This is part-2 of the prospect Q&A with Bill Shanks. To view part-1, go here.

Q:  Can Cory Rasmus come back and be a valuable major league prospect? How about Erik Cordier?

A:  Rasmus has not regained his pre-surgery velocity, but he certainly pitched well in Danville in his return. I hope he can get 125 innings or so this season to see what we have in Rasmus. I really liked him before he got hurt, so he's just got to show us what he can do in a full season. Cordier will go to Double-A, and we'll see how good a prospect he's going to be for the Braves. That's where pitchers get separated a bit, so I'm anxious to see Erik in Mississippi. We will know more about both after this season.

Q:  Which reliever has the highest upside and why, Michael Dunn, David Hale, or Cory Gearrin?

A:  Well, I think the Braves will put Hale in the Rome rotation. They want to see how his stuff plays out as a starter, much like they did with Blaine Boyer a few years ago. Hale's future may be in the pen, but they'll decide in March if he is to start or relieve in Rome this season. I love what I have read about Dunn. He has his control issues too, but to have a lefty reliever with that type of arm is pretty good. I would say Dunn right now, with Hale in the running after we see him over the course of a full season. I like to see guys at the full season level before having complete projections. Gearrin is a nice prospect, sort of a Brad Clontz-type, with ordinary stuff but he can be hard to hit with his delivery being so unusual. He could get lost in the shuffle behind Dunn, Hyde, and Kimbrel, but Cory has potential and could get to the big leagues.

Q:  Despite a safe above-slot pick of Mike Minor, how would you rank the Braves 2009 draft when compared against Braves' drafts of previous years? Did they focus too much on college and JuCo players while abandoning their usual draft sytle of selecting a lot of high school talent?

A:  Selecting a good number of JUCO players has been the strategy since the Draft and Follow system went out a few years ago. The Braves have liked JUCO Players, and they've had success. Last year's draft was a little unusual, compared to other years, but that's mainly because the Braves stayed at slot for so many picks. I believe Minor was the only one they went over slot, and that was only because they got him at the slot that had been originally set, only to be lowered later by MLB. But we'll see if the new scouting director is given a little more flexibility. I like Minor, and I like the results the Braves got from the college kids. We'll see this year if they are just good college players getting by in the lower levels, or if they are legit prospects.

Q:  How will the new Braves Director of Scouting, Tony DeMacio, affect the team's draft philosophy and style in the coming years?

A:  Tony is a disciple of Paul Snyder, the grandfather of the Braves' organization. Tony loves high school players, and he's always been a pitching guy. I think it will change a bit, maybe going back to a few more high school guys. But the strategy of what the team is looking for is going to be much of the same - high ceiling guys with good makeup. He's brought in some older scouts to be out in the field, so that'll be a bit of a change. Roy Clark had brought in some younger guys in the last few years. It's a shame Tom Battista was let go, as he was a star in the making and will do well in Boston. Clark had a historic run as the scouting director, but in selecting DeMacio they've kept it in the family.

Q:  What is the biggest strength of the Braves minor league system? The biggest weakness?

A:  I don't know if there are many organizations in the game that have as many high ceiling guys as the Braves have right now. Heyward, Freeman, Bethancourt, Minor, Teheran, Delgado, and Vizcaino is quite a group of seven players. That's just strong. But they also have a lot of fringe guys who would be rated much higher if they were in another organization. It'll be interesting to take this depth chart going into 2010 and see in ten years how many big leaguers came out of the system. Overall, the pitching is outstanding. The depth is just phenomenal. They don't have to rush those kids, with the rotation packed for the next two years in Atlanta. And there are a lot of young starters you could see starting in the big leagues one day. And having Kimbrel, Hyde, and Dunn is pretty good. The organization has got to get more position players, and that will be the focus in the draft this June. They just need more middle infielders, and of course, they have got to find a future third baseman at some point. So while they have a few special position players, they just need more.

Many thanks to Bill Shanks for agreeing to this Q&A. I thoroughly enjoyed his answers and insight into the Braves minor league system.