2018 MLB Draft Thread

Enscheff said:
The article I linked literally compared the pitchers each organization produced.

I also find it more than a little comical that folks consider it a plus when the Braves trade away a pitcher who is then developed into a MLB contributor for another team. That seems like the exact opposite of what they want to do...
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I mean sure it’s bad to trade away good pitchers, but at least you identified them and developed them to where they had trade value to fill holes ok a contender.

That’s their reputation at the time •. Always having credible starting prospects in the org. It was probably overstated, though it may have originated in that specific time period where they did come up with some real guys.

I’ll have to read your article later.
 
So tell me if this is a good yield for the draft picks expended:

2000
1. Wainwright
2. Digby
2. Nelson
3. Boyer

2001
1. McBride

2002
1. Meyer
3. Morton

2003
1. Atilano
2. Bacot
2. Reyes
3. Stevens
3. Harrison

2005
1. Beau Jones
1. Devine
2. Lyman

2006
1. Rasmus
1. Evarts
2. Locke
2. Evans
3. Rogers

2008
1. DeVall
2. Spruill
2. Stovall
3. Kimbrel

These are all the pitchers we drafted and signed in the first three rounds during those years. Pitching development factory? Yea or nay?
 
nsacpi said:
So tell me if this is a good yield for the draft picks expended:

2000
1. Wainwright
2. Digby
2. Nelson
3. Boyer

2001
1. McBride

2002
1. Meyer
3. Morton

2003
1. Atilano
2. Bacot
2. Reyes
3. Stevens
3. Harrison

2005
1. Beau Jones
1. Devine
2. Lyman

2006
1. Rasmus
1. Evarts
2. Locke
2. Evans
3. Rogers

2008
1. DeVall
2. Spruill
2. Stovall
3. Kimbrel

These are all the pitchers we drafted and signed in the first three rounds during those years. Pitching development factory? Yea or nay?
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Not sure why you would only use early draft picks or start in the 2000s (which is not when the reputation was prevalent) but that doesn’t look fantastic.
 
Southcack77 said:
Not sure why you would only use early draft picks or start in the 2000s (which is not when the reputation was prevalent) but that doesn’t look fantastic.
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I use this period because we often had extra early picks and used them to pick a bunch of pitchers. The later picks are a different animal. Also we picked mostly high school arms during this period.

I realize our reputation as a pitching factory was built in the 1980s and 1990s. My point is we continued to invest very heavily in pitching in the subsequent decade but the yield was not impressive.
 
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nsacpi said:
I use this period because we often had extra early picks and used them to pick a bunch of pitchers. The later picks are a different animal. Also we picked mostly high school arms during this period.

I realize our reputation as a pitching factory was built in the 1980s and 1990s. My point is we continued to invest very heavily in pitching in the subsequent decade but the yield was not impressive.
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Hmm. Wonder who has been around since the 80s that thinks pitching is the most important.
 
btw looking specifically at the second round the following holds

1) generally speaking HS pitchers are the most popular type of pick

2) our picks are even more strongly skewed toward HS pitchers

3) for all teams in the second round the yield for HS pitchers taken is better than the yield for high school hitters, college pitchers and college hitters

4) for the Braves the yield for HS pitchers is the second round is the worst among the 4 groups

we love taking HS pitchers in the second round and do very poorly when doing so

our track record with HS hitters taken in the second round is quite good: Mccann, Freeman and recently Riley and Waters
 
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New Perfect Game mock: https://www.perfectgame.org/Articles/View.aspx?article=15237

8. Atlanta Braves | Carter Stewart, RHP, Eau Gallie HS (Fla.)
The Braves have been linked to all kinds of players this spring, ranging from Georgia prep arms Ethan Hankins and Kumar Rocker to Joey Bart and Travis Swaggerty. Stewart offers perhaps the best prep upside in the class, with a record-setting curveball and newfound velocity that reaches 98 mph.
 
I'm fine with Stewart being our top pick of the HS arms because he has the frame and the best off-speed pitch in the draft. Still wish one of the college hitters falls to us. This PG draft is also the first time I've seen us connected to Swaggerty.
 
CJ9 said:
I'm fine with Stewart being our top pick of the HS arms because he has the frame and the best off-speed pitch in the draft. Still wish one of the college hitters falls to us. This PG draft is also the first time I've seen us connected to Swaggerty.
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I'm also good with going with Stewart or a couple of the other pitchers (Liberatore, Winn, McClanahan). The hitters I have interest in (Madrigal and Bohm) will likely be gone by the #8 pick.
 
nsacpi said:
So tell me if this is a good yield for the draft picks expended:

2000
1. Wainwright
2. Digby
2. Nelson
3. Boyer

2001
1. McBride

2002
1. Meyer
3. Morton

2003
1. Atilano
2. Bacot
2. Reyes
3. Stevens
3. Harrison

2005
1. Beau Jones
1. Devine
2. Lyman

2006
1. Rasmus
1. Evarts
2. Locke
2. Evans
3. Rogers

2008
1. DeVall
2. Spruill
2. Stovall
3. Kimbrel

These are all the pitchers we drafted and signed in the first three rounds during those years. Pitching development factory? Yea or nay?
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The most damning name on that list is Wainwright.

Literally the ONLY impact SP on the list was deemed as valuable as 1 season of JD Drew.
 
Enscheff said:
The most damning name on that list is Wainwright.

Literally the ONLY impact SP on the list was deemed as valuable as 1 season of JD Drew.
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I would argue Matt Harrison as well (and however you want to label Charlie Morton’s career). But the point stands. That was a dark dark period of drafting.
 
Longenhagen's FG chat says they'd still have Gorman as our pick right now. Reading through the chat, someone asked the question I've been wondering about why we're so in on him when it teams like a lot of top 10 teams are bailing because of the swing and miss/homer happy approach he has shown this spring.

Longenhagen said: "70 raw, if you think the kid is motivated to shed some of the weight he put on ahead of his senior year then he stays at third pretty easily. Only thing I'm hung up on at that point is the swing and miss he showed this spring, but he performed against better arms last summer so..."

I get all of that, but I think I'd prefer Stewart over Gorman at this point and I've been pretty squarely on the hitters>pitchers side in recent drafts. If we're talking about a kid not making contact enough in high school, I have serious concerns about that improving as he gets into the minor leagues.
 
CJ9 said:
Longenhagen's FG chat says they'd still have Gorman as our pick right now. Reading through the chat, someone asked the question I've been wondering about why we're so in on him when it teams like a lot of top 10 teams are bailing because of the swing and miss/homer happy approach he has shown this spring.

Longenhagen said: "70 raw, if you think the kid is motivated to shed some of the weight he put on ahead of his senior year then he stays at third pretty easily. Only thing I'm hung up on at that point is the swing and miss he showed this spring, but he performed against better arms last summer so..."

I get all of that, but I think I'd prefer Stewart over Gorman at this point and I've been pretty squarely on the hitters>pitchers side in recent drafts. If we're talking about a kid not making contact enough in high school, I have serious concerns about that improving as he gets into the minor leagues.
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The huge raw power of Gorman is enticing. Makes you think he'll be Joey Gallo if he doesn't fix the Ks and Aaron Judge if he does. Problem is he could also be Braxton Davidson.
 
striker42 said:
The huge raw power of Gorman is enticing. Makes you think he'll be Joey Gallo if he doesn't fix the Ks and Aaron Judge if he does. Problem is he could also be Braxton Davidson.
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:FrediPuzzled:

Gallo and Judge were drafted 39th and 33rd overall respectively. nsacpi is right in that type of player should be available later and not what you spend your 8th overall pick on.
 
Enscheff said:
The most damning name on that list is Wainwright.

Literally the ONLY impact SP on the list was deemed as valuable as 1 season of JD Drew.
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Wracked my brain on that one.

JD Drew. Of course. How could I forget.

Honestly that was probably JS’s worst trade.
 
Why does Gorman remind my of Riley...who was picked #41? Seems like a bit of a reach to me. Those "mediocre athlete, high power, low contact HS hitter projects" don't seem like the kind of player a team uses the #8 pick to acquire.

I have to give the AA FO the benefit of the doubt though. Most of their decisions have been successful, and even the bad ones were calculated risks that were not allowed to hurt the team for long.
 
Southcack77 said:
Wracked my brain on that one.

JD Drew. Of course. How could I forget.

Honestly that was probably JS’s worst trade.
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The series of "win now" trades in the mid-2000's pretty much set the stage for the Braves window of contention to close. JS gets a pass for the damage he did to the organization over those years for some reason.

Waino for 1 season of JD.

A massive package of talent for 700 PAs at 1B.

Tex for a package that included another 500 PAs at 1B.

They traded massive future value for players at positions that should have been easy to fill...all because they had no idea how to value players correctly. Granted, not many teams did at the time, but that series of trades pretty much sunk the Braves.

The Braves did a poor job transitioning from a home grown team into a "win now" team. We are seeing the Cubs do almost exactly the same thing right now...and they didn't enjoy the 10 years of success before it happened like the Braves did.
 
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I don’t have much interest in drafting a power bat with swing holes who is already a position tweener with the 8th pick.

I think given the likely choices, the Braves will be best off trying to take another shot at finding an ace.

The pitching isn’t quite as stacked as it’s billed IMO. There is still a need for true front end pitching.

Take a bat in the second round.

I wouldn’t mind Braves trying to get a comp pick off somebody but I guess that’s not too likely as things stand now.
 
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