Atlanta Braves sign #1 ranked prospect Kevin Maitan

As expected, the Atlanta Braves started off the official July 2nd signing period with a bang, signing 6 of the top 30 ranked prospects.

As well as the big game at Fort Bragg, Atlanta Braves fans have something else to be excited about this weekend. As we detailed in our primer earlier this week, Saturday was the first day of the 2016-2017 international signing period and less than 3 hours after the market opened, the Braves had already amassed quite a haul.

Headlining this years class is #1 ranked overall prospect Kevin Maitan, a 16 year old phenom from Venezuela who scouts believe is the best talent to come along internationally since Miguel Sano in 2009.

There was a little panic late last night in the Atlanta Braves community after rumors started emerging that the Nationals had made a last ditch effort to sign Maitan with an offer of over $7 million which they knew the Braves would be unable to match. Fortunately These rumors ended up being untrue and Maitan signed with the Braves with what is being reported as $4.25 million.

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Fans who were looking for the team to add some big names bat in the June draft should be extremely excited about Maitan. He is considered by most scouts to be the best talent available this year and if international players were included in the draft as well as domestic ones, likely would have been then consensus #1 overall pick.

Despite his young age, his bat is considered superior to any player that was drafted a few weeks ago so bringing him to Atlanta is a huge coup for the front office.

Maitan was not the only high level prospect the Atlanta Braves ended up signing on Saturday. According to Jesse Sanchez of MLB.com, they also greed deals with Abrahan Gutierrez, Yunior Severino, Livan Soto, Juan Contreras and Yenci Pena is expected to sign on July 13th when he turns 16. All of these players ranked in MLB’s top 30 prospects, meaning the Braves will have signed more players from this elite group of prospects than any MLB team not named the San Diego Padres who also signed 6.

The numbers being quoted suggest that the Braves have already blown past their $4.6 million budget and have signed deals worth just under $12 million. They will have to pay a 100% tax on any $ spent over their initial allotment so the real spend is already closer to $20 million.

The fact that they will also be unable to spend more than $300k on any player for the next 2 years and that the Red Sox were punished yesterday for breaking those very rules and were forced to release several of their players back into this years pool likely means that the Atlanta Braves are not done spending yet either.

Next: Atlanta Hawks: Howard heads to Atlanta, Blazemore resigns

There are still several highly ranked prospects who are yet to commit anywhere as well as multiple Cuban prospects that have yet to be approached by MLB clubs and with penalties coming the next 2 years, expect the Braves to try and bring in as much talent as they can this year to make their top ranked farm system even better.

More information on the 6 player that have already signed with the Braves can be found in our primer.