The 2026 MLB Draft is around two months away, and it is hard to even figure out who the Atlanta Braves will even have the option to pick at No. 9 overall. This is a common problem with picks towards the bottom of the first round, where the Braves usually pick (and that remains true with their pick at 26), but there is usually a bit more consensus when you get to the top 10, even if the exact order could go a number of ways.
That is not the case this year. Most experts feel reasonably confident as to who will be off the board after the first five or six picks, but there are dozens of potential options after that, depending on differences in each team's boards as well as potential draft bonus pool strategy in play.
Recently, it felt like the Braves were coalescing around Ole Miss starter Cade Townsend as a top option for them at 9, and that makes sense, given Atlanta's predilection for adding arms. However, the latest mock drafts from Baseball America and ESPN's Kiley McDaniel show that the field is still pretty wide open.
Recent mock drafts from Baseball America and ESPN connect the Braves to Chris Hacopian and Drew Burress
It is a little odd to see the Braves connected to two college bats after so much noise around their pursuit of an arm. However, that doesn't mean that Atlanta, at minimum, doing their due diligence on second baseman Chris Hacopian (Baseball America) and outfielder Drew Burress (ESPN) is a bad idea at all.
Both Hacopian and Burress are polarizing as draft prospects. Hacopian seems to light up a lot of the advanced batted ball metrics that analytical teams like the Braves like, but more traditional scouts seem to be less enthusiastic about him, and he may not stick in the infield. In Burress, he checks almost all of the statistical boxes you want, but he is also listed generously at 5'9, is pretty much maxed out with little projection, and it isn't a lock he can stay in center field.
This is just indicative of the puzzle the Braves have to solve in this year's draft. With two first-round picks this year, Atlanta has a big bonus pool to play with and the picks to do almost anything they want. In McDaniels' mock, he even mentioned that Atlanta could go under slot at 9 and grab a prep lefty pitcher as well. For the moment, it sounds like the Braves are entertaining a wide range of options, and that may remain true until draft day.
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