- STARTS TODAY AT 7PM - 2016 June Amateur Draft Discussion

Status
Not open for further replies.
Russ2dollas said:
I dislike all free agents in next years class. Not sure how we fill gigantic holes in corner of and catcher. So stop pretending we will be contenders nxt year. Sell the new park and albies and Swanson for a year.
Click to expand...

I suggest you take a look at Francisco Cervelli. A career .285/.358/.391 hitter with above average defense (according to dWAR) behind the plate. He spent the majority of his career backing up Posada and McCann in NY, so he has about half the innings on knees of a typical starting caliber catcher.

He will be going into his age 31 season and should be the Braves #1 FA priority on a 3-4 year deal.
 
smootness said:
Who is pretending? The FO isn't even talking about contending next year.

But I do agree with your overall point. I think we should take the BPA, and if we feel that a pitcher and hitter are of equal value there, then take the hitter, especially if it's a college player.

As for 3B and C, we won't fill them quickly. Albies and Swanson will fill 2B and SS, and Peterson will then become a super-utility who can play some 3B. And we'll still have Garcia as well, so you could see some kind of platoon there while we buy time for Ruiz or Riley to show up. At catcher, we're probably just going to have to wait. There is no quick-fix there.

But the other option is a trade if one opens itself up as a possibility. We will have plenty of money to spend, but that doesn't have to be spent in the FA market. It can also be spent when acquiring contracts in a trade.
Click to expand...

I've thought about what a potential NBA style trade could look like for us. Someone who we could take on bad money for this year and maybe next year in return for a valuable piece. But it sounds like our excess money for this year is all going to 16 year olds in latin america.......and so far it looks like a decent way to invest the money so I won't complain.
 
I really can't wait for the draft. I have been reading an unnecessary amount about it. There really seems to be a tremendous amount of descrepancy for who the experts believe will go in the top 3. I've seen Senzel, Ray, Rutherford, Groome, Pint, Puk, and Lewis all mentioned by various sources. Nobody seems to agree. My personal favorites are Ray, Lewis, Groome, Pint, Puk in that order. I really haven't been as excited about Rutherford or Senzel.
 
Rutherford has been moving up for me. Since he'll be 19, I wonder if that would mean he could move faster. A lot of people are saying he has the best hit tool in the draft. If he is advanced, maybe we could start him in Carolina next season. I'd be fine with him being the pick if we think he can move fast.
 
CJ9 said:
Rutherford has been moving up for me. Since he'll be 19, I wonder if that would mean he could move faster. A lot of people are saying he has the best hit tool in the draft. If he is advanced, maybe we could start him in Carolina next season. I'd be fine with him being the pick if we think he can move fast.
Click to expand...

No need. Let him rake on Sally League stuff for two months and then he'll have more of a comfort zone Even at 19-20, he would likely be the youngest player in the Carolina League, or very close to it. It's not where they start, it's where they finish!
 
rico43 said:
No need. Let him rake on Sally League stuff for two months and then he'll have more of a comfort zone Even at 19-20, he would likely be the youngest player in the Carolina League, or very close to it. It's not where they start, it's where they finish!
Click to expand...

For sure. I was just thinking that in regards to Coppy saying they want a college bat, and since it seems like there isn't a no-question one in college, trying to talk myself into Rutherford since he's a year older.
 
I wish we had a need in CF and could take the Grier kid from Auburn with 40 or 44 overall. Although it looks questionable he'll even make it that far now.

I know you don't draft for need, but he just seems unnecessary with Ender and Mallex. Grier is going to be a really good one though.
 
rico43 said:
No need. Let him rake on Sally League stuff for two months and then he'll have more of a comfort zone Even at 19-20, he would likely be the youngest player in the Carolina League, or very close to it. It's not where they start, it's where they finish!
Click to expand...

Agreed. I would put him in rookie ball, where he would hopefully hit pretty well. Then you start him in Rome and let his play dictate how quickly he moves. And I would do the same this year with Riley as well. If Riley rakes in Rome for 2 months, there's not much need to keep him there unless we feel like there is some part of his game he needs to really focus on at a lower level. My philosophy would generally be to let the players tell me when they're ready to move based on their own play.
 
CJ9 said:
I wish we had a need in CF and could take the Grier kid from Auburn with 40 or 44 overall. Although it looks questionable he'll even make it that far now.

I know you don't draft for need, but he just seems unnecessary with Ender and Mallex. Grier is going to be a really good one though.
Click to expand...

I mentioned him earlier as somebody I like, and I'm ok taking him at 40 or 44, assuming we don't take a college OF at 3.
 
I haven't seen him play, but the comments I've read about Kyle Lewis and how easy his power is, it really makes me want him with that third pick. He's likely a below slot signing as well, so you can afford to overpay for a guy at 40 or 44 that may be a tougher sign.
 
rico43 said:
No need. Let him rake on Sally League stuff for two months and then he'll have more of a comfort zone Even at 19-20, he would likely be the youngest player in the Carolina League, or very close to it. It's not where they start, it's where they finish!
Click to expand...

There's always that temptation to rush some guys. I remember Tom Redington skipped rookie league ball altogether and went straight to the SAL out of high school, but the Braves had three A-level teams for the couple years and placed him in the middle level team in the Midwest League the next season. He did extremely well there in his third season, but topped out in AA. I remember seeing him play when he was in the Midwest League and he looked like a can't miss prospect at that level. I say let the guys get their feet wet, especially in their first year in full season ball.
 
nsacpi said:
Going back a ways
Click to expand...

Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay back. If there was ever a guy who came out of central casting with "looks like a ballplayer" written all over him, it was Redington. Don't know what happened, but he really had a great swing and appeared to have solid fundamentals. He's exhibit A as to why I always am a little skeptical of guys coming from high-level amateur/youth programs. They are so well-schooled that they dominate lower levels of competition, but when raw tools come into the picture, they fade a bit. Braves drafted one of the highest-ranked high school catchers in the country out of Southern California in the 2nd round that year--Mike Urman--and he was done by age 19 in Low A.
 
nsacpi said:
The age is a negative. He's a year older than a lot of the kids he made his reputation off of.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I remember an article that showed young high school players enjoyed a lot more professional success than older ones. When you're dealing with teenagers that are still going through major physical development, even 6 months of age is a huge advantage. So if a guy that's 17.5 years old is showing the same skills/tools as a guy that's 18.5 years old, the younger kid is a much better prospect, even if they are in the same draft class.
 
Enscheff said:
Yeah, I remember an article that showed young high school players enjoyed a lot more professional success than older ones. When you're dealing with teenagers that are still going through major physical development, even 6 months of age is a huge advantage. So if a guy that's 17.5 years old is showing the same skills/tools as a guy that's 18.5 years old, the younger kid is a much better prospect, even if they are in the same draft class.
Click to expand...

Delvin Perez is at the other end of the spectrum among the top prospects. Easily the youngest. That should be given some consideration. Last year the Bravos took both Allard and Soroka as 17 year olds. I think they are aware of the age factor.
 
Looking at Redington's number, it's a mystery that he didn't get a chance somewhere. Career .267 hitter, hit .300 once and .299 another year, 72 career homers. He was a butcher at third, but they moved him to first later on, when he was only 25.
BTW, he was a third-round pick.
And that draft wasn't a bad one: Lilliquist was the No. 1 pick, Keith Mitchell went in the 4th round, Brian Hunter the 8th, and Mike Stanton the 13th.
 
Saw Dakota Hudson live tonight. He's everything advertised. As a Florida fan, I was really nervous the first few innings because he looked filthy. Definitely wasn't his best night of the year, but it's easy to see why the scouts love him. He held his velocity throughout the outing.

If we needed pitching, I wouldn't mind taking him 3rd at all.
 
CJ9 said:
Saw Dakota Hudson live tonight. He's everything advertised. As a Florida fan, I was really nervous the first few innings because he looked filthy. Definitely wasn't his best night of the year, but it's easy to see why the scouts love him. He held his velocity throughout the outing.

If we needed pitching, I wouldn't mind taking him 3rd at all.
Click to expand...

Dakota is a stud. MSU butchered him a bit with their defense, and Florida got some chink hits in their big inning. I don't think they ever really made solid contact, and MSU self destructed in that 5th inning yesterday.

Austin Sexton is another legit prospect. He's not a first round guy, but he could figure in rounds 3 through 5. He has better overall command of his stuff, but his stuff isn't as good as Dakota's. Austin will work in the low 90s and changes speeds very well.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top