The intrigue for Braves fans as to what the Braves will do with the 3rd overall pick in the 2016 draft is quite high. There are several high-end arms that expected to be available both from the high school ranks as well as at the college level not to mention several intriguing bats as well. The Braves have indicated that while their strategy will remain to be picking the best player available, they would prefer a bat especially a college one.
This makes the news from Scout.com's Bill Shanks all the more interesting. According to Shanks, the Braves recently met with two players from the University of Florida that could be selected with the 3rd overall pick. Braves execs including Coppy and scouting director Brian Bridges met with LHP AJ Puk as well as OF Buddy Reed.
AJ Puk has long been mentioned as one of the top players available in the 2016 draft as he features a large, strong frame as well as a potential plus-plus fastball to go with a really good slider in addition to be left-handed. For what its worth, newly-hired member of the Braves' scouting department Kiley McDaniel had Puk as his best player available in the draft before he left Fangraphs.
Buddy Reed is a very intriguing outfielder from Florida due to the sheer number of tools at his disposal. Kiley had him as the 5th best player available due to his plus speed and power to go along with strong defense and arm. Most of his tools could be plus or better, although there some scouts who wonder if his bat will develop enough to play in the majors due to contact issues he has had in the past.
The Braves will likely meet with a lot of players including Jason Groome, Alec Hansen, Corey Ray, Kyle Lewis, Blake Rutherford, and many others in advance of the draft. We will continue to keep you updated on the goings-on in advance of the draft.