Here are some links from around the web about the Atlanta Braves draft picks. At the bottom are some early reactions from prospect folks about the Braves draft.
Talking Chop's review of the Braves first round pick, Mike Minor
Talking Chop's review of the Braves second round pick, David Hale
Talking Chop's recap of the Braves 2009 draft: Day 2, Part 1
Talking Chop's recap of the Braves 2009 draft: Day 2, Part 2
Draft Reactions Around the Blogosphere
Beyond the Box Score does a fantastic job of collecting links on reviews of the draft for every team, and then some.
Local story about our fourth-round pick Mycal Jones
I love local stories about draftees. It's a good omen to be named Jones and get drafted by the Braves.
Another local story about of fifth-round pick Thomas Berryhill
Apparently this relief prospect got his fastball up to 99mph this spring.
The AJC recaps the draft
Some interesting info, and a short story.
Mark Bowman runs down every pick on day 2
A nice synopsis of each pick, and a good complement to my synopsis of each pick (linked above).
No Minor Selection
Baseball America's Bill Ballew reviews the Braves first and second round selections.
Keith Law does not like the way the Braves draft has gone:
I'd love to know what happened in Atlanta to change its scouting philosophy; this is a team that would typically shy away from college players in general and college pitchers in particular, and the Braves went as college-heavy as any team, including taking a low-ceiling college arm in Mike Minor with the seventh overall pick in the draft. They took Princeton's David Hale at 87; Hale has a good arm but mediocre command and wasn't that successful in getting Ivy League hitters out, which is a big red flag for someone who can sit at 92-94 mph. Their third pick was Mycal Jones, a short (listed at a generous 5-10) and slight (165 pounds) shortstop from Miami-Dade JC who can run but plays out of control at the plate and in the field. They didn't take a high school player until the 10th round; last year, they started out with three prep arms and took only one player from a four-year college in the top 10 rounds. Money could be part of the explanation, but not all of it.
Kevin Goldstein of Baseball Prospectus had this to say about our first round pick, Mike Minor:
KG Says: "The Braves take Minor. It's indefensible. You don't want to take a high school kid, that's cool. You think he's better than Alex White, who I'm not even that high on, and you're nuts. Number Seven picks who profile as Number Four starters make no sense."
Quotable: "(Minor's) stuff, as you may have heard before: good command of a low-90s fastball, a PLUS change, and a solid developing curve. The progression of the latter pitch is why scouts really liked him near the end of the season... The negatives on Minor is that he offers very little upside, what you see is what you get. (Vanderbilt Head Coach Tim) Corbin says Minor's camp thinks he's going to add some velocity, but it's a longshot. Instead, his focus has to be to keep the fastball down in the zone better, and to keep going with the curve. I think wood bats are really going to help him, because a player is much more confident throwing a change against wood."-Bryan Smith
A lot of people are saying "trust the Braves front office scouting and player development folks," and that this draft wasn't really as bad as it seemed. I think I can sum it up by saying that we didn't get anyone who blows your socks off in this draft. We got a lot of guys who will probably make the major leagues, but not a lot of guys who will have a real impact in the major leagues.
Combined Day 3 draft thread and afternoon Braves game open thread will be posted in an hour.
0 recs | 18 comments
I’m 100% with KLaw here. A curious paradigm shift in our draft to be sure…and one that I don’t think was very warranted. Are high school players really that much cheaper than college players? I realize the whole ‘I can go to college’ leverage, but does all of that really translate into dollars?
soup du jour - June 11, 2009
Yes. Especially if you (and they) know you have lower hard caps on your maximums than you normally do.
MichaelProcton - June 11, 2009
Kevin Barry! My man.
cbwilk - June 11, 2009
So HE’s to blame……..
10-4 - June 11, 2009
If we drafted anybody out of New Jersey, then yeah.
cbwilk - June 11, 2009
So HE’s to blame……..
10-4 - June 11, 2009
Something interesting here…
It was reported that other teams drafting right behind us were looking at taking Minor. Is it possible that the teams and scouts (who have MUCH more at stake when scouting a player than say, a baseball writer) see something in him that the talking heads do not?
My Jaguars did something similar this year in their draft when they drafted a kid from William & Mary in the 5th round. ESPN’s talking head, Mel Kiper, ripped them for it, yet now this “overdrafted player” has a legit shot at not only making the team, but being a starter in one of the defensive packages!
Team scouts take much longer and much harder looks at players than writers do. They spend days and weeks looking at just a handful of players while the talking heads look at ALL the players briefly to give their “expert” opinions on them. There is no way that somebody like Keith Law is able to put together an accurate scouting report on players when he is looking at so many.
Call me naive and a “blind follower” here, but I trust the FO much more than I do the talking heads.
justincredubil02 - June 11, 2009
I trust Law, Goldstein, Callis, etc. not only because they are scouts, but because they talk to a lot of scouts. They get the industry consensus on a guy and report it. I would agree with what you’re saying if we’re talking about a more obscure guy, but Minor’s been scouted all three years of college, on the USA National team last summer, and probably in high school. The scouts have seen him for three plus years, they’ve seen him make a lot of starts, etc. Their consensus was he’s a #4 starter, #3 if he pulls it all together. That’s what Law, Goldstein, etc. reported. Maybe the Braves see something in his mechanics that will let him add a tick or two or something in the breaking pitches that will let him tighten it up and turn it into a 55 or 60 pitch. I don’t buy that line of argument for a first rounder with literally tons of exposure.
I’ll note I’m more than happy to agree with your argument where it relates to a kid like Jones who might be a swing adjustment away from being a decent second baseman. Same with that 5th round kid who played D-1AA. The chances of Minor taking that big step forward is pretty low.
I’ll also note that Minor is such a safe pick that the value derived from him will probably pay for this draft if no one else ever sniffs the major leagues. That’s good security for a scouting director, but something more expected of a guy running his first draft for a new organization, not Roy Clark, scouting/drafting guru.
17843 - June 11, 2009
I get that about Minor being highly scouted, etc. I am still confused on what other teams see in him too. Like I previously said, at least 3 other teams were seriously looking at taking him with their top-15 first round picks.
It makes me wonder if something is there…
justincredubil02 - June 11, 2009
I had heard Cincinnati, which wasn’t willing to go overslot and eventually took a cheaper college starter in Mike Leake, and San Diego, which was a few weeks ago before they got the go ahead to go overslot to take Tate and that was only because they didn’t know how big their budget was. No aggregator of draft info had Minor as a top-15 selection on value (not even close) and I never read anything recently about a team being on Minor in the top-15 from a talent standpoint.
The idea that Minor was #1 on the Braves board talent-wise at #7 is completely false. That’s why I don’t like the pick.
17843 - June 11, 2009
If this is indeed true, then yes, it is a horrible pick. Teams that deviate from their draft boards are destined for failure.
justincredubil02 - June 11, 2009
Teams were looking at minor for the same reason we drafted him. He’s the cheap, ‘safe’ pick.
Lennox - June 11, 2009
This was a signability pick
What a shame? Now the only thing left for us is hoping his change up develops as Johan Santana’s or Cole Hamels’.
Alvaro Andres Pizza Varela - June 11, 2009
I was hoping for Borchering...
However, I don’t think the Minor pick is bad at all. Especially considering the demands of some of these younger guys. I’m not gonna be happy giving some 18 year old a 6 million dollar contract (reason being: I remember the shit I got into when I was 18).
bwellnjonesco - June 11, 2009
people in their 30s, 40s, etc, probably roll their eyes, but i think there’s a TREMENDOUS difference mentally and maturity-wise between a 17-18 year old and a 22 or 23 year old, even though its only a few years
Bravely going forward - June 12, 2009
And the experience of going to college and living on your own rather than being a coddled high school superstar living with mommy and daddy is significant.
MichaelProcton - June 12, 2009
I was hoping for alcohol
I thought the title said “Braves Thursday morning drinks”, and gondee had started the Baltimore TC Debauchery Weekend early.
Lizziebeth - June 11, 2009
I’m with Goldstein…
Drafting Minor is pretty indefensible… I’d literally be happier with any of the next 10 or so guys that went…
The Braves get at least one first round type talent every year, but this year, when we’re drafting seventh overall we pick a second round talent? It’s just ridiculous… I don’t even blame the scouting people, but the money should have been there to at least get Turner or Green.
I get not wanting to give Matzek a record-breaking deal (even though I kinda think he’d have been worth the risk)… It’ almost makes me wonder if we’d have paid to even get Wheeler— everyone says we’d take him if he was there, but then why did we go straight from him to some with pretty pedestrian stuff, and a ho-hum track record?
I’m just not crazy about major college pitchers to begin with, because they usually throw too many innings, and I kinda buy into the Braves philosophy, and what’s worked so damn well for us the last few years… And we totally went against that.
timmy3 - June 12, 2009
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