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Atlanta Braves: throwback Thursday special… the 2007 draft

By Alan Carpenter

Atlanta Braves Freddie Freeman and former teammate Jason Heyward.
Atlanta Braves Freddie Freeman and former teammate Jason Heyward. /
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It was 10 years ago that the Braves had a significant draft that has ultimately made a big difference in the direction of the franchise today.

The 2006 baseball season wasn’t very good for the Atlanta Braves.  But it was nonetheless a milestone year:  the first time in 15 years that the club failed to win a completed season’s National League’s East title.

The streak was broken and now the club had to pick up the pieces and start again.  A 79-83 record was still good enough for the middle of the pack – 3rd place in the division and a 14th draft pick in 2007.

This was unfamiliar territory.

The last time the Braves had drafted this early was way back in 1991 when they selected outfielder Mike Kelly with the second overall pick.  The year before that, they picked up some kid out of Florida named Jones as the first overall selection.

So naturally there was paranoia.  They didn’t want to blow this.

But there was already a plan in place that had been incubating since way back in 2000.

Seems there was this kid from the Braves’ own neighborhood in Cobb County – near scouting director Roy Clark‘s own home – that they had been tipped off about since he was 11 years old.

That turned out to be important, since the older this kid got, the fewer pitches he was seeing.  He was feared by the opposition that much.

But as Clark tells the story, he just figured that the scouts of other teams got bored or simply gave up in waiting on this player to swing the bat in his high school games.

As Carroll Walton reported back in 2010, that included 43 walks in under 100 high school plate appearances.  Not very much to see there.

But the Braves persisted… and finally, the 2007 draft played out, with Atlanta sweating it out all the way until that 14th pick… especially worried that the Marlins would poach them at #12.

But it was a noteworthy draft that year:

And then the Braves – OF Jason Heyward.  They got their player.

But that wasn’t all, either.  This was a heckuva job done by the entire scouting department.

See the Mariners’ pick of Aumont at #11?  He wasn’t the only player of Canadian heritage taken that day… the Braves had other tricks up their sleeves, too:

The full draft rundown can be seen here, but there was one more notable pick to point out – the one that got away.  There was a ‘flier’ pick that Atlanta tried in the 33rd round… a short junior college pitcher named Craig Kimbrel.

But he declined to sign that year.

However, they persisted and tried again in 2008… this time making Kimbrel a 3rd round selection.  That worked.

You can read the full story about how the scouts stealthily stalked Heyward here, but that 2007 draft continues to shape the Braves today.

More from Tomahawk Take

As you know now, Heyward turned down a lucrative offer to remain with the club.  The subsequent trade brought Shelby Miller to town for a year and he later turned into Ender Inciarte, Dansby Swanson, and Aaron Blair.

Craig Kimbrel was later dealt with Melvin Upton Jr for Cameron Maybin, Carlos Quentin (instantly released), Matt Wisler, Jordan Paroubeck, and the 41st pick in the 2015 draft – which became Austin Riley… never mind the salary relief involved.

Paroubeck was included in a deal with the Dodgers later than year to grab an international signing money slot for Atlanta, which helped get players like Cristian Pache and Derian Cruz during that 2015 International Market.

Next: Sims' Excellent 1st Adventure

10 years ago.  Yes, that was a memorable draft indeed.

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