Per Mark Bowman, the Braves won their grievance battle against the MLBPA regarding their unsigned 2018 first-round draft pick, Carter Stewart.
The Braves have won the grievance filed by Carter Stewart. They will keep the ninth pick in this year's @MLBDraft
— Mark Bowman (@mlbbowman) January 10, 2019
The Braves picked Stewart 8th overall, but the two could never come to an agreement. Atlanta was comped the 9th overall pick in 2019, but Carter’s grievance made things far more complicated.
For the Braves to receive that compensatory pick, they had to offer Stewart at least 40 percent of the slot value (around $4.9 million). According to David O’Brien of the Athletic, the Braves were not going to offer him close to the full slot value after performing a physical (subscription required).
Had Stewart won the grievance, he would have been allowed to skip the draft and head into free agency, and the Braves would not have been able to keep the 9th pick. Now, Atlanta has two first-round selections (9 and 21) and can continue to stockpile high-quality talent into their farm system. Which is important because of the actions of former GM John Coppolella, the Braves don’t have the luxury of signing international free agents for quite a while.