The 2004 draft turned out to produce almost nothing at all for the Braves, 2005 was a rebound year, in retrospect. Although not because that year the Braves actually had a first round pick (and a supplemental!) Unfortunately, the Major League brass would ultimately trade away one of the most valuable pieces from the 2005 haul, but they did it for their very Braves-y reasons, so I'm sure they have no regrets.
Just to reiterate, we're doing this because a) Dayton Moore was hired because of his minor league work in Atlanta b) because this has been draft week and c) we're now far enough away that these drafts can be evaluated. Just about everyone drafted in the early to mid 2000s is now either out of baseball or just barely hanging on. Those that are going to make it, pretty much have made it.
On to the B-R chart:
Year | Rnd | OvPck | RdPck | Tm | Pos | WAR ▾ | G | AB | HR | G | Type | Drafted Out of | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2005 | 2 | 75 | 27 | Braves | Yunel Escobar (minors) | SS | 18.0 | 692 | 2593 | 47 | .756 | |||||
2005 | 22 | 677 | 27 | Braves | Tommy Hanson (minors) | RHP | 6.9 | 89 | 157 | 0 | .163 | 89 | 3.34 | 1.20 | JC | Riverside Community College (Riverside, CA) |
2005 | 1 | 27 | 27 | Braves | Joey Devine (minors) | RHP | 1.9 | 93 | 1 | 0 | .000 | 93 | 2.75 | 1.25 | 4Yr | North Carolina State University (Raleigh, NC) |
2005 | 28 | 857 | 27 | Braves | Louis Coleman (minors) | RHP | 1.5 | 48 | 1 | 0 | .000 | 62 | 3.01 | 1.21 | HS | Pillow Academy (Greenwood, MS) |
2005 | 33 | 1007 | 27 | Braves | Tyler Flowers (minors) | 1B | 1.1 | 69 | 175 | 7 | .688 | JC | Chipola College (Marianna, FL) | |||
2005 | 20 | 617 | 27 | Braves | Andrew Cashner (minors) | RHP | 0.1 | 87 | 3 | 0 | .000 | 87 | 4.15 | 1.44 | HS | Conroe HS (Conroe, TX) |
2005 | 15 | 467 | 27 | Braves | Mason Tobin (minors) | RHP | -0.1 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 6.75 | 1.88 | HS | Kentridge HS (Kent, WA) | |
2005 | 3 | 107 | 27 | Braves | Jordan Schafer (minors) | OF | -1.7 | 180 | 645 | 6 | .628 | HS | Winter Haven HS (Winter Haven, FL) |
So yes, this is the Tommy Hanson draft. The Royals drafted Hanson in the 22nd round in 2005... and a year later in 2006 they signed him. By 2009 he reached the Major Leagues, and in 89 career starts, has posted a 118 ERA+. Viewed as an elite pitching prospect by the conclusion of his prospect life, Hanson's ERA has crept up each year he's been in the Majors, though he's been a very good, very valuable pitcher.
Hanson stats:
Year | Age | GS | IP | HR | BB | SO | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2009 | 22 | 2.89 | 21 | 127.2 | 10 | 46 | 116 | 143 | 1.183 | 7.4 | 0.7 | 3.2 | 8.2 |
2010 | 23 | 3.33 | 34 | 202.2 | 14 | 56 | 173 | 117 | 1.174 | 8.1 | 0.6 | 2.5 | 7.7 |
2011 | 24 | 3.60 | 22 | 130.0 | 17 | 46 | 142 | 106 | 1.169 | 7.3 | 1.2 | 3.2 | 9.8 |
2012 | 25 | 3.71 | 12 | 68.0 | 9 | 26 | 63 | 106 | 1.382 | 9.0 | 1.2 | 3.4 | 8.3 |
4 Yrs | 3.34 | 89 | 528.1 | 50 | 174 | 494 | 118 | 1.202 | 7.9 | 0.9 | 3.0 | 8.4 | |
162 Game Avg. | 3.34 | 34 | 202 | 19 | 66 | 189 | 118 | 1.202 | 7.9 | 0.9 | 3.0 | 8.4 |
I'm still not visually used to the new run environment, and with the National League adjustment, he's produced a lower WAR total than you might expect. B-R has him at 8.3 lifetime, Fangraphs at 9.3. All pretty good for a draft-and-follow guy. Of course, if he was a Royal, we'd be writing epic poems about him.
The real pick here, was Yunel Escobar, who was taken in the 2nd round. B-Ref has him at 18 WAR careerwise, which is in line with Fangraphs' 18.1. He reached the Majors more quickly than Hanson, and as a shortstop who can hit a little and field well, he's been very valuable. Of course, the Braves traded him in 2010 because... well... because... he's a bad guy or something. And they still haven't had a shortstop since. (Though they just called up the latest tool box.) Last season, they missed the playoffs by a game, and had Alex Gonzalez give them a .270 OBP for 149 games. But he played the game the right way.
As for the other picks. First rounder Joey Devine played briefly for Atlanta from 2005-07, before being traded to Oakland. As a Brave, he threw 19 innings in three seasons. So needless to say, not a successful pick. Louis Coleman didn't sign with Atlanta, and didn't sign with Washington the year later, all of his value has come as a ... Kansas City Royal, after being drafted by Dayton in 2009. Tyler Flowers you know about, although most of his value has come as a White Sox. Cashner didn't sign with the Braves, and has been blah for the Cubs. Mason Tobin also never signed, but randomly pitched four games for Texas in 2011. Jordan Schafer you probably know about, as he's been one of the million failed Braves outfield prospects of the last decade. He will be a Royal some day.
Here are the Braves through the 10th round:
Ugh.
Devine you know about. Supplemental pick Beau Jones is currently pitching in AAA for the Miami organization. Escobar is in Toronto. Jeff Lyman is in the indy leagues, with a horrible ERA. Michael Broadway currently owns a 45.00 ERA for the AA team of the Padres. Will Startup is... you guessed it, currently in the indies as well. Tyler Bullock has been out of baseball since 2008, as has Brandon Monk. Kyle Cofield is in AA Altoona for Pittsburgh. Stephen Garcia has bounced around the indies as well. Colin Carter is out of baseball and may have never even signed.