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June 07, 2005

2005 Draft Day 1 Thread...

Draft Picks:
1 (#27). RHP Joey Devine, North Carolina St U (5'11", 195, R/R, 9/19/1983)
College closer with mid-90s fastball. Interesting pick going away from the high school picks. 5'11"/Three-quarters/side arm pitcher. How close can he be?

Articles:
AJC
Story on the College World Series

1s* (41). LHP Beau Jones, Destrehan HS, LA (6'1", 195, L/L, 8/25/1986)
6'1... projectable pick, a Braves pick. Committed to LSU

Articles:
Louisiana Mr. Baseball
Outstanding Player of the Year Award

2 (75). SS Yuniel Escobar, Cuba (6'2", 200, R/R, 11/2/1982)
He slipped and the Braves could have gotten some value here. He might be older than listed though. There were some worries about that.

Article:
BA - Five Cubans Declare for Draft

2* (77). RHP Jeffrey Lyman, Monte Vista HS, CA (6'3", 215, R/R, 1/14/1987)
Another bulldog pitcher. Hard thrower, mid 90s. Commiteed to Arizona State, but appears to be signable.

Article:
Wyman tops locals for draft

3 (107). CF Jordan Schafer, Winter Haven HS, FL (6'1", 190, L/L, 9/4/1986)
Another one of those "worker-like" outfielders similar to the style of players like Adam Stern. He also had some accomplishments as a youngster, earning the 13-year-old of the year award by BA in 2000.

Article:
Draft put (Clemson) Tigers on Defensive
Class 4A Player of the Year

4 (137). RHP Michael Broadway, Pope County HS, IL (6'5", 190, R/R, 3/30/1987)
Plenty of potential... throws in the low 90s, eventually could be in the mid 90s

Articles:
Brief mention of this "pro prospect"

5 (167). LHP William Startup, University of Georgia (6'0", 190, L/L, 8/4/1984)
BA mentions that he throws pretty hard. Listed as a reliever.

Article:
Lead Bulldogs in Wins and Saves

6 (197). RHP Tyler Bullock, Baylor Univ (6'3", 225, R/R, 1/22/1984)
Also caught for the Baylor Bears. Relief pitcher.

Article:
Roster Bio at Baylor's Baseball Site

7 (227). 2B Brandon Monk, LaGrange HS, GA (5'11", 180, R/R, 2/22/1987)
Has a committment to Auburn

Article:
"Great Work Ethic and is a Tough Competitor"

8 (257). RHP Kyle Cofield, Southside HS, AL (6'5", 190, R/R, 1/23/1987)
Committment to Alabama

Article:
From Alabama's site

9 (287). C Steven Garcia, Temecula Valley HS, CA (5'11", 190, R/R, 9/7/1986)

10 (317). LHP Colin Carter, Grayson CC (6'1", 200, L/L, 9/26/1984)
33rd Round Pick of San Diego in 2003

11 (347). RHP Michael Nix, Auburn Univ (6'5", 235, R/R, 5/21/1983)
Reliever (low 90s), was projected around the 5th round.

12 (377). RHP Rudolph Quinonez, Fresno St U (6'2", 200, R/R, 6/17/1984)

13 (407). CF Quentin Davis, Francis Marion U (5'10", 172, L/R, 3/7/1983)

14 (437). OF Jose Cabrera, Los Angeles Pierce JC (5/10, 190, R/R, 8/3/1986)

15 (467). RHP Mason Tobin, Kentridge HS, WA (6'3", 200, R/R, 7/8/1987)

16 (497). RHP Jerome Chapman, A Crawford Mosely HS, FL (6'0", 180, R/R, 5/22/1987)

17 (527). RHP Clayton Caulfield, Pensacola JC (6'3", 195, R/R, 9/23/1985)
Braves 32nd Round Pick in 2004

18 (557). LHP Zachary Oliver, Midway HS, TX (6'2", 195, L/L, 1/29/1987)

*-Picks for the Jaret Wright-NYY signing

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Draft News/Articles:

Official Site Draft Preview
Mark Bowman is speculating that the Braves will try to grab 6'6" right-hander Chaz Roe out of Lexington, KY with their first pick. The Braves are also looking at the 22 year old Cuban SS Yuniel Escobar, a former teammate of current A-Brave Brayan Pena.

Myrtle Beach Online: Draft Memories
An entertaining piece on the draft experiences of Pelicans Manager Randy Ingle, Catcher Jarrod Saltalamacchia, OF Matt Esquivel, and IF Scott Schade

Kris Harvey, Re-Entering the Draft
The Braves Fifth Round Pick in 2002 re-enters the Draft after his college stay at Clemson. He's projected to go early again and the question still remains whether or not he will pitch or catch. For those that did not remember, he's the son of former major league pitcher Bryan Harvey. If I recall correctly, I believe Harvey spent a little time in the Braves system in the early-to-mid 90s. It may have just been a spring training and I think he had run out of gas by then.

Interest in 2B Michael DeJesus
DeJesus, brother of KC prospect David, has received some interest from the Braves according to this article. He's projected to be a mid-round or later pick.

CF Colby Rasmus being looked at for #27.
OF Colby Rasmus out of Russell HS in Phenix City, AL is being looked at for the 27th pick by the Braves. The article said that the Braves expected him to be gone by the time the supplemental pick (#41) rolls around.

John Sickels--2005 NL East Mock Draft
Sickels put together a mock draft on for the NL East and had some interesting picks for the Braves. I don't think the first pick will fly (college SS Cliff Pennington). I think if you replace that pick for Rasmus or Roe and it could be pretty darn close.

Catcher Ralphie Henriquez enters the draft
If the name Henriquez sounds familiar, it is because Ralph Henriquez (Ralphie's father) was a manager for the Danville Braves and is still part of the minor league instructors/staff. Ralphie is a switch-hitter who would love to go pro. Sounds almost like a lock to go to the Braves in the first 10 rounds.

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Latest Thoughts:

8:52 am: Taking a look at the Georgia players list, here's some interesting names to look at:

SS Tyler Greene out of Georgia Tech: #2 pick in 2002, spurning the Braves for the Jackets. I'd be surprised to see him picked again by the Braves.

RHP Ian Sebastian out of Columbus HS: At 6'3", he's the size that the Braves covet and features a fastball in the low 90s.

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8:59 am: Another interesting name out in the mid first is RHP Chris Volstead out of Palm Beach Gardens HS, FL. The Braves have dipped into this high school a number of times over the past couple years. He's projected by BA in the mid first, but I would love to see him drop to the Braves. He's 6'7", 195... that screams Adam Wainwright.

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9:40 am: Taking a look around at other lists... here's some prospects that are interesting:

1B Nick Welgarz (6'3") - Power hitter, projected to go early in the first day. The Braves have mined Canada pretty well, getting Scott Thorman, Pete Orr, and Adam Stern.

RHP Tyler Herron (6'3") - Florida pitcher that's projected in the area of the supplemental first/second round.

LHP Sean West (6'8") - Rail thin pitcher in the mold of some of the Braves past picks. Could go in the second/third.

There's also a number of college pitchers mixed in there from GA that could be picked.

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1:39 pm: Got back a little late for the first round. I'm surprised I can pick up MLB Radio. Getting ready for the supplemental first.

First round notes: Colby Rasmus went off the board to St. Louis with the 28th pick (one after the Braves, kinda suprising). SS Tyler Greene also went to the Cards (#30). The Cuban SS Escobar and RHP Roe are still both on the board. Could one go to the Braves in the supplemental first?

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1:59 PM: Chaz Roe to the Rockies in supplemental. Vinny Castilla strikes again!
2:02 PM: Eli Iorg... brother of former Brave Isaac, picked by Astros at 38.
2:05 PM: Braves -> Beau Jones, LHP, Lousiana HS
2:08 PM: West/Herron off the board.
2:13 PM: Daniel Carte, a WV kid (my home state) taken... WV guys are a pretty rare breed in the draft.
2:18 PM: A GA catcher, Jonathan Egan to Boston
2:22 PM: Kris Harvey went to Florida at 64. Listed him as an outfielder. Was listed as a catcher or pitcher. Interesting...
2:29 PM: Ralphie Henriquez went to Houston at 72. Switch-hitting catcher with a little power is a rare thing. Braves up in a sec.
2:30 PM: Braves get the Cuban at 75
2:50 PM: GT Pitcher Neighborgall taken of the board by Arizona. Fastball guy that doesn't have good control. Micah Owings, Brave minor leaguer Jon Mark's brother, also taken by Arizona.
3:00 PM: Weglarz to the Indians
3:12 PM: After this pick, I need to get back to work. Will check back in about 30 minutes.
5:52 PM: MLB Radio Interviewed 4th rounder Michael Broadway. He was pretty compliamentary of the Braves, nothing out of the norm. He said he was ready to start his career and couldn't wait to become an Atlanta Brave.
6:38 PM: Could someone please find these teams that damn red button? I think Lasorda stole it.
6:56 PM: DeJesus to Cincinnati in the 15th. This has to be the longest first day of the draft since I've started covering this... sheesh...
7:46 PM: It's finally over! The draft will start at 12:00 PM (EST) at round 19. Overall, this draft has fallen to be expected... a lot of high school picks. The pick of Devine is pretty interesting though.

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Other Draft Stuff:

BravesBeat Draft History
I updated the site for the 2004 draft finally. It has all of the previous year's drafts now.

Draft Home Page

Mac's Draft Postings
Mac at Braves Journal reviewed some of the previous drafts in recent weeks. Here's a list of those:

1999 - Go, John Foster
1994 - Second in a series
2000 - Evolution
2001 - The Matriculators
1986 - What Might Have Been
1992 - It Begins
1995 - The value of a Stanford education
1996 - Zapped

Posted by Merv at June 7, 2005 07:45 PM

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Comments

Posted by: Mac Thomason at June 7, 2005 01:07 PM

Posted by: utjunkie at June 7, 2005 01:53 PM

Posted by: Merv at June 7, 2005 02:02 PM

Posted by: Andy B at June 7, 2005 04:56 PM

Posted by: Stephen at June 7, 2005 05:14 PM

Posted by: Merv at June 7, 2005 05:15 PM

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