It’s no secret the Braves have lost a lot of talent either to graduation or via trades, which isn’t a bad thing for a contending team, but they’re starting to feel the sting. Nearly every prospect outlet has the Braves at the bottom or near the bottom of their farm system rankings, and MLB Pipeline is no different.
MLB Pipeline has the Braves ranked dead last:
30. Atlanta Braves
2022 midseason rank: 27
2022 preseason rank: 27
2021 midseason rank: 23
2021 preseason rank: 15Top 100 Prospects: None
Winning and maintaining a strong system is hard! The Braves have used their system to make trades and bring help to the big leagues via the homegrown route. And even though the system is thinned out, with no Top 100 guys, the Braves always manage to find help from within every year.
That said, the system seems to have a way of producing help when needed. Even Harris made a faster and bigger impact than anticipated. Vaughn Grissom made a huge leap forward in 2022 as well, filled a big hole at second base in Atlanta and is now being counted on to fill another one long-term at shortstop.
There are some arms on this year’s list who could provide that kind of contribution when called upon, starting with No. 1 Jared Shuster. But between the Braves being aggressive in taking three high school arms at the top of last year’s Draft and much of this year’s Top 30 coming from their full return to the international market, it might not be known who the next true impact players will be for a few years.
This isn’t too surprising, but I thought they’d be a little higher than 30th. If it’s any comfort for Braves fans, the Oakland Athletics rank 28th, and Atlanta just sent them a huge chunk of their better prospects. The Royals, who acquired Drew Waters from the Braves, rank 29th. Rankings are rankings, it’s up to the Braves to continue to draft and develop well, which is going to be even more difficult after losing Dana Brown to the Astros.
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