Atlanta Braves Mock Draft Monday: The Hype Begins!
The Atlanta Braves went on a winning streak to finish the 2016 season and close out Turner Field, and while for many fans that was fun, it meant that the club will be selecting #5 overall in the upcoming June draft.
Many sites have begun to release their top 100 lists and mock drafts. I spent most of the last month getting in contact with as many possible people as I could to get an idea of how the draft is shaping up this year, who to look at, who should be looked at but isn’t, and last, but certainly not least, who the Atlanta Braves are looking at.
We’ll have one of these mock drafts at least every other week until the draft comes. The selections here are based on a number of hours of research into the players themselves, team strategies, and any insights I’ve been able to gleam from those around the game I’ve chatted with this spring about this very interesting class.
We will look at the entire first round through the competitive balance round A selections, then we’ll examine the Braves’ strategy for round 2 if the first round set out would happen, and finally, we’ll consider what direction the Braves could go after those two selections.
I hope you enjoy, and please feel free to comment below!
Next: The First Round
Atlanta Braves Mock Draft Monday: The Draft
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The Braves selection will be discussed further on the next slide.
1. Minnesota Twins – Hunter Greene, RHP/SS, California HS
2. Cincinnati Reds – Brendan McKay, LHP/1B, Louisville
3. San Diego Padres – MacKenzie Gore, LHP, North Carolina HS
4. Tampa Bay Rays – Austin Beck, OF, North Carolina HS
5. Atlanta Braves – Sam Carlson, RHP, Minnesota HS
6. Oakland Athletics – Pavin Smith, 1B, Virginia
7. Arizona Diamondbacks – Royce Lewis, IF/OF, California HS
8. Philadelphia Phillies – Kyle Wright, RHP, Vanderbilt
9. Milwaukee Brewers – Alex Faedo, RHP, Florida
10. Los Angeles Angels – Jeren Kendall, OF, Vanderbilt
11. Chicago White Sox – Nick Pratto, 1B, California HS
12. Pittsburgh Pirates – J.B. Bukauskas, RHP, North Carolina
13. Miami Marlins – Shane Baz, RHP, Texas HS
14. Kansas City Royals – Jake Burger, 3B, Missouri State
15. Houston Astros – Seth Romero, LHP, Houston
16. New York Yankees – Jordan Adell, OF, Kentucky HS
17. Seattle Mariners – Griffin Canning, RHP, UCLA
18. Detroit Tigers – Alex Lange, RHP, LSU
19. San Francisco Giants – D.L. Hall, LHP, Georgia HS
20. New York Mets – Hans Crouse, RHP, California HS
21. Baltimore Orioles – Adam Haseley, OF, Virginia
22. Toronto Blue Jays – Logan Warmoth, SS, North Carolina
23. Los Angeles Dodgers – Mark Vientos, IF, Florida HS
24. Boston Red Sox – Trevor Rogers, LHP, New Mexico HS
25. Washington Nationals – Clarke Schmidt, RHP, South Carolina
26. Texas Rangers – Bubba Thompson, OF, Alabama HS
27. Chicago Cubs – David Peterson, LHP, Oregon
28. Toronto Blue Jays – Keston Hiura, IF/OF, UC-Irvine
29. Texas Rangers – Wil Crowe, RHP, South Carolina
30. Chicago Cubs – Hagen Danner, RHP/C/IF, California HS
31. Tampa Bay Rays – Tanner Houck, RHP, Missouri
32. Cincinnati Reds – Garrett Mitchell, OF, California HS
33. Oakland Athletics – Blayne Enlow, RHP, Louisiana HS
34. Milwaukee Brewers – Alex Scherff, RHP, Texas HS
35. Minnesota Twins – Nick Allen, SS, California HS
36. Miami Marlins – Jeter Downs, SS, Florida HS
Next: Discussing the Braves' Choices
Atlanta Braves Mock Draft Monday: The Braves’ Picks
5. Sam Carlson, RHP, Minnesota HS
Many will see this as a reach. Carlson is ranked #15 by MLB Pipeline and somehow wasn’t even placed on the BA top 100, though they’ve referenced that as a mistake since in podcasts.
Carlson is a cold-weather guy who is a Florida recruit. He’s just started his spring season recently, and the Atlanta Braves have had a presence early at his games.
Carlson is a guy who has an excellent frame around 6’3″-6’4″ and roughly 200 pounds. He’s actually recruited to be a two-way player at Florida as an outfielder and pitcher.
His first few games, Carlson has flashed mid-90s stuff and touched 97 on most guns (I heard one 98 mentioned). His fastball moves a lot with hard sink and the ability to manipulate the ball to sink both arm side and glove side.
His change is already above-average to plus, and he is very comfortable with the pitch, using it as much as 1/3 of the time in games. His slider has wicked late bite as well.
Carlson is a guy who works constantly in the strike zone as well. There are many talking about him in the top 10, but the Braves are talking with him heavy already.
Round 2, Pick 41 overall: Heliot Ramos, OF, Puerto Rico HS
Last spring, near the end of May, I was told by a scout that I could “write in pen” that Ian Anderson would be a Brave. He didn’t tell me which pick or anything, but he had seen enough of how the Braves were treating him versus other prospects they were seeing when he was at the same game to believe that the Braves had major interest.
That same scout has already flagged me that the Braves are giving Heliot Ramos the “Ian Anderson treatment” in his words.
Ramos is a guy who could gain some significant helium before the draft, but if he’s there, he is a guy that just seems to check every box. The MLB Pipeline podcast recently stated that he has the most raw power of any player in the draft, he’s very young (not turning 18 until September 7th), and he’s technically international, as he’s from Puerto Rico.
Ramos has more than just power as well, though his swing is long right now and would need some work to be able to be able to produce solid contact, but he also has fringe-plus speed along with an above-average arm and good reads in the corner outfield after spending most of his high school time in center field, where he’s not exactly the best fit.
Rest of Draft
One of the blessings and curses all rolled into one when you have a well-run organization is that young men that you draft actually want to play for you.
The Braves ran into this issue last summer, when way more than the expected number of 11th-40th round selections came to the table ready to sign a contract.
Add to that the much larger-than-usual international free agent class that the team signed in the last year, and you have a Gulf Coast League and a Danville team in the Appalachian League that will be nearly full already before the draft even happens – and this is AFTER they made some pretty surprising cuts at the end of spring training!
What I’m getting in talking with the Braves people is that they very well may blow their 1-10 round money early in this draft. If they had a chance to find a guy that they knew would be out for some time to give them that time, that wouldn’t hinder them and could lead to a bargain selection.
A player like Clarke Schmidt falling into their laps in the 3rd round would be an almost certainty. High school righty Hunter Ruth is another guy they could pursue in the 3rd/4th as a guy who will be having Tommy John, pay him a good-sized bonus, and then let him heal well while the rookie-ball rosters are already plumb full.
If I were to wager a guess, it’d be that the first three picks will contain at least 2 high school players, and my best bet, based on who the Braves have been heaviest on so far, is that it would be two pitchers and a hitter.
Next: Braves Minor League Database
What would be your thoughts on this situation? Leave a comment below!!