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Atlanta Braves vs. the mock drafts… who will be right?

By Alan Carpenter

Jul 25, 2016; Philadelphia, PA, USA; Volunteer Alvin Peters of Panama City, Florida entertains delegates and the media with his juggling during the Democratic National Convention at Wells Fargo Arena. Mandatory Credit: Suchat Pederson/The News Journal via USA TODAY NETWORK
Jul 25, 2016; Philadelphia, PA, USA; Volunteer Alvin Peters of Panama City, Florida entertains delegates and the media with his juggling during the Democratic National Convention at Wells Fargo Arena. Mandatory Credit: Suchat Pederson/The News Journal via USA TODAY NETWORK /
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Jul 25, 2016; Philadelphia, PA, USA; Volunteer Alvin Peters of Panama City, Florida entertains delegates and the media with his juggling during the Democratic National Convention at Wells Fargo Arena. Mandatory Credit: Suchat Pederson/The News Journal via USA TODAY NETWORK
Jul 25, 2016; Philadelphia, PA, USA; Volunteer Alvin Peters of Panama City, Florida entertains delegates and the media with his juggling during the Democratic National Convention at Wells Fargo Arena. Mandatory Credit: Suchat Pederson/The News Journal via USA TODAY NETWORK /

Discussion: Juggling Picks

Most of the choices made in these mock drafts are quite defensible.  Many of them presume some knowledge about the inner-workings or discussions or presence by each team in pursuit of said players.

The Atlanta Braves’ stated draft philosophy is to select the player who in their view is the best player available on their draft board on the day of selection.

At this point, with almost all scholastic baseball seasons complete (save for the collegiate level), the scouting is starting to wind down and the wrangling about rankings is underway.

More from Tomahawk Take

That said, what I believe about the Braves for 2017’s draft is as follows:

  • This is a weaker-than-normal slate of available talent.  That tends to encourage teams into more ‘risk-taking’ at various points.
  • Atlanta, with its bevy of pitching, does not need a college hurler to enter the mix along with the guys will will be hitting AA and AAA next season.  Nor do they tend that direction anyway.  So I really don’t see Wright or McKay in the mix…. even if available.
  • College bats are generally further down the rankings and could be picked up later if somebody thinks that’s appropriate.
  • Is there a high school arm here in the same class as Ian Anderson or Kolby Allard?  That would be Hunter Greene – who won’t be there at #5.  So unless you think Gore is a no-risk player, then it’s hard to pull the trigger for him in this slot.

This is why I’m thinking ‘high school position player’ at this time for Atlanta, which narrows the field to Adell, Beck, Lewis, and Pratto.

When I look at video of Lewis, I can’t help but think that he reminds me a bit of Deion Sanders… and I checked:  Deion was listed at 6’1″/195 on fangraphs… virtually identical to Lewis.  So there’s that at least.

The Tampa Bay Rays will be the key here.  If they leave Lewis on the board, I think Atlanta will take him.

Next: Tracking Coppy

If not, then it could be a 3-way coin flip between Beck, Pratto, and Adell, and I would rank them in that order with the first two being very close, Adell being the longer shot.

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