Keith Law on Top 100 list, Atlanta Braves prospects After releasing his annual Top 100 prospect list in the morning, ESPN’s Keith Law took the time to take questions on prospects. By Matt Powers@MattPowers31 Jan 31, 2019, 10:00am EST S Later in the morning Law would go on to spend an hour talking to the media about his rankings and Talking Chop was there. As a quick reminder there were nine Braves in Law’s Top 100, and you can find them below for reference. Kyle Wright 22 Touki Toussaint 26 Ian Anderson 30 Cristian Pache 45 Bryse Wilson 51 Mike Soroka 57 Drew Waters 75 William Contreras 81 Austin Riley 87 Talking Chop: You ranked William Contreras a little higher than we had anticipated, and ahead of guys we assumed might be ranked higher such as Joey Bart and Rolando Hernandez. Is that mostly because of his all around ability? Or is it that you think he has a better chance to be an impact catcher? Keith Law: A little bit of both. He’s a better defender than Hernandez and he’s a better hitter and on base guy than Bart. Contreras’ youth helps his cause in projecting more out of him. He’s also got real potential to improve his discipline. There is star potential there. I had a large bubble of catchers for the last 20 spots and he’s the guy who was ranked highest because other teams kept bringing him up. He’s got real industry value. He’s a guy that would be hit on a ton in trade discussions. TC: Joey Wentz didn’t make your Top 100 but looking back at his season, if you take out the time he missed with injury and the time he was dealing with some command issues he actually posted some of the best numbers in the minors for a nice little stretch. Do you have any thoughts on him? KL: He’s a guy who sometimes gets lost when a lot of the other arms made it to the bigs. I’ve got him ranked high in my Braves Top Prospect list(coming soon) and he didn’t miss the Top 100 by too much. Obviously the lat injury hurt him and he may not have been 100% last year, but when he was on he looked like a potential middle of the rotation starter. Wentz is command over stuff, a guy who is deceptive in his delivery and has a very nice changeup, which is ahead of his breaking ball. He won’t throw much harder and when his command isn’t there it is tougher to see the value with him. However you do have to wonder if some of last year’s struggles were because he was pitching through the lat injury. He’s a guy who could get back into the Top 100 with good health, and it’s believed that he is at 100% now. It’s not so much that he dropped in his ranking, as much as he was passed out by others. TC: (Note: Law referenced the Tigers lack of impact international signings over a period of time prior to this question). Speaking of teams without much coming in internationally, what is your feeling on how much the Braves international penalties will hurt them in the future? KL: The inability to sign guys is going to drag them down over the next few years. It hurts to not just be unable to sign guys, but to lose that big class. It’s helped that none of the guys they have lost is particularly close to the Top 100 now and that the most hyped, Kevin Maitan, has stalled a bit. The Braves are going to need to sign guys for $50k and will need to get lucky because the penalties will really hurt in two to three years as the top prospects in the system will be graduating over the next 18 months. This could keep the system in the middle of the pack or even slightly below going forward. TC: In your writeup of Touki Toussaint, you talk about how much he has improved. Do you get the sense that this is due to Touki himself or the Braves player development staff? I am wondering mostly due to what his potential to keep improving is. KL: It’s a little bit of both. The key is Touki is an elite, top of the scale athlete. He’s a great kid from a great family and scouts loved that his mother would cook when they came to visit(when he was in high school). He’s not just a top athlete, but he’s a bright kid with a high aptitude and is an example of a kid who may not have had much high end coaching as a prep prospect. So he had some extra room to grow, but at the same time not everyone can make those adjustments so it is a credit to him both mentally and physically. At the same time it is also the player development staff. Atlanta has really helped to turn him from a thrower when he came from Arizona into a pitcher. It’s not just Touki, Bryse Wilson was an athletic kid with a rough delivery that they cleaned up and got him to the majors fast. That’s insane. His fastball really plays up if you watched him in the big leagues. Austin Riley is a kid who went from a 40 grade fielder to a 55. Drew Waters made a dramatic jump from his 2017 to his 2018. So you have to credit the player development staff. It’s not factored into the rankings but as a Braves fan it is something that should make you feel good. TC: One last question. Since I think it’s a question most will want to hear, I want to ask for some of the reasoning behind Vladdy(Vladimir Guerrero Jr) being ranked behind Fernando Tatis Jr? Do you not consider him to be a generational talent? KL: It’s mostly that Vladdy is a David Ortiz type who will be great but he’s not a third baseman and will likely be a designated hitter. With Tatis he will come up as a shortstop and stick there for a while, and even if he needs to move to third he can become an elite defender there similar to ARod and Manny Machado. Tatis could also be a generational type of talent.
Apparently the white border on the right side of the card is supposed to fade into the background of the card. If you look at the Acuna and Robbie Ray cards you can see how it's supposed to be styled.
If there's one team laying in the weeds, and 5 "possibilities," then how the fuck is there a mystery team?
I couldn't stomach seeing Craig in a Phillies or Nats uniform. If he doesn't come back here please don't let him end up at either of those.
I guess buster is thinking that our pitching is going to be so dominant that our one-man outfield and geriatric catchers won’t be that much of a factor.
Never heard that McCarver story. That was fucking great. Imagine if Brian McCann was in that locker room
Some of these pitches are fucking filthy. Bring DCarp back home (to Gwinnett with an invite to ST), AA.
Jay Jaffe: Craig Kimbrel: Braves Given that only one season of his past four (2017) has been up to the standards of sheer dominance he established from 2011-15, it’s fair to suggest Kimbrel is in decline, which makes it a difficult time to be seeking a five-year deal in the $80 million-plus, Kenley Jansen/Aroldis Chapman stratosphere. With the Red Sox already well beyond the CBT threshold, a return to Boston is probably out, and while general manager Alex Anthopoulos has downplayed the possibility of a return to Atlanta, the Braves are currently projected by Cot’s Contracts to have an Opening Day payroll about $4 million below last year’s $118.3 million. That’s a conspicuously ridiculous way for a team that’s a playoff contender in a relatively new ballpark and within a competitive division to act, particularly one whose bullpen was below-average last year and who hasn’t made a substantial addition beyond waiting for Darren O’Day — acquired as part of the Kevin Gausman trade — to heal from last year’s season-ending hamstring surgery. Add to it the fact that the Braves just got a big bargain with the return of Nick Markakis and have considerable cash coming off the books after 2019 (O’Day, Josh Donaldson, Julio Tehran) and… c’mon already. Just. Pay. The. Man.
I want Kimbrel. I want to feel safe with a lead in the 9th. Viz and Minter don't provide that at all. Makes our entire pen deeper dropping those guys into setup roles.
Moves will be made. We just aren't going to overpay in money or prospects just like nobody else really is at this point. Patience is driving the values down on everybody. The market doesn't work nearly the same as it did just a few years ago.
At the annual meeting, Chairman John C. Malone starts to say “as for our interest in the Atlanta Braves baseball team, its operating budget...” and before he can finish, I start a chant in the back of the room. “Slash. Slash. Slash. Slash. Slash. Slash. Slash.” My volume increasing each time.
Klaw Minor League System Rankings: 3. Atlanta Braves 2018 rank: 1 The pitching depth acquired under former GM John Coppolella reached the majors last year, and there's still another tier to come with the return of Patrick Weigel and slower but steady progress from their first three picks in the 2016 draft class. The system's overall depth has started to thin out with minor trades and promotions, but it should be productive for several more years, boosted this year by the compensation pick (ninth overall) the team received for failing to come to terms with its 2018 first-rounder, Carter Stewart.
Now would be a good time to go get Castellanos if we think there's really momentum for the universal-DH.
Will be great to add another spot for they future. Hopefully a guy like Alexander or Jenista won't have a spot on the field and can DH. Don't see Jenista cracking our outfield or taking 1B.
The 3 batter minimum is interesting to me. I really like it because it emphasizes inherent value in relievers as pitchers as opposed to some of the OOGY stuff that’s popped up in the last 5-6 years. You can still have specialists but it’s not a guy you are able to bring in for 4 pitches against an elite hitter. I’m assuming caveats would be end of innings being a reset button. Based on the language it also likely means a reliever must give up at worst 2 hits and can be pulled at the 3rd batter. This will help pace of play tremendously and also allow us to watch Kapler’s head explode.
https://www.cnbc.com/2019/02/07/bbt...ine-in-an-all-stock-merger-of-66-billion.html BB&T...yes, Big Butts & Titties is buying SunTrust for $66 billion. So SunTrust Park eh?
It is finally time for BWW Park. Looking forward to endless wing Wednesday's and competing in live trivia with the rest of the fans
who am i kidding of course the most perfect sports bar in the world has A+ headquarters. foolish question on my part