MLB draft changes could hurt Braves

Reports have Major League Baseball cutting the amateur draft from 40 rounds to five rounds, and the implications for the Braves could be incredibly negative.

The draft will be held June 10 and 11 and will be unlike any other in history. In a cost-cutting move, only 160 players will be drafted in the first five rounds. Last year, there were 1217 players selected in the draft.

Drafted players are going to get only 10% of their signing bonuses up front, with the rest deferred. By not having rounds six through 10, MLB teams will be saving around $1 million.

So, what does this mean for the Braves? Well, their farm system is likely to have numerous graduations in the next two seasons. Position players Cristian Pache, Drew Waters and Shea Langeliers will likely be up by 2022, while pitchers Ian Anderson and Kyle Wright should contribute this season at the earliest.

There are other solid prospects, but once the top tier graduates there is a drop off in the quality of the talent. Plus, with the international sanctions still being felt from the scandal in 2017, the farm system could drop dramatically with only five drafted players coming into the system this summer.

The quantity of international prospects has obviously been impacted, so on top of that you have a huge decrease in the number of drafted players coming into the system this year and you have the formula that will make it difficult for the Braves to maintain a strong farm system.

It will be interesting to see if the Braves sign additional prospects past the five rounds, which teams are able to do at a cap of $20,000 per player. They may draw on college players from the south who are not going to return for another collegiate season that are ready to begin their professional careers.

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