Atlanta Braves Negotiate Through the 2017 MLB Draft Clasee

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January 14, 2017; Tempe, AZ, USA; High school pitcher Hunter Greene during the USA Baseball sponsored Dream Series at Tempe Diablo Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports /

With the MLB Draft roughly 6 weeks away, will the Atlanta Braves find what they’re looking for in this year’s draft class?

The Atlanta Braves executed a brilliant plan with 3 of the first 44 picks in the 2016 draft. Three high school pitchers joined the organization, all three rated as possible high first-round selections, making getting all three of Ian Anderson, Joey Wentz, and Kyle Muller a coup.

Will the 2017 draft set up the same way for the Atlanta Braves, or are they going to have to draft ahead of value in order to get a guy they want?

We’ll take a look at the draft, starting with the pick everyone’s talking about, the #5 overall selection, but then on the next page we’ll dig into the strengths and weaknesses of the class overall and where the Braves could really make an impact in the draft. Next Monday will begin the “Mock Draft Monday” series that everyone seemed to enjoy last year.

Let’s start with #5 overall:

The 5th Pick

This season’s draft class is still very much in flux. Then again, at this point last season, the question was whether it was going to be Jason Groome or Kyle Lewis going #1, so where the draft projections are at the last week of April is not exactly how it will pan out in June.

Right now, the top talent in the draft looks to be Hunter Greene, a two-way high school star from California, who can top triple digits off the mound and won home run derbies at showcases over the summer.

From there, it’s a mash of a number of guys. However, we know a few things about the Braves. First, they love guys they can mold in their system, so the more projection left in a guy, the more attractive he’ll be to the team, meaning a high school guy is most probable.

The second big thing we know is the Atlanta Braves prefer guys who are on the young end of the age curve for their class, so high schoolers who have just barely turned 18 or yet to turn 18 are certainly targets.

Last, the Braves have been targeting pitchers recently heavy in the draft and using the international market to find hitters. That would indicate that the pitchers would be of highest priority most likely.

Putting all that together, the guys the Braves will likely be targeting would be Hunter Greene (were he to fall for some reason), California prep infielder/outfielder Royce Lewis, North Carolina prep lefty MacKenzie Gore and his state mate outfielder Austin Beck, Florida shortstop Mark Vientos, and one wild card to watch, outfielder Heliot Ramos from Puerto Rico, who is starting to get a ton of buzz, especially from guys I talk with that I trust around the Braves organization.

Last year, I started to get similar buzz in mid-May about Ian Anderson, such that I had him locked into one of the first two picks the Braves would make, but I had him at the #40 pick, not #3!

Next: Rest Of The Draft

The Draft Class

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After the 5th pick, the Atlanta Braves also possess the #41 pick and #80 pick in the top 100 picks of the draft. That isn’t anything like the depth of picks they had last season, but with the international guys they signed in 2016 making their debuts in GCL/Danville this year, there just isn’t the room for a ton of picks on those squads.

This is another reason why you could definitely see the Braves taking a financial chance with either their second or third round pick to get an expensive guy and start picking “senior sign” types early to make it work financially.

The 2017 MLB draft class certainly is weighted much more heavily in the college realm. While there are a collection of guys that will fit in the first round or so, the depth of talent in the college class is much deeper this year than the high school class.

I did a depth piece on the college class for the other site I write for, Call To the Pen, and I’ll be doing one on the high school class this week if you’d like to take a look at those for more general information.

Based on what I’ve seen in the class, some of the guys that could be interesting if they fall to the Braves could certainly include Ramos. The Braves also have an affinity for guys who have a background of either playing multiple sports or excelling as hitters and pitchers, whether they use them as a hitter in the system (Austin Riley) or a pitcher (Joey Wentz and Kyle Muller).

Some of the guys who fit that dual-role profile in high school this year include Greene, Jordan Adell, Nick Pratto, Hagen Danner, Joe Perez, and Sam Carlson. College guys include Brendan McKay and Adam Haseley.

I’d also look for the Braves to focus on a college guy with a big bat this year in the 3rd through 5th round, especially if they spend big in the 2nd round. I’d initially have said Brent Rooker was a good guy to consider there, but his monster performance for Mississippi State has likely boosted him to even first round consideration.

What could be interesting is if the Braves could capitalize on a guy dropping from early-season consideration, like J.J. Schwarz, or capitalize on what I am finding to be an undervalued catching class, including my personal favorite, Daulton Varsho of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.

Next: Braves Minor League Database

There are a number of ways the Braves COULD go in June’s MLB draft, but where do you think they should go? Feel free to comment!

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How the 2017 MLB Draft Class Fits The Atlanta Braves

With the MLB Draft roughly 6 weeks away, will the Atlanta Braves find what they’re looking for in this year’s draft class?

The 5th Pick

The Draft Class

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Schedule