Atlanta Braves podcast Off Leo’s Rocker: S3E19 on how to fix a farm system

There’s been a slow parade of premium prospects progressing through the farm system of the Atlanta Braves over the past 3-4 seasons.  But the cupboard is nearly bare… how does that get fixed?

We won’t know for sure until several years have elapsed about just how important this week’s draft pick trade becomes for the Atlanta Braves, but the potential is certainly there for it being all the difference between a “meh” outcome and a bona fide jackpot.

That sounds a lot like false hype, but it’s certainly not an exaggeration to say that this single deal will fundamentally change the approach this team can take to Sunday night’s draft.

The Braves will have 6 picks in the first 125 picks — over just 4 rounds — and this trade added over 20% to the value of their draft monies spending allowance.

That money by itself will allow the club to react in whatever direction the draft board permits as picks are being made.

In an interview appearing in TheAtheltic this week (paywalled), Alex Anthopoulos told Jeff Schultz “We want to restock a little bit”, which points to the idea of going after a solid crop of real prospects this year.

In recent drafts, the Braves have tended to go all-in during the first couple of rounds, and then try to find cheaper ‘lottery’ picks in the latter rounds.   This year… that can change as they are ‘fully funded’ to consider bigger fish.

There’s even a chance that a premium high schooler leaning toward a collegiate career might fall to them at the 20th pick.  With the extra funds, the Braves could consider going “overslot” to snag such a player.

All of this and more are discussed in this week’s edition of Off Leo’s Rocker.  So while I could continue rambling here about it, I’d much rather have to listen to what these Grumpy Old Men have to say on these subjects.

So here’s how you can do that:

• via your favorite podcast subscription site (you are subscribed, right??)
• via this direct download link
• via this in-line player:

Thanks for indulging Fred and me as we go through all things Braves… we’ll have a draft recap up in next week’s show!