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Atlanta Braves: Re-Draft of the 2015 MLB Draft

By Jake Mastroianni

LOS ANGELES, CA - JUNE 08: Walker Buehler #21 of the Los Angeles Dodgers pitches in the first inning of the game against the Atlanta Braves at Dodger Stadium on June 8, 2018 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Jayne Kamin-Oncea/Getty Images)
LOS ANGELES, CA - JUNE 08: Walker Buehler #21 of the Los Angeles Dodgers pitches in the first inning of the game against the Atlanta Braves at Dodger Stadium on June 8, 2018 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Jayne Kamin-Oncea/Getty Images) /
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WASHINGTON, DC – JUNE 23: A.J. Minter #33 of the Atlanta Braves. (Photo by Scott Taetsch/Getty Images)
WASHINGTON, DC – JUNE 23: A.J. Minter #33 of the Atlanta Braves. (Photo by Scott Taetsch/Getty Images) /

Picks 54, 75, & 89

For this exercise we’re going to focus on the guys taken just after the picks the Braves made. I’m sure you could go deeper in this draft and find guys the Braves should have taken, but let’s not get too deep in the weeds in what is already a hypothetical article.

Even though Herbert is still making his way to the big leagues, I think you could say this was somewhat of a bust for the Braves at 54 overall.

Two picks later the Toronto Blue Jays took Brady Singer. He turned them down to go play college ball at Florida, and I really doubt the Braves would have had the money to sign him with all their top picks, but that could have been someone to take a chance on at 54.

Looking at the players taken right after Minter at 75, I still think Minter was the right play for the Braves. If Minter can learn to command his pitches, he has the stuff to be an elite closer one day.

Guardado was obviously a wild card for the Braves. A player they were taking a chance on and getting under slot value to help sign some of their other top picks.

That didn’t pan out and they would have been better off taken someone like Harrison Bader who went 100th overall to the Cardinals or Phil Pfeifer who the Dodgers took at 101 (and who the Braves now have).

The Cardinals also took Jordan Hicks at 105, which would have been a good pick for the Braves at 89.

Overall, though, I think the Braves did pretty well with these picks even though two of them were busts and Minter could be as well. But looking at the players taken around these picks, not many have panned out.

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