BoomBoom
10-02-2016, 04:47 PM
Since it's the last day of the season, and the Braves are currently fighting to finish anywhere from 2nd to last to 6th to last, I figured i'd look ahead to the future.
2017:
SP Teheran
SP FA/Trade
SP Folty
SP Collmenter
SP Wisler
C FA/Flowers
1B Freddie
2B Peterson (Albies called up in June)
SS Dansby
3B Garcia/Ruiz
LF Kemp
CF Ender
RF Markakis
The wildcard here is Mallex Smith. He currently doesn't have a spot, so that may entice the Braves to make a trade, but i think Markakis still has little trade value, and i think they want a legit 4th OF especially with Kemp's injury history, so i think they keep him for now. 3B is a spot they could upgrade, but with Riley and Maitan in the wings, and with both Garcia and Ruiz pre-arb for the next couple years, and with complementary splits, i think they platoon them there. Jace Peterson will slide into the utility role once Albies is called up in June.
SP is trickier. Only Teheran and Folty have guaranteed spots. They have said Wisler will have to earn the 5th spot, after a disappointing year for him. Collmenter has pitched well of late out of nowhere, and has a option for next year, so i'll pencil him in there. The other SP will likely come from a trade, though with Blair and Newcomb in the wings i don't know if that's wise. Collmenter will likely either flame out, or be traded mid-season, opening a spot for one of Blair, Newcomb, or Lucas Sims.
2018:
SP Teheran
SP Folty
SP Wisler/Blair
SP Newcomb
SP Povse
C FA
1B Freddie
2B Albies
SS Dansby
3B Garcia/Ruiz
LF Kemp
CF Mallex
RF Ender
Dustin Peterson (LF) will be ready by here, but there won't be a spot for him. AJ Minter will be drawing Kimbrel comparisons by here too. I'm predicting Lucas Sims never puts it all together to crack the Braves rotation, but he probably bounces around MLB for years. Other than those, there's shockingly little talent that will be up by even mid-2018. The metric crap-ton of talent in the system is almost all 2019-2020 ETA.
2019:
SP Teheran
SP Folty
SP Newcomb
SP Wisler
SP Blair
SP Povse
SP Allard
SP Fried
SP Toussaint
SP Anderson
SP Weigel
SP Soroka
C FA
1B Freddie
2B Albies
SS Dansby
3B Riley
LF Kemp
CF Mallex
RF Ender
This is where things start to get ridiculous. That's 12 legit SP options for 2019, with about another 5 in the wings for the year after. These are all 1st round picks that are already producing in High A or AA (except Anderson, this years #3 pick). One or two may not make it, but there's not much projection in this, for the most part they are almost there already. And this is without spending a dime in free agency. The only guys that even get a raise by 2019 are Folty, Ender, and Mallex. I think they package a couple of those SP prospects with Kemp for an upgrade in the OF, then spend the money they'll have left over to lock up guys like Dansby and Albies for years. And then there's potentially a whole wave of position talent coming in 2020, but it's too early to project that yet.
The future is bright Braves fans.
2017:
SP Teheran
SP FA/Trade
SP Folty
SP Collmenter
SP Wisler
C FA/Flowers
1B Freddie
2B Peterson (Albies called up in June)
SS Dansby
3B Garcia/Ruiz
LF Kemp
CF Ender
RF Markakis
The wildcard here is Mallex Smith. He currently doesn't have a spot, so that may entice the Braves to make a trade, but i think Markakis still has little trade value, and i think they want a legit 4th OF especially with Kemp's injury history, so i think they keep him for now. 3B is a spot they could upgrade, but with Riley and Maitan in the wings, and with both Garcia and Ruiz pre-arb for the next couple years, and with complementary splits, i think they platoon them there. Jace Peterson will slide into the utility role once Albies is called up in June.
SP is trickier. Only Teheran and Folty have guaranteed spots. They have said Wisler will have to earn the 5th spot, after a disappointing year for him. Collmenter has pitched well of late out of nowhere, and has a option for next year, so i'll pencil him in there. The other SP will likely come from a trade, though with Blair and Newcomb in the wings i don't know if that's wise. Collmenter will likely either flame out, or be traded mid-season, opening a spot for one of Blair, Newcomb, or Lucas Sims.
2018:
SP Teheran
SP Folty
SP Wisler/Blair
SP Newcomb
SP Povse
C FA
1B Freddie
2B Albies
SS Dansby
3B Garcia/Ruiz
LF Kemp
CF Mallex
RF Ender
Dustin Peterson (LF) will be ready by here, but there won't be a spot for him. AJ Minter will be drawing Kimbrel comparisons by here too. I'm predicting Lucas Sims never puts it all together to crack the Braves rotation, but he probably bounces around MLB for years. Other than those, there's shockingly little talent that will be up by even mid-2018. The metric crap-ton of talent in the system is almost all 2019-2020 ETA.
2019:
SP Teheran
SP Folty
SP Newcomb
SP Wisler
SP Blair
SP Povse
SP Allard
SP Fried
SP Toussaint
SP Anderson
SP Weigel
SP Soroka
C FA
1B Freddie
2B Albies
SS Dansby
3B Riley
LF Kemp
CF Mallex
RF Ender
This is where things start to get ridiculous. That's 12 legit SP options for 2019, with about another 5 in the wings for the year after. These are all 1st round picks that are already producing in High A or AA (except Anderson, this years #3 pick). One or two may not make it, but there's not much projection in this, for the most part they are almost there already. And this is without spending a dime in free agency. The only guys that even get a raise by 2019 are Folty, Ender, and Mallex. I think they package a couple of those SP prospects with Kemp for an upgrade in the OF, then spend the money they'll have left over to lock up guys like Dansby and Albies for years. And then there's potentially a whole wave of position talent coming in 2020, but it's too early to project that yet.
The future is bright Braves fans.