The Braves are reigning World Series champions largely thanks to their farm system that developed stars such as Austin Riley, Ozzie Albies, Max Fried, Ronald Acuna and Ian Anderson, among many others. While the Braves wouldn’t have engineered their unforeseen October run without a historically great trade deadline, the core of the roster – one that’s secured four consecutive division titles – was homegrown.
After the Braves began tearing down their roster in 2014, their once-depleted farm system soon became the envy of baseball. Trading veterans for youth, as they did in acquiring players such as Fried and shortstop Dansby Swanson, along with hitting on multiple draft picks, from No. 3 pick Anderson to Riley in the second round, produced the framework of a champion. Baseball America ranked the system No. 1 in 2017 and in 2018.
Years later, it’s no surprise the farm system isn’t what it once was. Those premier prospects have graduated and are enjoying successful major-league careers. Some prospects were traded away for win-now assistance, trimming the depth further. The organization finally is past its limitations in the international market, a penalty for infractions committed by the previous regime, but it’s paying for the missed opportunities.
President of baseball operations Alex Anthopoulos resisted trading massive prospect packages through most of his tenure. Turns out, he didn’t need to: He paid small prices for the rental help in July that pushed the Braves over the top (acquiring outfielders Joc Pederson, Jorge Soler and Eddie Rosario). The Braves won the World Series without trading any of their best prospects from the past several seasons.
Anthopoulos finally caved this spring. As negotiations with first baseman Freddie Freeman reached an impasse, Anthopoulos turned to A’s slugger Matt Olson. He traded catcher Shea Langeliers, outfielder Cristian Pache, and right-handers Ryan Cusick and Joey Estes to Oakland for Olson. The All-Star promptly signed an eight-year extension.
The move was necessary to help keep the Braves among baseball’s top contenders. It was the price of doing business for a 28-year-old foundational player, but it further depleted a weakening minor-league system. Baseball America had the team’s system ranked No. 22 before losing three top-10 prospects in the Olson deal. It ranked in the preseason top six over the previous five years.
Pache, at worst, should be a stellar defender for a long time. His offense will determine his ceiling. Cusick throws in the triple-digits and has received rave reviews. Langeliers might’ve been the hardest to lose given he’s an exceptional defender and seems destined for a lengthy major-league career. Langeliers (2019) and Cusick (2021) were two of the Braves’ four latest first-round picks.
“Alex has said it, it’s really hard to trade young players,” said Ben Sestanovich, Braves assistant general manager of player development. “So that’s going to affect the state of the system. But I think we still feel really good about the players we have. We’re excited about a lot of the guys taking big steps forward this year. We’ve already seen one guy come up and make a big league start (Bryce Elder) seven games into the season.
“I think having players in the system that we think highly of is obviously always going to be really important.”
The Braves should be competitive for the foreseeable future. Their system, however, is in rebuild mode.
“I think a lot would have to go really well for the Braves system to get back on track quickly,” said Carlos Collazo, a writer and analyst for Baseball America. “They feel like a team that will continue to graduate players from their top 10, and they’re also positioned to keep trading away talent to continue filling holes in a team that’s ready to compete now. They should be drafting in the bottom third for the next few seasons, and it would take massive steps forward from current prospects or multiple savvy draft choices and international signings to move the needle in the opposite direction quickly. The lower levels of this system could use some reinforcements.”
All isn’t bleak, though. Michael Harris is a potential blue-chip prospect, one the Braves envision patrolling their outfield with Acuna for years to come. Harris, who’s hitting .353 to begin the season in Double-A, could make his major-league debut as early as this year. He should certainly factor into their 2023 plans.
While he’s their only top-100 prospect, Harris isn’t the only reason for optimism. The 2020 four-man draft class greatly helped. The hard-throwing Spencer Strider, a fourth-round pick, already is impressing in the majors after jumping four levels last year. Texas product Elder, a fifth-round pick, debuted earlier this week. Lefty Jared Shuster, a first-round pick, and outfielder Jesse Franklin, a third-round pick, could become major leaguers soon enough.
“All four of those players rank among the top 12 players in the system, and at the time of the draft I was really impressed with the Braves getting Elder with the 156th pick,” Collazo said. “At BA, we viewed him as a top-three-round talent, and he’s been exactly the sort of pitcher we expected. Strider was the massive win for the scouting department in my mind. He was a talented prospect out of high school but was not ranked on our BA (top) 500 out of college after dealing with some injuries. Credit the Braves for identifying someone whose stuff was back quickly and who also had great baseball acumen.
“Going from Low-A to the majors in one year a season after being drafted is a massive player development and scouting win for the team all around, and he’s looked electric early this year with the big-league team. The Braves have a reputation for identifying and developing pitching for a reason. This is a big year for Shuster, and I am intrigued with Franklin’s power potential as well.”
Infielder Braden Shewmake, the No. 21 overall pick in 2019, has had offensive struggles but could at least become a major-league utilityman. Switch-hitting outfielder Drew Waters, once a top-100 prospect, has seen his value dip tremendously. He’s coming off an underwhelming season in Triple-A, and continues to have issues making consistent contact.
Shortstop Vaughn Grissom has generated some buzz. He impressed at the alternate training site in 2020, then assembled a strong 2021 campaign in which he hit .319/.418/.464 with 17 doubles and seven homers across 87 games in Low-A Augusta and High-A Rome. He began this season in Rome.
“Grissom has great contact ability, plate discipline and solid top-end exit velocities,” Collazo said. “His next step as a hitter is going to be elevating the ball with more consistency and showing more power in game. Some scouts have wondered whether or not he has the swing to hit for power consistently, so proving that he can make an adjustment in that category will be key for his development and upside potential.”
Collazo mentioned two other players who might be under the radar. Hard-throwing righty William Woods, who’s at Double-A Mississippi, and outfielder Brandol Mezquita, who’s in Augusta.
“Woods hasn’t pitched much in the last few years due to injury, but he has made a big jump in stuff since he was drafted out of (junior college) in 2018,” Collazo said. “Mezquita is one of the more interesting lower-level bats in the system, and if he can make more contact, his power and speed tools are pretty electric.”
This will be an important summer in the Braves’ system. How the next wave grows – and if there are others who pop onto the radar – will determine whether the system tumbles further down the rankings or stabilizes before slowly moving upward again.
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