Atlanta Braves Looking Forward to Draft Day 2015
While today is April 8th – and an enormously significant date in the history of the Atlanta Braves (video) – we are now at exactly two months ahead of MLB Draft Day 2015, a date that could be another marker of note as this franchise turns itself around.
In a sport that does not permit the trade of draft picks, the Braves have nonetheless managed to amass six of them within the first 100 choices for 2015:
- #14 – the Braves “regular” 1st round pick – earned from 2014’s swoon
- #28 – compensation for the loss of Ervin Santana
- #41 – Acquired from San Diego for Craig Kimbrel. It was their Competitive Balance Pick for Round A (held at the end of Round 1). CBP’s are tradeable.
- #54 – the Braves’ own pick for Round 2
- #75 – Acquired from Arizona as part of the Trevor Cahill deal. It was their CBP for Round B (held at the end of Round 2). Atlanta was actually somewhat unlucky here, as the DBacks got the worst draw from all of the CB picks.
- #89 – The Braves’ own pick for Round 3.
While you certainly can find gold under just about rock (Evan Gattis in Round 23, Kris Medlen in Round 10, Tommy Hanson in Round 22), it is clear that the first couple of round do feature the best chances to land future major league players.
Witness this list:
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- Max Fried – Round 1, pick 7
- Nick Markakis – Round 1, pick 7
- Mike Minor – Round 1, pick 7
- Cameron Maybin – Round 1, pick 10
- Michael Foltynewicz – Round 1, pick 19
- Shelby Miller – Round 1, pick 19
- Lucas Sims – Round 1, pick 21
- Braxton Davidson – Round 1, pick 32
- Kelly Johnson – Round 1 (supp), pick 38
- Tyrell Jenkins – Round 1 (supp), pick 50
- Jace Peterson – Round 1 (supp), pick 58
- Joe Benson – Round 2, pick 64
- Andrelton Simmons – Round 2, pick 70
- Freddie Freeman – Round 2, pick 78
- Alex Wood – Round 2, pick 85
Aside from internationally-signed players (not subject to a draft… yet), most of the players on major league fields were obtained in the top rounds of the MLB Draft.
Who Could the Braves Get?
It’s still way too early to speculate on specific names for 2015, but part of the excitement is built around the fact that the entire Atlanta scouting department has been reconstructed over the past few months. In addition to their own work, many have been working with other teams, and thus have a bit of insight into players from across the country that might be of interest. All of that plus a pile of picks should be a good combination – particularly for the first 3 of these picks.
In the meantime, here is a list obtained from BaseballAmerica.com of players from the past several years that have actually been drafted at some of the pick selection positions that the Braves have this year.
Some of these names represent players that never “made it” – for sure. Other names will jump off the page, though, and suggest the caliber of players that we can expect:
PICK #14
2014 – Tyler Beede, RHP/Vanderbilt (Giants)
2013 – Reese McGuire, C/HS (Pirates)
2012 – Nick Travieso, RHP/HS (Reds)
2011 – Jose Fernandez, RHP/HS (Marlins)
2010 – Dylan Covey, RHP/HS (did not sign/MIL)
2009 – Matt Purke, LHP/HS (did not sign/TEX)
2008 – Aaron Hicks, OF/HS (Twins)
2007 – Jason Heyward, OF/HS (Braves)
2006 – Travis Snider, OF/HS (Blue Jays)
2005 – Trevor Crowe, OF/Arizona (Indians)
2004 – Billy Butler, 3B/HS (Royals)
PICK #28
2014 – Foster Griffin, LHP/HS (Royals)
2013 – Rob Kaminsky, LHP/HS (Cards)
2012 – Victor Roache, OF/HS (Brewers)
2011 – Sean Gilmartin, LHP/Fla. State (Braves)
2010 – Zach Lee, RHP/HS (Dodgers)
2009 – Reymond Fuentes, OF/HS (Red Sox)
2008 – Gerrit Cole, RHP/HS (did not sign/NYY)
2007 – Ben Revere, OF/HS (Twins)
2006 – Daniel Bard, RHP/N.Carolina (Red Sox)
2005 – Colby Rasmus, OF/HS (Cardinals)
2004 – Blake DeWitt, SS/HS (Dodgers)
PICK #41
2014 – Jake Gatewood, SS/HS (Brewers)
2013 – Rob Zastryzny, LHP/Missouri (Cubs)
2012 – Lance McCullers, RHP/HS (Astros)
2011 – Tyler Goeddel, 3B/HS (Rays)
2010 – Asher Wojciechowski, RHP/Citadel (Blue Jays)
2009 – Chris Owings, SS/HS (DBacks)
2008 – Ryan Flaherty, SS/Vanderbilt (Cubs)
2007 – Sean Doolittle, 1B/LHP/Virginia (A’s)
2006 – Joba Chamberlain, RHP/Nebraska
2005 – Beau Jones, LHP/HS (Braves)
2004 – Jeff Marquez, RHP/Sacramento JuCo
Pick #75
2005 – Yunel Escobar (Braves)
2004 – Wade Davis (Devil Rays)
2000 – Grady Sizemore (Expos)
I do not envy the life of a professional scout, but this year is probably going to be both very busy and rewarding for those in the employ of the Braves.