, and in relief has been up to 97 with a plus slider and change-up."
 
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