According to several sources, the Atlanta Braves have apparently signed 10 more draft picks from this year's MLB draft. They are as follows:
Thomas Berryhill (5), RHP
Matt Weaver (9), SS
Jordan Kreke (13), 3B
Cory Harrilchak (14), CF
Riann Spanjer-Furstenburg (16), 1B
Matt Crim (21), LHP
Lucas LaPoint (23), RHP
Derek Wiley (31), 1B
Andrew Wilson (36), RHP
Jamie Hayes (48), RHP
The Braves have signed a lot of lower picks -- it's surprising to see our 48th-pick actually get signed. Also surprising to see a high-school kid sign as a 23rd-round pick. This brings to the total number of picks reportedly signed to 17. Here is the last group that signed:
Mycal Jones (4), SS
Robby Hefflinger (7), OF
Aaron Northcraft (10), RHP
Casey Masters (11), LHP
Chris Lovett (12), SS
Jakob Dalfonso (18), 3B
Jeff Lorrick (20), LHP
Still no word on the top two draft picks... who were supposed to be easy signings.
Braves draft Icard
This is a nice story about our 25th-round draft pick, Ethan Icard.
John Sickels gave us his thoughts on the Braves haul in the draft:
Atlanta: Mike Minor in the first round isn't a typical Braves young upside draft pick, but his pitchability and experience should get him to the majors quickly as a mid-rotation starter. Third round pick David Hale out of Princeton has command issues and hasn't always performed well, but he can also hit 97 MPH and has considerable upside. Fourth round Miami Dade CC infielder Mycal Jones is toolsy and fast, though it's a bit unclear exactly how he is going to develop and there is mixed opinion about what kind of player he'll become. The Braves like to mine the junior college ranks and did so again this year, selecting three toolsy position players in the seventh, eighth, and ninth rounds (Robert Hefflinger OF, Kyle Rose OF, Matt Weaver, SS) who didn't get a lot of pre-draft hype but fit the mold Atlanta looks for. An interesting late-round sleeper is Tyrelle Harris, 19th round RHP from the University of Tennessee, who didn't pitch that well in college for a disappointing team but has enough stuff to succeed in pro ball.
We drafted a lot of unknown talent, so I think we're going to see some surprising reports come out of the early days of rookie-ball and the instructional league as MLB scouts take serious looks at these unknowns.
0 recs | 19 comments
Hayes (48th) was a college senior.
So neither side really has much to lose if he wants to give pro baseball a shot.
MichaelProcton - June 15, 2009
Haha nice find on the Icard article Gondee! I’m actually from Morganton, and didnt figure anyone knew about our local newspaper’s website.
Dont know how you did it, but well done
Zeus12888 - June 15, 2009
Google search
It was the only article I found when I was looking for signed draft picks.
buzzdeadwax - June 15, 2009
shhhhhhhhhhh… ut up…
gondeee - June 15, 2009
Crap--sorry about that
Didn’t mean to give away your secret. But seriously, the article on Icard was only damn thing I found (other than pay sites) on signed draft choices. Not even the Braves.com website had anything. Why is that?
buzzdeadwax - June 15, 2009
Please let Minor not sign :pray:
graf - June 15, 2009
Ha!
Maybe that was their strategy all along.
MichaelProcton - June 15, 2009
Why would you want him to not sign? I personally don’t think the pick was a waste, but there really wouldn’t be any other way to look at it if the Braves didn’t sign him. Why would you want to completely waste the 7th overall pick, not just “theoretically” waste it?
cbwilk - June 15, 2009
Get a high pick in a (hopefully) better draft next year?
Lennox - June 15, 2009
If you don’t sign a first round pick you get the pick after that the next year. We would get the 8th pick.
graf - June 15, 2009
Great. And maybe next year’s crop is worse than this year’s and we get someone who’s inferior to Minor. It’s ridiculous to not want the 1st round pick to sign.
cbwilk - June 15, 2009
haha...or maybe it isn't! So THERE!
MichaelProcton - June 15, 2009
I hear there’s a kid in middle school who hits 912 foot home runs. He’s getting his GED and an honorary doctorate from Columbia, so he’ll be eligible for next year’s draft. Maybe he’d fall to us at 8.
cbwilk - June 16, 2009
+1
Bravely going forward - June 16, 2009
Signability concerns could make that happen.
MichaelProcton - June 16, 2009
I liked the idea of drafting one of the 4 “unsignable” prep arms, and if they don’t agree to your price, take the 8th pick next year. At this point, not signing Minor is foolish—he’s a quality arm, who will (barring injury) be a productive pitcher within a couple of years.
buzzdeadwax - June 16, 2009
Yeah...then again, maybe they wanted to lowball Minor just to see if he'd bite and, if not, put some money in your pocket and try again.
MichaelProcton - June 16, 2009
Also not a bad option
And they can use all or part of that money to attempt to sign a potential “home run” pick at number 8 next year.
buzzdeadwax - June 17, 2009
Or to attract lower picks this year with the ability to go above-slot.
MichaelProcton - June 17, 2009
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