Ex-Braves Elite Prospect Named Top 5 Biggest Bust of Last 10 Years

The Atlanta Braves have been excellent in talent development over recent years. It's why they won the 2021 World Series and currently own a seven-year playoff streak.

But one elite Braves prospect never panned out, and he landed on Bleacher Report's Joel Reuter's list of Top 25 biggest MLB busts of the last 10 years.

On Thursday, Reuter named former Braves outfielder Cristian Pache the No. 5 biggest bust of the past decade.

"Cristian Pache was supposed to be baseball's next great defensive center fielder, with enough offensive game to be a franchise cornerstone for the Atlanta Braves for the next decade," wrote Reuter.

"His stock reached its peak following the 2019 season when he hit .277/.340/.462 with 36 doubles, 12 home runs and 61 RBI in 130 games between Double-A and Triple-A, and he ended up on the Braves playoff roster in 2020.

"Expected to take the starting center field job and run with it in 2021, he instead went 4-for-30 with 13 strikeouts through his first 11 games before being sent back to Triple-A where he would spend the majority of the season."

Pache never played for the Braves again after the 2021 season. That offseason, the Braves shipped the center fielder to the then Oakland Athletics as part of a trade to land first baseman Matt Olson.

Over the past three seasons, Pache has played for the Athletics, Philadelphia Phillies, Baltimore Orioles and Miami Marlins. From 2022-24, he slashed .190/.255/.284 with 30 extra-base hits in 538 plate appearances over 227 games.

For anyone who's a fan of WAR, Pache posted a negative number in the statistical category during those 227 contests.

This season, Pache hasn't appeared in the MLB. He's hitting .242 with a .608 OPS in 18 games with Triple-A Reno, which is an affiliate of the Arizona Diamondbacks.

At his peak, Pache was the No. 7 overall prospect in the entire MLB. There's at least a chance, though, that he never gets another MLB opportunity in his career.

"All told, Pache is a .181/.243/.275 hitter over 610 plate appearances in the majors, good for a 46 OPS+ and minus-1.3 WAR in 251 games," wrote Reuter.

That's a sharp reminder that nothing is ever guaranteed in baseball.