Today we move along in our Braves’ prospect rankings, covering the heart of the organization’s 2020 class, Nos. 20-11.
The excitement is beginning to build, as it feels we’re just days away from the conclusion of this dramatic Josh Donaldson sweepstakes, a bidding that looks to, at least presently, favor the Atlanta Braves.
Although, whether or not Donaldson returns to Atlanta or not, his decision should be the final spark that ignites the trading season, as teams will be determined to fill any holes left unfilled through free agency. And as we transition from the free-agent market to the trade market, we’ll need to know where the Braves’ current prospect class stands.
Which brings us to our release of the Braves’ Top-30 Prospect Rankings:
- Post 1: Nos. 30-21 (Monday)
- Post 2: Nos: 20-11 (today)
- Post 3: Top 10 (Wednesday)
On Monday we shared our first post of this three-part series, covering Nos. 30-21, a list highlighted by well-known players like Thomas Burrows (No. 22) and William Contreras (No. 23), but also newcomers who impressed in 2019, like Bryce Ball (No. 26) and Mitch Stallings (No. 30).
Today we move up the list to the middle of the rankings, covering Nos. 20-11, which really make up the meat of this class; these prospects range from potential up-and-comers to 2019 draftees that are projected to one day be top-tier prospects in the Braves’ system.
But first, let’s go over a few things to consider when looking through these lists.
Some nuances to consider
After fighting with several different objective-based models, we have decided to go with a subjective approach for these rankings.
But keep in mind, this list is meant to be the first report for the 2020 season, meaning there will be more versions of these rankings to come later on. Think of this as the Spring report, with a Midseason and End-of-season report to follow. Each version will be updated according to how each player is trending (via performance, upside, promotions…etc).
Obviously, everyone won’t necessarily agree with each and every ranking, as we all have our own opinions regarding these players; although, it’s much easier to look at the list of 30 players overall in terms of tiers instead of attempting to assess the report as a whole.
Consider my tiers for the list below:
- Nos. 1-10 — Tier 1
- Nos.11-20 — Tier 2
- Nos. 21-30 — Tier 3
You could perhaps break the rankings up in to even more tiers or groups if you desired, but the point is that the actual ranking is less important than the tier or group the player is part of. Obviously, the higher the tier means the player has more upside and is closer to the majors.
Remember, these rankings are subject to change, as an updated version of this list will be published around the midseason point of the 2020 season (July-ish).
With all of that now covered, let’s look at the second group of rankings, Nos. 20-11.