The Atlanta Braves have added three players to the 40-man roster – pitchers Lucas Sims and Max Fried and shortstop Johan Camargo.
The roster moves protect those three players from being selected by another team during the upcoming Rule 5 Draft.
Sims, Atlanta’s first round pick back in 2012, has had an up-and-down professional career but still possesses enough potential that the Braves want to keep him in the fold. He has appeared on multiple top 100 prospect lists, topping out at number 40 for Baseball Prospectus before 2014. However, his performance has taken a turn for the worst in the years since. In 10 starts at Triple-A Gwinnett this season he posted an ugly 7.56 ERA. Still, given his draft status and age (still just 22), some team would’ve likely taken a flier on him.
Fried, another first round pick in 2012 (number seven overall), was acquired from the San Diego Padres in the Justin Upton trade. Like Sims, he appeared on top prospect lists back in 2014. Unfortunately, his promising career was derailed by Tommy John surgery. After missing the entire 2015 season, he made his post-trade debut this season. While he wasn’t lights out for High-A Rome, he did post strong strikeout rates and still projects to be an above-average big leaguer.
Camargo, an international signee out of Panama, does not have the same top prospect background as either of the pitchers. What he does have is an impressive glove at a premium position. In addition to being a plus defender at short, he has steadily improved with the bat. He is a switch hitter without a ton of power or speed. Still, in 2016 he posted his highest slugging percentage since coming stateside.
Though certainly less fruitful than the Rule 4 draft (often just called the MLB Draft), the Rule 5 draft has managed to produce a number of excellent major league players.
The rules governing it have changed a bit (making it more difficult to identify high-end talent), but quality big leaguers can still be found. Odubel Herrera (2014), Hector Rondon (2012), Everth Cabrera (2008), Darren O’Day (2008), Evan Meek (2007), and R.A. Dickey (2007) are some of the bigger names from recent years.
Going further back produces an even more impressive lineup including Josh Hamilton, Joakim Soria, Dan Uggla, Shane Victorino, Jose Bautista, Jason Grilli, and Johan Santana.
While it’s unlikely that this year’s Rule 5 will produce anyone of that caliber, it’s certainly possible. The Braves want to make sure that neither Sims nor Fried nor Camargo is the next Rule 5 success story for another franchise.
Scott Ferris covers the Braves as a Staff Writer for Outside Pitch MLB. You can follow him on Twitter @ScottHFerris
The post Atlanta Braves add three players to 40-man roster before Rule 5 draft appeared first on OutsidePitchMLB.