Major League Baseball has announced its competitive balance picks for the upcoming draft this summer. Apart from the lottery picks, most of the first round is set as well. 

As a reward for Drake Baldwin winning the National League Rookie of the Year Award, the Atlanta Braves have been rewarded with the 26th overall pick in the MLB Draft. This gives them two first-round picks this year. 

The Braves are also part of the draft lottery to decide the top six picks in the draft. They have the sixth-best odds (4.54%) to land the first-overall pick. 

We’ll know the exact picks shortly. The draft lottery will take place on Dec. 9, so just one week away. 

The team is set for their best draft stock in some time. Their last top-10 pick came back in 2019, when they drafted catcher Shea Langeliers with the ninth-overall pick. Since then, the highest pick they have had was the 20th overall pick in 2022. The irony of that being one of their higher picks is that it came in a season they won the World Series. In this most recent draft, they had the 22nd-overall pick. 

What helps their draft position is that multiple teams with worse records, who, in theory, should be ahead of them, are ineligible for the lottery. It comes down to various competitive balance reasons. For example, the Rockies were nearly one of the worst teams ever, and they’re ineligible for the top pick in the draft. 

After the first round, all picks are strictly in reverse order of winning percentage. So, the Braves are locked into having the ninth pick of each round from the second to the 20th. 

The Braves finished with a 76-86 record, their worst since the 2017 regular season. It was also the first time since that year that they missed the postseason. 

They are considered to have one of the thinnest farm systems in baseball. While they have shown they can still develop talent with what they have, the extra options will help their future. That development paid off because they’ll have more draft stock to build off of that success. 

Key stars will ultimately show their age if given enough time, and eventually, they’ll have to give way to the next generation. A nice part about the Braves’ position is that they have a chance to win now and still be ready for the next chapter. 

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