Atlanta Braves Mock Draft Monday: Round 6
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.
This will be the last of the true “mock” drafts where I attempt to surmise what teams will be doing with each pick. Things can change between now and next Monday, but as of today each team is in meetings with all of their “big guns” that will be in charge of the draft board, so any information you hear coming out on their draft interests are likely either intentional misdirection from a team or a rumor from someone not in the actual room making decisions.
Next Sunday, I will have a mock draft where I select as I would if I were the GM for each selection, based on each club’s financial position, competitive position, who is on the board, draft pool, etc. I will have a Braves-focused version here and one on Call To The Pen where I examine each selection I make for every team.
As we look to next week and the preparation for draft day, I encourage you to look to the coverage that Fred will have here at Tomahawk Take covering the draft. I will be spearheading a live draft thread at Call To The Pen that you are welcome to come participate in as well. It should be as much fun as can happen on a Monday night!
Now, to the draft. Things are beginning to firm up for all clubs as the college tournament takes off.
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 – Kyle Wright, RHP, Vanderbilt
2. Cincinnati Reds – Brendan McKay, LHP/1B, Louisville
3. San Diego Padres – Hunter Greene, RHP/SS, California HS
4. Tampa Bay Rays – Austin Beck, OF, North Carolina HS
5. Atlanta Braves – MacKenzie Gore, LHP, North Carolina HS
6. Oakland Athletics – Alex Faedo, RHP, Florida
7. Arizona Diamondbacks – Royce Lewis, IF/OF, California HS
8. Philadelphia Phillies – Jeren Kendall, OF, Vanderbilt
9. Milwaukee Brewers – Jordon Adell, OF, Kentucky HS
10. Los Angeles Angels – Keston Hiura, IF/OF, UC-Irvine
11. Chicago White Sox – J.B. Bukauskas, RHP, North Carolina
12. Pittsburgh Pirates – Evan White, 1B/OF, Kentucky
13. Miami Marlins – Shane Baz, RHP, Texas HS
14. Kansas City Royals – Adam Haseley, OF, Virginia
15. Houston Astros – Pavin Smith, 1B, Virginia
16. New York Yankees – Nick Pratto, 1B, California HS
17. Seattle Mariners – David Peterson, LHP, Oregon
18. Detroit Tigers – Sam Carlson, RHP, Minnesota HS
19. San Francisco Giants – Logan Warmoth, SS, North Carolina
20. New York Mets – DL Hall, LHP, Georgia HS
21. Baltimore Orioles – Tanner Houck, RHP, Missouri
22. Toronto Blue Jays – Alex Lange, RHP, LSU
23. Los Angeles Dodgers – Bubba Thompson, OF, Alabama HS
24. Boston Red Sox – Nate Pearson, RHP, JC of Central Florida
25. Washington Nationals – Griffin Canning, RHP, UCLA
26. Texas Rangers – Drew Waters, OF, Georgia HS
27. Chicago Cubs – Brendon Little, LHP, State JC of Florida
28. Toronto Blue Jays – Jake Burger, 3B, Missouri State
29. Texas Rangers – Trevor Rogers, LHP, New Mexico HS
30. Chicago Cubs – Mark Vientos, SS/3B, Florida HS
31. Tampa Bay Rays – Wil Crowe, RHP, South Carolina
32. Cincinnati Reds – Heliot Ramos, OF, Puerto Rico HS
33. Oakland Athletics – Matt Sauer, RHP, California HS
34. Milwaukee Brewers – Hans Crouse, RHP, California HS
35. Minnesota Twins – Nick Allen, SS, California HS
36. Miami Marlins – Seth Romero, LHP, Houston
Next: Discussing the Braves' Choices
Atlanta Braves Mock Draft Monday: The Braves’ Picks
5. MacKenzie Gore, LHP, North Carolina HS
This will likely be the most expensive of the options that the Atlanta Braves are considering with their first selection. There are some debates on other names, but the consistent names you find in every report on who the team is looking at hard include just one high school pitcher – Gore.
Sure, there are hard looks at guys like Shane Baz, Trevor Rogers, Sam Carlson, and even a few others, but Gore has been the only pitcher other than Vanderbilt righty Kyle Wright to be mentioned among the group the Braves are interested in consistently.
The other names are all hitters – Austin Beck, Jordan Adell, Nick Pratto, Royce Lewis – and it seems each of them would likely come a bit cheaper than Gore, who could project as high as #2 if things break a certain way draft day.
Gore is very feasibly the most expensive of the bunch, but he could also have the most upside of the bunch. In having a few conversations with those who have seen him in person, I’ve heard consistently that his stuff is as exciting as any pitcher in the draft, including Hunter Greene, and I’ve had a few mention to me that he has a higher ceiling than many in the Braves organization currently.
I will say that a few new names did circulate recently that could be interesting first round targets to keep an eye on. First is a guy that I mentioned way back in my first mock in outfielder Heliot Ramos. One of the youngest players in the entire draft, Ramos has been a Braves favorite from the early going, and there are some talks starting to float that he could be an under slot target at #5 overall.
The other guy is someone who has been quickly jumping up the board as the draft nears, and you can see that as he’s in his highest position I’ve mocked him thus far in UC-Irvine’s Keston Hiura. I heard from two people in California that the Braves were working him out recently, and that is news as typically the team doesn’t do that this late in the process unless there is legit interest. Hiura likely will need an elbow procedure, but as a position player, he has a tremendous bat that could profile as a 65 hit tool and 55-60 power tool, akin to a Joey Votto type that can handle second base or the outfield.
Round 2, Pick 41 overall: Tristan Beck, RHP, Stanford
I can already hear the fans going ballistic. Two more pitchers in the first two rounds! Aren’t the minor league rotations already full?! Who will score runs for all these pitchers?! LOUD NOISES!!!
Beck is a guy who has long been rumored to be a Brave this season. He had a back issue early in the season that was rumored to be something that would require surgery, but was something that he could pitch through with pain this season. When he did not return to Stanford this season, it was very widely rumored that he had a deal in place to not pitch the rest of the season to protect himself.
Beck very likely could be a guy whose deal pushed him up to be the #5 overall pick as well, so don’t be surprised if that is the case, much like Cal Quantrill did last season with the Padres.
Rest of Draft
I mentioned in the first mock that the Braves do have pretty loaded rookie league teams, so it’s possible that they go in heavy in their first few picks, then go for signability picks soon in the draft rather than waiting until the 5th-6th rounds to start that process.
If the team goes Gore and Beck, it would likely mean two guys very near slot, and the Braves would very probably go hard after one guy in the 3rd round and it’d be a lot of senior signs after that (Matt Powers at Talking Chop has a great article on senior sign candidates today – check it out!), simply due to the funds required to pull off that strategy.
If Beck were the #5 overall selection or the team went Hiura/Ramos and Beck 1-2, there could be more money for the #3 and #4 picks and the team would maneuver at that point.
Regardless, the team has shown that their scouting can identify excellent players, even if they aren’t ranked as well pre-draft by some places as where the Braves select them – just consider the success of Mike Soroka and Ian Anderson recently!
Next: Braves Minor League Database
What would be your thoughts on this situation? Leave a comment below!!