Atlanta Braves rookie Drake Baldwin has been impressing everyone this season. He was putting up some great numbers in the minors last season, but no one could have predicted he’d be performing this well at the big league level.
Baldwin looks like a seasoned veteran out on the field and has received praise from everyone. The first bit of praise started when Chris Sale complimented him during spring training. Since then, he has continued to improve in every game and show why the Braves were so high on him.
He is currently the favorite to win National League Rookie of the Year, and for good reason. Baldwin is putting up impressive numbers, and as long as everything stays the same, he will win it with ease. That shouldn’t be too hard, as he’s having an incredible home stand. He has batted .391 with two home runs and 10 RBI. He’s certainly on the right track to winning ROY.
While the Braves want him to win the award because he is truly one of the best rookies in baseball, there’s another reason they’ll be rooting for him. MLB implemented something new when the new CBA was agreed on in 2022.
Drake Baldwin winning Rookie of the Year could give Braves a franchise-altering draft class
The Prospect Promotion Incentive (PPI) was introduced to encourage teams to “promote their best young players to the big leagues as early as possible.” This makes things interesting every spring and allows teams a chance to improve their chances in the draft each year.
This means if Baldwin wins ROY, the Braves would receive the 28th pick in the draft as long as he earns one year of service time and factors into a major award. So, Atlanta’s catching phenom needs to win either ROY or place in the top three in MVP or Cy Young voting before qualifying for arbitration.
This would be huge for the Braves since their season is trending toward a top pick in the 2026 draft. Getting two first-round picks would be massive for the organization and would give Atlanta a massive draft bonus pool to reload their minor league system. The Braves desperately need to add some top prospect talent to the minors after depleting it over the last few seasons.
