Atlanta Braves: Top 5 busts as former no. 1 prospects

Jose Peraza 1.5 rWAR (5 seasons)

Jose Peraza was the top prospect of the 2015 season within the Braves organization. Meanwhile, Baseball America only had him ranked 54th overall.

Similar to Saltalamacchia’s position, he was left from a batch of great youngsters that had established themselves in the big leagues. Players like Andrelton Simmons, Freddie Freeman, Jason Heyward, and Julio Teheran had all become key factors in the youth movement that led to the Braves 96-win 2013 season.

Peraza was still a fairly highly regarded prospect and plenty of hope remained around our new number one minor leaguer. Following the disappointing 2014 season, the Braves went into re-build mode and shipped Peraza to the Dodgers as a part of a package that returned Hector Olivera, Paco Rodriguez, and Zachary Bird.

Personally, I hate that trade the most because we also lost Alex Wood and Luis Avilan. I loved those two lefties. That notion is enough to tell you how well Peraza lived up to the hype of a number one prospect.

Peraza was an electric base stealer, swiping 60+ bags in both 2013 and 2014 in the minor leagues. He was a contact hitter who could run like the wind and those skills have translated to a five-year career (and counting) of just above replacement-level production.

The most bases he’s ever swiped at the big-league level is 23. He accomplished the feat in 2017 and 2018. It isn’t due to a lack of opportunity as he played in 143 games in 2017 and 157 games in 2018. Peraza has a career OPS+ of 80 and is currently under contract with the Boston Red Sox.

Best Season

His highest OPS+ was in 2016 when he posted a 102 in just 72 games. However, in 2018 he posted a 98 OPS+ and played in 157 games for the Reds. In 632 at-bats he posted career-highs in doubles (31), homers (14), RBI (58), and steals. Peraza slashed .288/.326/.416 in 2018.