Official pre-Draft thread

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Oklahomabrave said:
No, I would not like or spin that pick. I was just providing info.
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I'm sure if he were to focus on OF rather than pitching he would be much better defensively. He likely has the athleticism to to move around like an average OFer, and definitely the arm for RF since he was a pitcher.

I heard he has had a Braves jacket since he was 12, so he is clearly a fan and will be looking to play well for his favorite team. And having a Braves fan as a player will undoubtedly boost attendance at the new ballpark, as well as increase jersey sales dramatically.

Is that a pretty good start to the posi-spin?
 
I think the only posi-Braves spin needed is to look at Anderson and say we might just need to trust the our scouts know a bit more than the average fan does. That said, I would not be in favor of that pick, especially if we can't pry a comp pick (or two) away from someone. Saving money does no good if you only have the 9th highest bonus pool. The other teams will just outbid you on the guys that fall.
 
mqt said:
I think the only posi-Braves spin needed is to look at Anderson and say we might just need to trust the our scouts know a bit more than the average fan does. That said, I would not be in favor of that pick, especially if we can't pry a comp pick (or two) away from someone. Saving money does no good if you only have the 9th highest bonus pool. The other teams will just outbid you on the guys that fall.
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exactly.
 
50PoundHead said:
I would like to know how people calculate BPA in the baseball draft, seeing it's the most random of all the sports' drafts. You're dealing with an age range of 17 to 22 and that spells a lot of uncertainty in terms of physical development and a player's skill development arc. I'm actually hoping for Lewis. If they lowball and go Pratto, I hope they don't take someone with an injury risk like Beck at 41.
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It's mostly horse**** beyond the consensus guys. If it ain't obvious, pick your guy. Particularly since you can't trade the first round picks or even the prospects themselves for a time. There is no such thing as pick value then.
 
bravesfanMatt said:
man if we draft a 1B with the #5 pick, I would be upset.. I am fine with plucking a player no one has heard of, that your scouts see something in.. but you don't draft a first baseman.. you create those with hitters who can't find a position.
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I mean if you see a All Star bat and he happens to play 1B, you draft him unless you see an all star somewhere else.

This is another new name to me though.

....

Any event, maybe its not really sensible to get worked about what one mock draft has to say about the Braves trying to work the draft again. The folks I've seen look at the possibility seem to have concluded that Atlanta is not well positioned to pull that off this year.
 
Enscheff said:
Predictably, the Braves will draft a pitcher ranked well outside the Top 5.

Predictably, they will claim he was their BPA, comparing him to a fringe HOFer.

Predictably, the posi-Braves will assemble to tell us how great a selection it is, using "facts" from sources affiliated with the Braves.
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You forgot: predictably, the kid will outperform everyone else's expectations.
 
After all the bitching from the last two drafts you would think fans would realize...I guess not.
 
Keith Law was on Olney's podcast this morning and went through an updated mock that's different than the one he published recently.

He has Royce Lewis to us at 5. He loves Lewis, raved about him as a player and said he'll likely move to CF.

The draft order went Wright-Greene-Gore-McKay-Lewis.
 
Man, now he has McKay falling to 4? I actually agree with that, since I think his value is more in that he can either pitch or hit and less in doing either of those at an elite level. But it's been McKay as a guaranteed top 2 for a while. Falling past even Gore would be pretty surprising.
 
smootness said:
Man, now he has McKay falling to 4? I actually agree with that, since I think his value is more in that he can either pitch or hit and less in doing either of those at an elite level. But it's been McKay as a guaranteed top 2 for a while. Falling past even Gore would be pretty surprising.
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Yeah, he made it sound like the big reason is McKay's velocity has been down in recent weeks and scouts are a little concerned by that. He also said there's more buzz about making him a two-way prospect to start things out, give him a few starts this year on the mound while letting him hit every day too. Then he suggested starting McKay every 5-6 days next year while getting him 300 at bats, and let his production tell you what to do with him moving forward.
 
Man Gore top 5 is an impressive rise. Good for him. I bet the Braves would like a shot at him, but I'd take Lewis all dang day.
 
My question on Lewis is the bat. I've seen reports that suggest he has an above-average hit tool, but I've also seen some swing-and-miss questions, especially this spring. And while his power could play at SS or CF, is it enough to warrant taking him that high? It just seems to me like his ceiling is sort of a slightly better Ender, where he plays very good CF defense without the elite arm, runs a bit better, and has better (but not elite) bat.

But if I'm taking a bat at 5, given some of the guys in this draft, I want one with more potential offensively. Which is why I'm still saying Adell or Beck.
 
smootness said:
My question on Lewis is the bat. I've seen reports that suggest he has an above-average hit tool, but I've also seen some swing-and-miss questions, especially this spring. And while his power could play at SS or CF, is it enough to warrant taking him that high? It just seems to me like his ceiling is sort of a slightly better Ender, where he plays very good CF defense without the elite arm, runs a bit better, and has better (but not elite) bat.

But if I'm taking a bat at 5, given some of the guys in this draft, I want one with more potential offensively. Which is why I'm still saying Adell or Beck.
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Agreed.
 
Tapate50 said:
Man Gore top 5 is an impressive rise. Good for him. I bet the Braves would like a shot at him, but I'd take Lewis all dang day.
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I really like the write-ups I've seen on Gore, I think I want him or one of the two toolsy HS kids Adell/Beck. Leaning towards Beck.

I care so little about what position the Braves pick, I just want them to get it right --- pitcher/OF/3B/SS/HS/College..... don't care. Just get the player they believe in.
 
Longenhagen was asked in his chat about the MLB mock that had us going Pratto/Beck while saving money at 5:

"They'd have to take a huge cut at 5 and I think the top tier of players is 5 deep so it's not something that looks like an obvious fit to me, but I haven't heard either way. Have heard them connected to Beck, though."

Longenhagen's top 50 draft prospects was also just published: http://www.fangraphs.com/scoutboard.aspx?draft=2017mlb&type=0&pos=all
 
Last year they went Brandon White and Brandon White back-to-back in rounds 12 and 13. What if they go back-to-back with Beck (Austin) and Beck (Tristan) in Rounds 1 and 2 this year? And would that be back-to-back or Beck-to-Beck?
 
I just don't want McKay. I'd be fine with pretty much anyone else that has been talked about at 5 -- Wright, Gore, Lewis, Austin Beck, Adell.
 
smootness said:
My question on Lewis is the bat. I've seen reports that suggest he has an above-average hit tool, but I've also seen some swing-and-miss questions, especially this spring. And while his power could play at SS or CF, is it enough to warrant taking him that high? It just seems to me like his ceiling is sort of a slightly better Ender, where he plays very good CF defense without the elite arm, runs a bit better, and has better (but not elite) bat.

But if I'm taking a bat at 5, given some of the guys in this draft, I want one with more potential offensively. Which is why I'm still saying Adell or Beck.
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Adell/Beck vs Lewis is floor vs ceiling. If Adell/Beck busts, they are not MLB players. If Lewis busts he is still a bench piece.

So which do you take? The impact hitter that could never even see an MLB pitch, or the guy with less offensive upside but who is much more likely to actually be a big-leaguer?

Considering the Braves can find a cheap guy in every single offseason to fill the spot a busted Lewis would take, I say go for absolute maximum upside. The draft is the only way the Braves are going to be able to acquire a 900+ OPS monster for the middle of their lineup.
 
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