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Sunday, October 25, 2009

Sickels: Atlanta Braves Top 20 Prospects for 2010

He’s out there and he’s got prospecting on his mind!

1) Jason Heyward, OF, Grade A: A complete prospect, perfect Five Tool/Seven Skill player.

2) Freddie Freeman, 1B, Grade B+: We’ll have to see if the wrist injury cuts into his power development, but given his age he gets some slack.

3) Julio Teheran, RHP, Grade B: I still worry about his health and durability.

4) Randall Delgado, RHP, Grade B: A rare thing, an Atlanta pitching prospect that might be underrated. Usually Braves guys get too much hype.

5) Craig Kimbrel, RHP, Grade B: If his command holds up he can be a bullpen force.

6) Mike Minor, LHP, Grade B-: Borderline Grade B. Excellent pitchability with pretty good stuff. I hope I get to see him in Arizona Fall League.

7) Christian Bethancourt, C, Grade B-: Grade includes a lot of projection.

8) J.J. Hoover, RHP, Grade B-: A personal favorite. Need to see him at higher levels, but I love the K/IP and K/BB ratios.

9) Zeke Spruill, RHP, Grade B-: Younger and more projectable than Hoover, but I worry about his durability.

10) David Hale, RHP, Grade C+: Power arm from Princeton, another possible relief mainstay if the command is there.

...I ended up writing about 40 guys, but I have to say that I’m not overly impressed with this system. They have a near-certain superstar in Heyward, a good first base prospect in Freeman, and then a huge bunch of questionmarks. The lack of offensive talent beyond the two elite guys is very striking. I do not believe in Cody Johnson. I think the strikeouts are going to eat him alive.

Repoz Posted: October 25, 2009 at 06:08 PM | 24 comment(s)
Related News: General, Minor Leagues, Prospect Reports, Scouting, Atlanta

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1. Latnam's first name is Bob Lemon's middle name. Posted: October 25, 2009 at 05:54 PM (#3365389)

I can only look forward to our new Jason Heyward overlord.

2. Eric P. Posted: October 25, 2009 at 06:10 PM (#3365396)

Their minor league system isn't great right now but the organization as a whole is well stocked with young impact talent. Hanson looks like an ace, Heyward should be a star, McCann & Escobar are both excellent at up the middle positions. Schafer's still got plenty of promise, too. Jurrjens & Medlen on the pitching side of things. The Braves should be contenders for years to come as long as Wren is any good at filling in the holes.

3. SteveF Posted: October 25, 2009 at 07:04 PM (#3365423)

Quite right. The Braves have a number of young good players they can expect to at least not get worse over the next several years. The Mets are on the way down, the Natinals on life support, and Florida will never spend enough money to fill holes with even 2nd tier free agents.

I think the Braves are in a pretty good spot to contend for the next few years.

4. Tripon Posted: October 25, 2009 at 07:07 PM (#3365425)

Sickles seem high on Minor.

5. Barnaby Jones Posted: October 25, 2009 at 07:40 PM (#3365455)

Sickles seem high on Minor.

B- is actually a striking low grade for a top ten pick.

6. Tripon Posted: October 25, 2009 at 07:51 PM (#3365473)

It was the 'pretty good stuff' that surprised me. People kept on saying that Minor's upside is of a 4th starter.

7. DosRafaels Posted: October 25, 2009 at 08:14 PM (#3365519)

I don't do alot of 'what might of been's' with the MLB draft, but Shapiro passing up Heyward for Beau Mills will always anger me. Every report said they considered Heyward and he wasn't a high bonus risk. I just have no idea why they made that decision other than Beau had "baseball bloodlines".

8. Brian White Posted: October 25, 2009 at 08:35 PM (#3365560)

I don't do alot of 'what might of been's' with the MLB draft, but ~~Shapiro~~ like ten different GMs passing up Heyward for ~~Beau Mills~~ various guys will always anger me.

Just pointing out that there's a lot of MLB teams that can say the same thing. It was pretty shocking when Heyward fell to the Braves.

9. bigboy1234 Posted: October 25, 2009 at 09:32 PM (#3365767)

Cody Johnson who hit a HR every 13.2 AB while in High A and at age 20 for a majority of the season doesn't make the top 20. That in a home park that kills HR and not a hitter friendly league. Hmmm...interesting. That being said he does have very serious contact issues and no defensive value, but that power is very impressive.

10. Mike A Posted: October 25, 2009 at 09:46 PM (#3365809)

Cody Johnson is a bit of a mystery. Rarely have any succeeded with his K rate, but then again very few have his raw power. I have to say I don't really understand him not making the top 20 after an .850 OPS at age 20.

It's kind of funny, but I was in a Braves chat during the 2007 draft and *everyone* there was wishing and hoping Heyward fell to the Braves. I still can't believe he did.

11. SteveF Posted: October 25, 2009 at 10:21 PM (#3365922)

12. Ignatius J. Reilly Posted: October 25, 2009 at 11:53 PM (#3366216)

CJ has age on his side. He'll be 21 for the entire season at AA next year which means he could take three years to figure out AA and and still not be too "old" for a real prospect. Plus, he's got the one tool that will keep him around organized ball for a while. Moreover, he showed improvement in his walk rate moving up the latter last year.

On a less optimistic note, I really hated the Braves draft. No necessarily because of the players selected (though I wasn't a huge fan), but because they went slot on just about every selection. I don't wanna put too much stock in just one draft, but it's pretty obvious they're in cost-cutting mode when it comes to amateur talent.

13. Tripon Posted: October 25, 2009 at 11:58 PM (#3366225)

I'm surprised that McPherson didn't jump at a chance going to Japan. If the Giants have no use for you, you're probably not fit for MLB duty.

14. RMc is the Commissioner of Baseball Posted: October 26, 2009 at 04:07 AM (#3366315)

Christian Bethancourt

I read this name as "Captain Beefheart". I'm old.

15. Russ Posted: October 26, 2009 at 06:17 AM (#3366321)

Just pointing out that there's a lot of MLB teams that can say the same thing. It was pretty shocking when Heyward fell to the Braves.

Ahhh... but only the Pirates managed to pass on Wieters, Heyward, LaPorta, and Porcello to take Daniel Moskos. Again, no fan is allowed to get overly angry about mismanaged drafts without concluding, "Well, at least we're not the Pirates..."

16. CFBF: Now With the Dan Werr Seal of Approval Posted: October 26, 2009 at 07:31 AM (#3366339)

The mighty projection capabilities of Baseball Mogul 2009 decree that Jason Heyward will reach the Hall of Fame in 2040, possessing 342 home runs, 2,275 hits, the NL MVP from 2021 when he hit .337/.413/.604 for the Braves and a career batting line of .293/.391/.504.

I deem that acceptable.

17. DCA Posted: October 26, 2009 at 07:49 AM (#3366348)

I learned my lesson with Dallas McPherson. Having a low K rate as a minor league player (at some point) is incredibly important. It's not make or break necessarily, but the inability to make frequent contact is one of the things that gets filtered out of the MLB gene pool.

And yet, McPherson has a 97 OPS+ in the majors, getting hurt whenever given a real shot at MLB playing time or he'd probably have a starting job somewhere today. Assuming his defense is still passable, quite a few teams have done worse with their 3B situation the last couple years. I see from McPherson's B-R page that he had no minor league AB in 2009 -- injuries again? The inability to take the field, not the inability to hit the ball, has been his problem.

18. Dayton Moore is a Big Fat Idiot (AG#1F) Posted: October 26, 2009 at 12:05 PM (#3366584)

19. Boomer Posted: October 26, 2009 at 03:30 PM (#3366818)

20. Barnaby Jones Posted: October 26, 2009 at 03:49 PM (#3366834)

I see from McPherson's B-R page that he had no minor league AB in 2009 -- injuries again?

Yep. Giants signed him to a minor league deal and he never got into a single game. I think it was his back again.

21. Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Griffin (Vlad) Posted: October 26, 2009 at 03:53 PM (#3366840)

"I read this name as "Captain Beefheart". I'm old."

Not too old for "Safe as Milk", I hope.

22. Teheran's Uranium Enriched Missiles Posted: October 27, 2009 at 04:40 PM (#3367889)

Heh , kind of surprised Sam H didn't vent on the missing name of his favorite South African.

Cody Johnson has the supposed "attitude" issues too. Platoon player seems to be his upside now.
Despite Heyward, this was one of the worst years for the farm system. No team but Danville hit, and they had bunch of older players relative to league.

A name left out but I find intriguing is Cory Rasmus. Hopefully he can stay healthy

23. davoarid in MN Posted: October 27, 2009 at 04:53 PM (#3367898)

Jason Heyward will reach the Hall of Fame in 2040, possessing 342 home runs, 2,275 hits (...) and a career batting line of .293/.391/.504.

So they're saying he's gonna become a Gold Glove-caliber middle-infielder soon?

24. csc236 Posted: November 02, 2009 at 11:07 PM (#3375671)

For the sake of comparison, here is Baseball America's top ten list. (The list without scouting reports is free and open to all.)

1. Jason Heyward, of
2. Freddie Freeman, 1b
3. Julio Teheran, rhp
4. Mike Minor, lhp
5. Craig Kimbrel, rhp
6. Christian Bethancourt, c
7. Randall Delgado, rhp
8. Zeke Spruill, rhp
9. Cody Johnson, of
10. Adam Milligan, of

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Sickels: Atlanta Braves Top 20 Prospects for 2010

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