2022 BA Top 100 Prospect List

The fall for Waters has been rough, but not unexpected as far as I've been concerned. I was always the low man around here on him, but some guys can be late bloomers. Perhaps he's one of them that figures it out later.

This odd notion that Pache was somehow "a floor of Kevin Pillar" always struck me as a silly thing to say, and I said as much at the time, but hopefully he still turns into a piece. I do still think he's a better prospect than Waters.

The "LH Acuna" hype for Harris was always moronic, but a .294/.362/.436 line at A+ as a 20 year old after who know what happened in 2020 is nothing to sneeze at. His BABIP was a very reasonable .349 BABIP, and his BB% and K% were pretty good, so he is definitely a potential impact guy. I suspect once he stops hitting 50%+ of his batted balls on the ground his power numbers will improve, and hopefully the Braves dev guys are working on that as we speak. Harris is untouchable as far as I'm concerned.

To me, Lango is the #1 guy in the system, and is untouchable. He got a taste of AAA at 23, is supposedly MLB ready defensively now, and his .498 SLG% in AA suggests he'd fit nicely in the 6/7 slot of a championship lineup. I'm a little surprised AA signed a backup C with Lango apparently ready, but I am guessing he sees time in 2022 at some point when TDA gets dinged up.
 
Enscheff said:
The fall for Waters has been rough, but not unexpected as far as I've been concerned. I was always the low man around here on him, but some guys can be late bloomers. Perhaps he's one of them that figures it out later.

This odd notion that Pache was somehow "a floor of Kevin Pillar" always struck me as a silly thing to say, and I said as much at the time, but hopefully he still turns into a piece. I do still think he's a better prospect than Waters.

The "LH Acuna" hype for Harris was always moronic, but a .294/.362/.436 line at A+ as a 20 year old after who know what happened in 2020 is nothing to sneeze at. His BABIP was a very reasonable .349 BABIP, and his BB% and K% were pretty good, so he is definitely a potential impact guy. I suspect once he stops hitting 50%+ of his batted balls on the ground his power numbers will improve, and hopefully the Braves dev guys are working on that as we speak. Harris is untouchable as far as I'm concerned.

To me, Lango is the #1 guy in the system, and is untouchable. He got a taste of AAA at 23, is supposedly MLB ready defensively now, and his .498 SLG% in AA suggests he'd fit nicely in the 6/7 slot of a championship lineup. I'm a little surprised AA signed a backup C with Lango apparently ready, but I am guessing he sees time in 2022 at some point when TDA gets dinged up.
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Given their post-hype status, I could see Waters and Contreras packaged for a mid-rotation arm that's controllable for a couple more seasons while the Braves' peak window is open.

The values might not line up perfectly for you numbers guys, but if we assume the money's there to re-sign Freeman and a reasonably-priced OF or Rizzo and a better OF (Conforto perhaps?) and Alex wants to hold onto the "untouchable" pieces (Langeliers, Harris, and arguably Grissom if they think he'll stick at SS) and pitching depth to try to make a couple more deep runs RIGHT NOW, Mahle or Gray would be a really good fit IMO. You'd still have Pache and Harris as replacements for Duvall in 2023 and Langeliers to add to the C/1B/DH mix at that point as well. No idea whether that type of money is there, but it's probably at least fair to think a rotation consisting of Morton, Fried, one of Gray or Mahle, Anderson, and whomever combined with Rizzo and Conforto and the pen covered for the next 2 seasons ought to be one of the top contenders through 2023 if Acuna is mostly his old self (even if they didn't bring Freeman back).

I keep wondering if that's why AA didn't cave on Freeman before the lockout started. Rizzo would obviously be a substantial drop in production, but adding Conforto, a really good SP, and a returning Acuna would hopefully make up for that and he'd be able to hold onto the vast majority of the depth by not making a blockbuster deal - and while he's not necessarily Freeman, Rizzo is at least the same type of clubhouse presence/quiet leader.
 
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Enscheff said:
To me, Lango is the #1 guy in the system, and is untouchable. He got a taste of AAA at 23, is supposedly MLB ready defensively now, and his .498 SLG% in AA suggests he'd fit nicely in the 6/7 slot of a championship lineup. I'm a little surprised AA signed a backup C with Lango apparently ready, but I am guessing he sees time in 2022 at some point when TDA gets dinged up.
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I think AA addressed this if I'm not mistaken. Wants to be 3 deep at catcher when the playoffs roll around so we don't get in a tight spot. Also- Pina can throw guys out which TDA can't really do anymore.
 
I agree that Lango, Harris, and Pache should be untouchable. Unless we could get Reynolds and Pache was the sticking point. I’d probably add Grissom to that list too. I trust AA to do whatever bc he’s proven himself time and time again. I don’t think Rizzo is the 2nd option for 1b I think it’s Olson but that’s gonna sting the farm big time. I’d just try to work something out with Freddie and trade for a legit CF. Future is bright in Atlanta for awhile.
 
Grissom just had a monster season and only got better as he moved up (short samples and all).

Wonder what the reason was for his exclusion.
 
Enscheff said:
The fall for Waters has been rough, but not unexpected as far as I've been concerned. I was always the low man around here on him, but some guys can be late bloomers. Perhaps he's one of them that figures it out later.

This odd notion that Pache was somehow "a floor of Kevin Pillar" always struck me as a silly thing to say, and I said as much at the time, but hopefully he still turns into a piece. I do still think he's a better prospect than Waters.

The "LH Acuna" hype for Harris was always moronic, but a .294/.362/.436 line at A+ as a 20 year old after who know what happened in 2020 is nothing to sneeze at. His BABIP was a very reasonable .349 BABIP, and his BB% and K% were pretty good, so he is definitely a potential impact guy. I suspect once he stops hitting 50%+ of his batted balls on the ground his power numbers will improve, and hopefully the Braves dev guys are working on that as we speak. Harris is untouchable as far as I'm concerned.

To me, Lango is the #1 guy in the system, and is untouchable. He got a taste of AAA at 23, is supposedly MLB ready defensively now, and his .498 SLG% in AA suggests he'd fit nicely in the 6/7 slot of a championship lineup. I'm a little surprised AA signed a backup C with Lango apparently ready, but I am guessing he sees time in 2022 at some point when TDA gets dinged up.
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Agree. I was surprised that both TDA and pina got two year deals.

Out of the box thinking could be, what if AA is anticipating a DH and wants to carry 3 catchers. If you have 3 catchers then Snit would be willing to PH using one of those guys. I can certainly see a situation where TDA or SL would be your best bat available on the bench. Braves have also been a little snake bit lately with C, so maybe having 3 isn't so bad. 4 million is a lot for a third catcher, but I could see it.

When we had the DH with Snit we had guys that never played. If you think TDA and/or SL is a bat you always want access to and you don't think they are good enough to be a DH (yes and yes for me), then carrying three catchers gets you there. Plus you have another vet to help SL and pitching staff.
 
Anthopoulos tends to react strongly to deficits from the previous season. I don’t think he wants to rotate through catching castoffs again anytime soon.
 
Enscheff said:
The fall for Waters has been rough, but not unexpected as far as I've been concerned. I was always the low man around here on him, but some guys can be late bloomers. Perhaps he's one of them that figures it out later.
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I was always there, too. He is Jordan Schafer IF that.

Still higher on Michael Harris than you are.
 
I think Harris is a fine prospect. I only took issue with the "LHH Acuna" nonsense. I showed what guys like Acuna, Heyward and Andruw did in their first full pro season (storming from A+ to AAA in a single year), and Harris certainly didn't do that. I still consider him (reasonably) off limits though.

To me, he's just a run of the mill good prospect who hopefully turns into a 3+ win guy. The sooner he stops hitting so many GBs, the better off he'll be.
 
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