With all this draft talk, I thought "What the heck!" I've had a couple of days free and made a couple of small investments to check out some of the top prospects and try to get a handle on the Braves' draft. Like most have said, I expect most of the focus on high school and junior college players with a heavy concentration on pitching, pitching, and more pitching. That said, I also expect a few hitters in the higher rounds, especially guys who project as OFs. I've kind of cheated because I want to be open to multiple possibilities, so I listed the guy I believe the Braves will pick if available and a couple of options if that particular player has already been taken. So here goes.
Pick at #14: Tyler Stephenson if he's there. As someone said above, he fills a lot of boxes. You never draft for need in the baseball draft, but the system is very thin at catcher and Stephenson is a high-ceiling guy at a position of need. If Stephenson is gone (or his bonus demand is too rich for the Braves' blood), I think BA's projection of JUCO RHP Phil Bickford from the Community College of Southern Nevada is a solid guess. Pennsylvania HS RHP Mike Nikorak would make sense as well.
Pick at #28: HS RHP Donnie Everett from Clarksville, Tennessee, is my guess here. I've seen Indiana HS RHP Ashe Russell mentioned as a possibility here in another mock. Two other guys that might make sense are Florida HS LHP Juan Hillman (Tom Gordon's son) and IMG prospect RHP Jacob Nix.
Pick at #41: Florida HS RHP Triston McKenzie has Braves' draft pick written all over him. Tall, thin kid with good command and possibility for big-time projection. Another Florida HS RHP Austin Smith could also be a fit as well as Georgia HS RHP Dakota Chalmers.
Pick at #54: I'm going with a Jones pick here because you have to have a Jones for this and a Jones for that (at least that is what Boz Scaggs said). I'll go with either 2B/OF Jahmai Jones or IF/OF Alonzo Jones. Both are Georgia high school kids with plus hitting tools. Jahmai projects to have a little more power, but Alonzo has blistering speed. Scouts believe both will end up in the OF in the pros.
Pick at #75: Florida HS RHP Cole Sands (no relation to Tar Sands) is my logical pick here. One list has him markedly higher than #75, so if he's gone, I'm still thinking HS pitcher, so I'm thinking other HS RHPs Nick Neidert (GA), Jacob Woodford (FL), or Chandler Day (OH).
Pick at #89: Could go a lot of ways (Duh!), but they might take a C if they missed out on Stephenson. Georgia HS C Joey Bart and California HS C Lucas Herbert (may be long gone given the light catching class, but one can hope). Another interesting hitter is Tennessee HS 3B Trey Cabbage, whose hitting ability could make him a lot of lettuce. I want to fit Florida JUCO (and Georgia native) LHP Mac Marshall into the equation at some point and he fits around this pick, but could be available at #120 (Braves' 4th round pick).
Other names/angles. Braves scour the JC/CCs in the Southeast and there are a ton of guys who fit the profile. There's RHP Chad Smith from Wallace-Hanceville (AL) CC. I'm kind of hoping the Braves draft him and Georgia HS OF Chad Smith so we can lead all of organized baseball in Chad Smiths. I hope both of these guys have better careers than Braves' 1986 3rd round pick Chad Smith. Other JC/CC guys from the Southeast who may figure into the calculus are Ginormous (6-8, 290) LHP Chase Johnson-Mullins from Shelton State CC (AL), RHP Scooter Hightower from Columbia JC (TN), and RHP Grayson Jones from Shelton State CC (AL). Shelton State is the college that brought us Caleb Beech in last year's draft.
A guy I'm really intrigued with is Willie Calhoun, an IF/OF who is probably going to play "bat" at the next level. He started his college career at the University of Arizona, but transferred to Yavapai JC (AZ) after his freshman year. He had a huge year at Yavapai with a .432/.520/.952 slash line. 31 HRs. 38 BBs/13 Ks in 276 PAs. He's ranked as a 4th to 6th rounder from what I've read.
Kennesaw State has two pitchers who will be drafted; RHP Jordan Hillyer and LHP Travis Bergen.
Catcher is a position of need in the system and while you don't draft for need, I can't help but believe the Braves aren't going to invest a few picks at the position. It will probably be a mix of college and high school guys, but I have to believe the Braves are going to try to find a couple of catching prospects who project as major league prospects. Some names I have come up with beyond Stephenson, Bart, and Herbert are high schoolers Garrett Wolforth (TX), Caleb Raleigh (NC), and Chris Cullen (GA). Braves could always draft Levi Borders (University of South Florida) again after picking him in the 11th round in 2011.
It will be interesting to watch where a few former Braves' picks from recent years end up. As I pointed out in an earlier post, OFs Gio Brusa (Pacific), Braden Bishop (Washington) and Ben Johnson (Texas) end up. RHP Jimmy Herget from the 2012 draft is also likely to go on the second day.
So, in brief, I'm expecting a lot of pitching and very few college picks early. Like everyone else, I'm always too optimistic about who will be available when we pick, so I've likely overshot reality. The other thing to keep in mind is that with the pool limits (and even though we've garnered more room through trades, there's only so much), we will likely have to take a couple of below slot guys relatively early so we can move money toward guys with higher salary demands. That's the downside of drafting high-ceiling high school kids because they have leverage.
Have at me.
