[Prodigal Son]

I'm not enamored with the draft. The Braves had the 7th overall pick in a draft that had 4-5 Tier 1 players, then a huge drop-off. Yay. It also had no compensation picks at the end of the first round and had to wait seemingly forever to pick in the second round.

First round pick was spent on Pete D'Ambrosi, a local GA Tech buy who was interested in staying in Georgia. The scouts love him more than I do. As a RHB with limited contact ability, I believe he projects into maybe the 6th slot at best against RHP, which makes him difficult to slot anywhere higher in the lineup even against starting LHP in this day of heavy bullpen use. As a defender at CF, he's good, but not spectacular. He has plus power and eye, but he's already 22 years old and needs to make big strides. He's a (very) poor man's Andruw Jones.

Second round pick was a solid one in pitcher Juan Soto, incidentally D'Ambrosi's college teammate. With only two pitches and limited stamina, he projects as a reliever, making him a reach in the second round. But he's a good fit in the system. There were more overpowering arms available, but Soto's control and movement are well-developed for his age, and as an extreme groundball pitcher, he has a higher floor as a potential GB specialist if he doesn't fully live up to his potential. I really like this pick, but there is no guarantee he agrees to sign instead of re-enter after another year of college.

Nobody else really projects to make an impact, and overall the draft was disappointing. We nabbed some "tools" players, potential 4th OF's, some decent arms that might come around later. All is not lost. Let's see if we can get them all signed.