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Atlanta Braves Morning Chop: enjoy your prospects while they last

By Alan Carpenter

NAGOYA, JAPAN - NOVEMBER 14: Outfielder Ronald Acuna Jr. #13 of the Atlanta Braves celebrates scoring a run to make it 3-1 by a RBI single of Outfielder Juan Soto #22 of the Washington Nationals in the top of 3rd inning during the game five between Japan and MLB All Stars at Nagoya Dome on November 14, 2018 in Nagoya, Aichi, Japan. (Photo by Kiyoshi Ota/Getty Images)
NAGOYA, JAPAN - NOVEMBER 14: Outfielder Ronald Acuna Jr. #13 of the Atlanta Braves celebrates scoring a run to make it 3-1 by a RBI single of Outfielder Juan Soto #22 of the Washington Nationals in the top of 3rd inning during the game five between Japan and MLB All Stars at Nagoya Dome on November 14, 2018 in Nagoya, Aichi, Japan. (Photo by Kiyoshi Ota/Getty Images) /
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NAGOYA, JAPAN – NOVEMBER 15: Outfielder Ronald Acuna Jr. #13 of the Atlanta Braves celebrates after hitting a solo home run in the bottom of 8th inning during the game six between Japan and MLB All Stars at Nagoya Dome on November 15, 2018 in Nagoya, Aichi, Japan. (Photo by Kiyoshi Ota/Getty Images)
NAGOYA, JAPAN – NOVEMBER 15: Outfielder Ronald Acuna Jr. #13 of the Atlanta Braves celebrates after hitting a solo home run in the bottom of 8th inning during the game six between Japan and MLB All Stars at Nagoya Dome on November 15, 2018 in Nagoya, Aichi, Japan. (Photo by Kiyoshi Ota/Getty Images) /

The Slow Hourglass

It’s actually more than just ‘a couple of years’ overall:

It’s a 5 year hole in the pipe overall.  The restrictions come off July 2, 2021 – 30 months from now.  While there are Braves’ signings that are happening internationally, here’s the problem:

  • International organizational rebuild after staff upheaval/dismissals
  • Lack of spending power
  • Change in Front Office leadership (not saying this is bad, but it’s part of the transition)
  • Most importantly:  the players that Atlanta signs are basically those passed on by every other major league club.

Teams will sign 20-to-30-ish international teen players every year.  Many are there just to fill out their Dominican programs, but some are expected to be talents that will be brought state-side in another year or two after signing.  The Braves just don’t have any of those right now.

Talent Void

Need evidence?  Okay…  The 2018 Dominican Summer League finished up several months ago.  6 divisions of 44 teams (many clubs host 2 different teams).

The Braves were playing the the DSL Northwest division with 7 other teams and finished last with a 22-47 record.  Last by 7 games.  Their last game was a 1-0 defeat by the Marlins on a 1-hitter.

Of the 44 teams, there were 3 worse teams:  an Indians/Brewers combo (21-49), Angels (21-51) and White Sox (18-54).

The best hitter posted a .273 average and all but 2 players on the roster hit under .230.  The pitching was better, but when no one on the team has an OPS above .700, you’re going to lose a lot.

  • In 2016, 6 players OPS’d above .700 and 3 of those hit above .300.
  • In 2015, 6 players OPS’d above .700 and 5 hit over .300.

You get the point… the talent simply isn’t there any longer – the direct result of the International penalties.

That makes the Braves’ farm system almost entirely dependent on these sources for finding talent between now and mid-2021:

  • The draft
  • undrafted free agents
  • trades

That puts a lot of pressure on the Baseball Operations department to get everything right as they hunt for new players.

By and large, that’s been working for Brian Bridges on the domestic side, but Baseball America rightly points out that the Braves will also be expecting to draft in lower positions over the new few years, which means they have to take the ‘leftovers’ of the 1st couple of rounds and perhaps take a few injury-risk chances (something they’ve already been doing).

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