Atlanta Braves speeding to the draft signing finish line

Milligan makes a statement

Atlanta Braves’ ninth-round pick hit leadoff for Danville last night and gave us a taste of things to come.

In the tenth inning of the first game of the year last night, he announced his arrival with a walk-off homer.

Milligan continued to establish himself as a fixture in the Danville lineup today, drawing a bases-loaded walk to tie the game at 10. Danville went on to win 12-10.

Four of the first five batters in the lineup – Milligan, Philip, Ball, and Birdsong – came from the 2019 draft.

Other non-draft signings

The Braves transactions page also showed two minor league signings you may have missed.

On June 15, the Braves signed free agent infielders Wilmer Smith and Nelson Celesten to minor league deals. Here’s what I know, and it isn’t much.

• Smith is 18-years old 6-0,185 pounds, bats left and throws right.
• Celesten is 19-years old, 5-10, 160 pounds, bats left and throws right.

I mention them only because they are international free agents signed under the 2018-2019 signing period.

That’s a wrap

As it stands today (counting the non-drafted signees), we have 35 names confirmed signed and seven more with strong reports that they are signed. That’s about double what I expected after day three, and yes, I have the salsa out for my crow.

It’s now almost certain that the Braves decided to select a lot of players they had high confidence they could sign to refill the minor league system.

If some of these unrated players come through and we get lucky with players who dropped like DeVito, it’s a success. Their bonus numbers make it clear the Atlanta Braves believe pretty strongly in Grissom, Owens, Morton, and Ball, but their sequence is baffling.

That’s all for today; I’ll pass along more when I have it and add a wrap up with analysis when it’s finally over.