2016 Draft Position

I am, to be honest, as long as any difference in value is negligible. The price for hitters on the market is too high; we have to start grooming our own.

I guess the biggest difference between your thoughts and mine might be that I don't see where the difference won't be steep. We're talking about potential TOR type pitchers which are just too valuable to pass on unless a hitter stands out as well.
 
I am, to be honest, as long as any difference in value is negligible. The price for hitters on the market is too high; we have to start grooming our own.

I only take a hitter if he is clearly a better prospect than the pitcher. Otherwise, I would draft pitching.
 
Well this putrid performance tonight vs the worst team in baseball gives us our 6th loss in a row and now 4-16 in our last 20. We have completely embraced the tankdom. At 46-58 we are on track to end up 72-90 and would currently pick 6th in next year's draft. We also now own the 2nd worst run differential in baseball.
 
Minor was expected to go at the very end of the first round that year, it was a huge reach. It was pretty much regarded as a WTF move a the time, at least by non-Braves homers.

But either way, the bonus pool slotting system we have for the draft now makes being cheap in the draft a thing of the past for the most part.

I was one of the first to question the Minor pick, and not long after, one of the few to defend it.

Our (and every other teams') scouts and crosscheckers see these kids firsthand FAR more often than Callis/Mayo/Law/Sickels do. This isn't a shot at those guys, just stating a fact. Quite the opposite really - I think all four are pretty good evaluators of talent and would be assets to the club they worked for - IF they were retained in that fashion. They're not (however), meaning that they don't have nearly as many opportunities to see the kids play multiple times, in multiple situations, when they've been hot or cold for an extended period, etc.. It's just really tough to form a fair and unbiased opinion when you don't get to do that.

Look at it this way - BA had the BA 500 rankings prior to the beginning of the draft. They weighted their rankings as well as they could, but you simply can't get 5-6 Editors (their best evaluators) the chance to see players from all over the country 8-10 (or more) times personally - it's just not feasible. The opinion of the guy that sees the player the most is given the strongest weight - completely logical.

Now to draw the parallel with the Minor pick. EVERYBODY associated with the scouting department absolutely raved about him - his stuff, his makeup, everything. I didn't get it at first because I had only seen him a couple of times (on TV) and watched video of him. Most of the BA guys hadn't seen him much more than that, and Law and Sickels certainly hadn't - they live even further away. The problem was that I got sucked in like most everyone else did - I believed more in their evaluations than scouts and crosscheckers who had seen him (in person) 10-15 times more than they did, so I wasn't happy with the pick either.

Then a funny thing happened. Minor flew through the minors, and had stretches where he not only looked better than the Pitchers we "passed on", he looked like he was going to be a slam dunk cornerstone of the franchise for years to come. Granted they were limited stretches, but he had extended periods where he looked like he might be one of the best Pitchers we'd drafted in 20 years. Many of us constantly screamed we thought he should be as "untouchable" as anyone in the organization - his delivery was fluid and repeatable, he had no (or at least a very limited) injury history, and his makeup was through the roof.

Mike Minor was considered a "reach" by 3 or 4 guys who make their living sitting in front of their computers 90% of the time - NOT guys who actually watch games nearly that often.
 
Atlanta will be 6th (as skillet noted) to end the night. Atlanta is just 1 game away from being in 4th as Oakland is .5 back and Colorado is 1 back.
 
A's win, they have Gray going Sunday, would pass them for 5th with a loss if they win
 
Well this putrid performance tonight vs the worst team in baseball gives us our 6th loss in a row and now 4-16 in our last 20. We have completely embraced the tankdom. At 46-58 we are on track to end up 72-90 and would currently pick 6th in next year's draft. We also now own the 2nd worst run differential in baseball.

Braves also started out 26-25. Since then the Braves have gone 20-33 which is good for a .377 winning %. If that were to go on through the rest of the season the Braves would have an impressive 68 wins. #1 pick here we come.
 
Our (and every other teams') scouts and crosscheckers see these kids firsthand FAR more often than Callis/Mayo/Law/Sickels do. This isn't a shot at those guys, just stating a fact. Quite the opposite really - I think all four are pretty good evaluators of talent and would be assets to the club they worked for - IF they were retained in that fashion. They're not (however), meaning that they don't have nearly as many opportunities to see the kids play multiple times, in multiple situations, when they've been hot or cold for an extended period, etc.. It's just really tough to form a fair and unbiased opinion when you don't get to do that.

Mike Minor was considered a "reach" by 3 or 4 guys who make their living sitting in front of their computers 90% of the time - NOT guys who actually watch games nearly that often.

Minor was considered a reach by much more than that. The Braves don't have magic pixy dust that makes their scouts 10 times better than everyone else. Other teams FO were surprised by our pick back then as well, not just BA, BP, and company. And it's one thing when you are talking about a high school player that hasn't been seen that much, but this was Mike Minor. He played at Vandy in a major college conference and was seen a crap ton. All the scouters saw him far more than just a time or two. Hell, I had watched him multiple times myself since I am an SEC fan and had plenty of opportunity. When you are talking about high school prospects I would agree with you that professional scouts are going to have a big leg up. But college prospects are far more extensively scouted. Minor was not some mystery prospect from a high school in the NE, he was extensively scouted by everyone.

He was considered a prospect with a very high floor and limited ceiling, who would likely top out as a #3/#4 starter type due to not having ridiculous stuff.

And gee, guess what? That's what he has wound up being so far.
 
At this point, I'm rooting for as many losses as possible... I want a 1st overall pick... would be the first since, Chipper?
 
Braves also started out 26-25. Since then the Braves have gone 20-33 which is good for a .377 winning %. If that were to go on through the rest of the season the Braves would have an impressive 68 wins. #1 pick here we come.

That's good hustle right there. Fredi being Fredi. This plan just plays right to his strengths
 
We certainly have the talent to get the #1 pick.

Today's lineup proves just that. Perez 2nd, Johnson 4th, Gomes 5th? Yikes. If Freddie wasn't such a baller, I'd whine to Fredi to get Adonis to play 3B and CJ at 1B and get the day off like AJ, Markakis, etc.
 
It really doesn't matter who Fredi mixes and matches. There's no way to really maximize run production with this roster. It's that pathetic. Don't worry though, we put the ball in play and don't strike out that much.
 
Call me a conspiracy theorist but I do believe once Hart saw that we'd do nothing more than play .500 this year he deliberately sabotaged the team so we'd tank and get a great pick. With Uribe, KJ, and now Wood gone this team is in the crapper.
 
It really doesn't matter who Fredi mixes and matches. There's no way to really maximize run production with this roster. It's that pathetic. Don't worry though, we put the ball in play and don't strike out that much.

Bitter.
 

You always make these comments like your "zinging" us or something?

Should we not be annoyed that Hart took a talented team and turned it to a laughing stock? You wanna call me bitter for that? Fine. I'm bitter about my team intentionally losing
 
You always make these comments like your "zinging" us or something?

Should we not be annoyed that Hart took a talented team and turned it to a laughing stock? You wanna call me bitter for that? Fine. I'm bitter about my team intentionally losing

You have a point but it had to be done.
 
Back
Top