ESPN’s Law ranks the Braves’ farm system pretty darn low
Keith Law wasn't so high on Mike Minor (middle), either. (AJC photo by Hyosub Shin)
Because the Braves take pride in their farm system, Keith Law’s latest appraisal isn’t apt to get the save-print-and-frame treatment at 755 Hank Aaron Drive. Writing for ESPN Insiders, Law ranks the Braves’ minor-leaguers as baseball’s 16th-best.
Law’s take on the Braves (link requires registration):
They have reaped as little from the draft the past two years as anyone, taking low-ceiling college guys with early picks, staying at or under MLB’s bonus recommendations and having less luck on the international market. It’s telling that the major question on every position-player prospect in their top 10 is whether he’ll hit.
This represents a sharp falloff. Law had the Braves third in his organizational rankings last winter. In 2010, he placed them fifth. (That was the year he tabbed Jason Heyward as the No. 1 overall prospect.) That said …
Over the past two seasons, the Braves have produced one National League rookie of the year (Craig Kimbrel in 2011) and two runners-up (Heyward in 2010, Freddie Freeman last season). It would be difficult for any team — alliteration alert! — to sustain such a spree of sudden splashes.
Still, you’d think that the Braves’ glut of young pitching — Baseball America lists five pitchers among the organization’s top eight prospects — would leave the Braves higher than 16th, which is mathematically in the lower half of all MLB clubs. But Law’s point about hitting, or the lack thereof, is telling. Of the non-pitchers among Baseball America’s Braves top 10, none are outfielders. (Four infielders, one catcher.)
Oh, and one thing more: Law has been hammering on the Braves’ drafts for a while now. He hated it when they took Mike Minor with the No. 7 overall pick in 2009, and apparently he wasn’t enthused about the subsequent drafts, either. All of which makes me wonder what he’d have made of the Hawks under Billy Knight.
By Mark Bradley
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212 comments Add your comment
Disgusted
February 11th, 2012
8:39 am
“If I were the Braves, I would do two things and see if either could get them out of that horrible network TV deal”
According to Mc Guirk, there is no way out of the deal.
Or could it be that they do not want out of that deal, they do not seem to care about it.
.
eric
February 11th, 2012
9:49 am
Keith Law ranks the Braves top prospects
Atlanta Braves
1. Arodys Vizcaino, RHP (14)
2. Julio Teheran, RHP (18)
3. Christian Bethancourt, C (94)
4. Randall Delgado, RHP (98)
5. Andrelton Simmons, SS
6. Tyler Pastornicky, SS
7. Sean Gilmartin, LHP
8. Zeke Spruill, RHP
9. J.R. Graham, RHP
10. Matt Lipka, OF
smyrnabob
February 11th, 2012
10:26 am
Last year Law ranked Freeman as the number 43 prospect in baseball and did not even rank Kimbrel. They finished 1 & 2 as Rookies of the Year.
least of the east
February 11th, 2012
10:43 am
for a time that now focuses on building through the draft, this is not good. ther picks are basically money-oriented, not based on upside. I think Roy Clark and Kurt Kemp probaly left in part due to this.
Shelby Miller (St Louis) was the biggest miss in 2009, but Jacob Turner (another HS pitcher) was another better pick. high bonus demands made the Braves pass them over. many teams missed Trout who went late first round out of NJ HS
aside from Heyward and Cunningham, they haven’t drafted any OF in top 2 rounds in ages.-Lipka was converted to CF, but was an IF. an they wonder why they have no OFs who can hit ?
(local HS P Zack Wheeler went 6th to SF so Braves had no shot at him. he went to Mets in Beltran deal so will haunt us for a decade in NL East.)
BravesFanForever
February 11th, 2012
11:30 am
Mark, Mark, Mark…
You CAN hit your way to championship. If you are going to pick one season out of the past 127, I pick 1993 for my argument. The Toronto Blue Jays won the World Series that year. They scored 45 runs in 6 games for an average of 7.5 per game. The pitching wasn’t so great on either side given that 81 runs were scored by both teams (Philadelphia averaged 6 runs per game for the series). In fact, one game’s total runs were 31, 15 to 14 with Toronto winning that game.
I personally don’t think it’s about pitching or hitting by themselves: It’s about the balance between the two. You can’t have pitching only. If you don’t score enough runs or any for that matter, you won’t win. On the other hand, if you have only hitting it doesn’t do it either since you may not be able to prevent the other team from outscoring you. The best teams have both pitching and offense.
Doesn’t mean you can’t win being one-dimensional and win it all, but the odds may be against you–that is in an ideal world. That being said, nowadays, it’s just a crap shoot. Given the record of WS winners since 1990, just getting to the playoffs gives you an equal chance of winning vs. the other teams. Might was well just roll the dice to see who wins and forget playing any games.
ExBraves Fan
February 11th, 2012
12:09 pm
It’s simple. I have been a Braves fan since the day they landed in 1966. I saw my first MLB game that season. Braves vs. Giants in a day-night double hearder. Remember those? Thing of the past.
All these years I have supported them. Bought the stuff, came to games and paid over priced prices for cokes, popcorn, dogs, frys, etc. I supported them when they just flat stunk. But, no more. I am tired of this crap. No more of my money. No more of my support. All any true fan wants out of his team, is that his team try to improve and try to get better players and be in the race. No pick and poke, sign broken down players, one year wonders, etc. Just be in the race. Not like the Pirates who have not won for 20 years. I would have gave up on that owner 18 years ago. With prices so high now, you can watch them lose on TV cheaper than drive 200 miles round trip and pay those prices. As long as the current administration runs the Braves, I seen no hope of another WS victory. I wated 30 years for the last one. I don’t have 30 years left in my life to wait for another one.
Simply, it makes me sick that the current management is in it for the money and tax brakes and people are stupid enough to continue to go to the games. If everyone would actually say enough is enough and no go any more, they would be forced to put a better product on the field and or go bankrupt like the Dodgers and Rangers did. Basically, I seen no playoffs or WS for the Braves for years. Not till Liberty sells and the GM is fired.
The Duke of Flatbush
February 11th, 2012
1:10 pm
ESPN stinks at everything, they hate Atlanta too. So what do we expect from these arrogent idiots?
Powder Blue
February 12th, 2012
1:44 am
Liberty Media = half-ass. This team will never be a legitimate World Series contender until it has new ownership and changes everything from the top down. The Braves ticket office actually called me last week to inquire about whether I plan to buy tickets this year. Hey, go out and spend some real money on some real hitters (not Jack Wilson), and I’ll spend my money on your product.
The Duke of Flatbush
February 12th, 2012
9:30 am
Liberty Media has made the Braves a 2nd tier team. Hard to believe we would ever put these guys in the same class as the ASG. Braves look like Thrashers now. Can’t wait for the season to start-NOT!!
KB
February 12th, 2012
5:11 pm
I think it’s a little early to judge Minor. He’s been pretty good when given opportunities.
Rtruth
February 12th, 2012
7:07 pm
If this guy was so smart wouldn’t he be a GM somewhere? I thought so.
Brad
February 13th, 2012
7:27 am
So, we have the start of what happened in Baltimore with that lame GM they had…what was his name? Oh, Frank Wren that’s right….
He’s not going to win any exec of the year awards, so get use to seeing our talent pool decrease year after year until he’s fired.