The Braves have experienced a lot of success in recent years because of player development but also due to some savvy trades that have shipped off many of their top prospects. Eventually, they were going to have to pay the price for those trades. According to Baseball America, they don’t have a Top 100 prospect for the first time since BA began making prospect lists back in 1990:
The Braves have had a top 100 prospect on every list BA has done (going back to 1990) until today. https://t.co/DSQRHLIpv6
— Carlos Collazo (@CarlosACollazo) January 18, 2023
1990 is a really long time ago, and it speaks to the quality of the organization that this is a first for them. However, this isn’t all doom and gloom. Michael Harris and Spencer Strider didn’t start their careers as Top 100 prospects, and they panned out just fine. Rankings are rankings, but it’s still no secret the Braves are low on prospect capital.
Atlanta prioritized younger high school arms in the 2022 draft, mainly to help refill the lower levels of the minors. At the time, before the Sean Murphy trade, they had a logjam of pitching in AAA. Now, the Braves are dipping into the international market and high school ranks to rebuild a barren farm system. Although this is a sad streak to break, they’ll be just fine if they continue to develop the way they have over the years.
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