The Braves are the most terrifying team for the future

(AP Photo/Charles Krupa)

The Braves are the most terrifying team for the future, and it's because of homegrown players

Jackson Scudder

I was sitting around, scrolling through Twitter one slow night, and I saw that Braves top prospect Vaughn Grissom had hit a home run in his first game. That got me thinking about how it seems like at least once every year that the Braves call someone up and they end up being a really good player. I did some research to see if what I thought was true and the results are fascinating, to say the very least.

The numbers:

In order to simplify the value of any given player into one number so we can compare, we are going to be using bWAR. It is not a perfect stat to say the least, but it easily assesses the value of a player. We are going to start in 2022 and go back to 2016 and see how much value the Braves have called up per year. We will be looking at career bWAR.

Evaluation

This is downright unfair. From 2016 to 2022, the Braves have called up a combined 105.9 WAR. This number will only continue to rise as all of those players I listed are still on the Braves. To understand how much WAR that is, that total of 105.9 would rank 29th all time, just behind some decent names like Greg Maddux, Mike Schmidt, and Mickey Mantle. It ranks ahead of some decent names like Randy Johnson, Joe Morgan, Albert Pujols, and Cal Ripken Jr. Though this can be taken subjectively, the Braves have basically called up the equivalent of a slam dunk HOF in the span of 7 years. bWAR would support this idea as well. To reiterate, that WAR number will only continue to rise, and I would not be shocked if it reached 200 at some point in the near future. Additionally, from 2016 to 2020, the Braves called up at least one player who would later be an all-star. This streak could very well continue as Strider and Harris both seem to be on an all-star trajectory for their careers, along with potentially Grissom.

The Future

Let's go back to the name of the piece, “The Braves are the most terrifying team for the future, and it is all because of homegrown players.” The reason I made this claim is due to the fact that the Braves are getting these good players every year and locking them up for a long term for extremely cheap.

Max Fried through 2024

Kyle Wright through 2026

William Contreras through 2027

Spencer Strider through 2027

Ozzie Albies through 2027

Vaughn Grissom through 2028

Ronald Acuna through 2028

Michael Harris through 2030

Matt Olson through 2030

Austin Riley through 2032

Conclusion

Outside of Matt Olsen, this entire group came up as Braves and are homegrown players. Even Matt Olsen was acquired in a trade in which the Braves traded away homegrown players. The Braves have been able to do this by not just drafting/signing well, but they have been able to develop these guys. Some fans think that MLB prospects are drafted as finished products, and if they are bad in the minors or majors, they are just bad. I believe that getting the talent into the organization is only half the battle, and organizations have to be able to develop and mold that talent into something great. The Braves have unlocked the key to doing this, and that should be scary for other teams. If the Braves continue to produce even one decent big leaguer per year, then it will be scary to see what they can do over the next 4-8 years with the core they already have.

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