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House That Hank Built

ESPN leaves Atlanta Braves hanging — only two prospects in top 50

By Clint Manry

BARNSLEY, ENGLAND - SEPTEMBER 19: Editor Andrew Harrod previews an early version of the front page of the latest edition of the Barnsley Chronicle newsroom on September 19, 2018 in Barnsley, England. Surrounded by a number of smaller villages, the residents of Barnsley have been served by weekly newspaper "The Barnsley Chronicle" for over 160 years. The latest newspaper circulation figures, covering 2017, listed a readership of 19,855 copies per week. Launched in 1858, the Barnsley Chronicle is one of the last privately-owned weekly newspapers in the country, producing each copy in house with their own journalists, design team and full printing press. Owned and operated by the Hewitt family since 1923, it is the largest circulating weekly newspaper in Yorkshire, with profits boosted by off-shoot companies such as military history publishers Pen and Sword and go-kart company Tyke Racing, operating under the Acredula Group. (Photo by Leon Neal/Getty Images)
BARNSLEY, ENGLAND - SEPTEMBER 19: Editor Andrew Harrod previews an early version of the front page of the latest edition of the Barnsley Chronicle newsroom on September 19, 2018 in Barnsley, England. Surrounded by a number of smaller villages, the residents of Barnsley have been served by weekly newspaper "The Barnsley Chronicle" for over 160 years. The latest newspaper circulation figures, covering 2017, listed a readership of 19,855 copies per week. Launched in 1858, the Barnsley Chronicle is one of the last privately-owned weekly newspapers in the country, producing each copy in house with their own journalists, design team and full printing press. Owned and operated by the Hewitt family since 1923, it is the largest circulating weekly newspaper in Yorkshire, with profits boosted by off-shoot companies such as military history publishers Pen and Sword and go-kart company Tyke Racing, operating under the Acredula Group. (Photo by Leon Neal/Getty Images) /
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(Photo by Kena Betancur/Getty Images)
(Photo by Kena Betancur/Getty Images) /

The baseball industry has adjusted their prospect lists and the Atlanta Braves may be feeling a bit neglected with ESPN’s updated rankings.

The talent currently in the Atlanta Braves Minor League system has been well documented for quite some time now.

This past winter, the Atlanta Braves were ranked No. 2 by MLB Pipeline, coming in right behind the San Diego Padres in terms of overall best farm systems.

In March of 2018, MiLB.com ranked the Atlanta Braves as the top system, when the hype surrounding still-a-minor leaguer, Ronald Acuna Jr., was at its highest.

In 2017, the Atlanta Braves were ranked No. 2 as well, according to a list by Bleacher Report, in September of that season. They also had the Braves No. 1 in 2016.

So obviously, the trend has been pretty consistent, at least for the last four years. And we know the Atlanta Braves investment into acquiring top prospects has in fact been going on longer than that.

But on Thursday, ESPN’s Senior Writer and prospect analyst, Keith Law, sang a bit of a different tune with his Midseason Top-50 Prospect Update. He ranked just two Atlanta Braves minor leaguers in his list of 50:

Now clearly, no ranking is perfect. It would be quite unreasonable to anticipate all prospect lists to fit our biased opinions, no matter how much we attempt to leave out such notions.

But c’mon!

And frankly, after doing a bit more digging, it’s not just Law that has, for lack of a better word, shortchanged the Atlanta Braves.

There are other writers and sites that have released prospect rankings that don’t quite line up with the common narration that we’ve been acquainted with regarding the Atlanta Braves farm system.

It’s been generally accepted that the Braves have an elite minor league group, right?

But to say that there are only two players in the Atlanta Braves system currently worthy of a top 50 ranking is a bit erroneous, at the very least.

Having said that, before we make a case as to which Atlanta Braves prospects were incorrectly left off Law’s list, perhaps we should look at an assortment of other prospect rankings.

Maybe I’m just being too much of an Atlanta Braves homer?

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