MLB Network releases their Top 100 MLB Players List...not a Brave to be found

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I'm still holding out hope (as I'm sure the Braves are as well) that he makes it as a starter. I understand what you are saying that the Braves could end up building a solid bullpen on accident since they are playing with the odds that a few of these arms settle as bullpen pieces. My initial point was, and still is, that the Braves aren't approaching team building with the same ideas that Dayton Moore did. I like the comparison thewupk used, the Giants. To me, them or the Mets make much more sense as a comparison to the process we are using, except we seem much more interested in investing in the international market than either team.

Your point that the Royals comparison isn't legitimate is still wrong though.

2006 - Hochevar drafted as a starter. Became a dominant reliever.

2009 - Wil Myers drafted as a Catcher. Who knows where he'll eventually wind up?

2009 - Aaron Crow drafted as a starter. "Crow had the best fastball package in the 2008 draft, with velocity (92-96 mph), hard sink, command and the ability to maintain it into the late innings. He showed the same heater in his first two exhibition starts with the Cats, and flashed the plus slider that overmatched college hitters. He's still regaining the sharp command he had in 2008, when he threw 43 consecutive scoreless innings at Missouri. Crow used his downtime to get stronger and to work on his changeup. There's some effort to his delivery, and some teams wonder if his mechanics and size (generously listed at 6-foot-3 and 195 pounds) will make him more of a closer than a frontline starter. In either case, he should go in the first 10 picks again and shouldn't require much time in the minors." Sound at all like Folty?

Alex Gordon was drafted as a 3B before DMGM got there and has become the best all-around LF in the game. Danny Duffy was drafted as a starter but has been dominant as a reliever. Brandon Finnegan was drafted as a starter but was much more important out of the pen before he was traded. Billy Butler was drafted as a 3B before DMGM got there.

Dayton has been MUCH more flexible than the Braves have over the years, and we're seeing a shift to that kind of philosophy with the Braves - go get good players and power arms and let where they play and contribute sort itself out when they get closer to ready. If you were to come up with an organizational depth chart (regardless of age), it'd probably have Folty and Banuelos well down the list, and every one of those SPs should be ready within the next 2-3 years (as well as under control for quite awhile)...

Julio
Newcomb
Allard
Blair
Fried
Toussaint
Wisler
Sims
Soroka
Jenkins

Don't waste a dominant arm who can't throw secondary pitches for strikes as a #5 SP like the organization has done for years - while burning his clock and hoping he'll suddenly "get it" against MLB hitters. Folty's 4-seamer was the 13th highest among SPs velocity-wise in 2015. It's touched 103 as a professional. Use him in shorter spurts and turn him into an actual weapon instead of a "meh" back end of the rotation guy - the kind that grow on trees and that we've NEVER had any problems developing regardless of draft position.

 

[smootness]

I don't really see the Braves adopting the approach of any other team specifically. We decided our best assets were not going to be around long and our farm system was depleted, so we sold off our best assets for as many high-ceiling pieces as we could, and we're now going to go all-in on the international market to add even more high-ceiling pieces.

The Royals didn't make a ton of big trades, they just used their consistently great draft position. And the Giants haven't made a lot of big trades, either; they've consistently gone after guys that some believed had a lower ceiling but that had really high floors. They've built teams on a lot of players who are simply good players but not great. The Braves seem to be going after as many pieces with the potential to be great as possible, in the hopes that enough hit that we ultimately have a lot of success.