Sunday, March 11, 2007

Stan Kasten Fun Facts O' The Day

I've been winding my way through a really good book, which I'll have more on later, but a few things jumped out at me while I was reading it. Since Stan Kasten is taking (or being assigned) credit for everything that went right with the Atlanta Braves, here's something that might make you wake up in sweats tonight...

Take a look at who Stan Kasten's Atlanta Braves drafted in 1992.

Scary enough, huh?

Here's a list of the Braves first first-round draft picks since '91 (cherry picked to avoid Chipper Jones!):
1991: Mike Kelly
1992: Jamie Arnold
1993: No pick; Andre King first player selected.
1994: Jacob Shumate
1995: Chad Hutchinson
1996: AJ Zapp
1997: Troy Cameron
1998: No pick, Matt Belisle first player selected
1999: No player, Matt Butler first player selected
2000: Adam Wainright
2001: Macay McBride
2002: Jeff Francouer
2003: Luis Atilano

In Rizzo we trust!

posted by Chris Needham at 8:18 PM

7 Comments:

  • Keep in mind, the Braves always picked later in the draft from 91 until, well, this year. So, it's no surprise they didn't pick top-notch talent with their late 1st round picks. Nice problem to have. Wouldn't mind complaining about the weak draft choice while celebrating 12 or 13 straight playoff appearances.

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 3/11/2007 10:09 PM  

  • That's true. I certainly wasn't trying for any sort of high-level analysis here. I was just stunned by the complete lack of success with their first-round picks. And to be completely fair, it's the international signings and lower-round picks that carried the second half of the Braves dynasty.

    By Blogger Chris Needham, at 3/11/2007 10:12 PM  

  • The Mark Brunell? Me confused...

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 3/12/2007 10:06 AM  

  • Yep. THE Mark Brunell.

    If that's not enough to have Kasten run out of town on a rail...

    By Blogger Chris Needham, at 3/12/2007 10:08 AM  

  • Hell, if Brunell wants to take up a summer sport, he could probably be pencilled in as our #3 starter.

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 3/12/2007 12:18 PM  

  • 1991: Mike Kelly (#206 Jason Schmidt)
    1992: Jamie Arnold
    1993: No pick; Andre King first player selected. (#320 Kevin Millwood, #488 Jermaine Dye, #516 John Rocker)
    1994: Jacob Shumate
    1995: Chad Hutchinson
    1996: AJ Zapp (#35 Jason Marquis, #212 Mark DeRosa #1511 Marcus Giles
    1997: Troy Cameron
    1998: No pick, Matt Belisle first player selected
    1999: No player, Matt Butler first player selected
    2000: Adam Wainright (#30 Scott Thorman #38 Kelly Johnson #880 Adam LaRoche)
    2001: Macay McBride (#135 Kyle Davies)
    2002: Jeff Francouer (#64 Brian McCann)
    2003: Luis Atilano (#36 Jarrod Saltamacchia)

    Look at that 2000 draft or 2002 draft. Would that the Nats be so lucky? Indeed the Braves our own drafted Chris Marrero in 2004!!!

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 3/12/2007 12:23 PM  

  • That was the point of my comment above. The Braves first rounders might suck, but they do well enough with the rest of their picks that it hasn't mattered.

    I was actually stunned by the number of misses that high on the draft. with all the talent they've had through there, you'd think that they'd have had a bit more success early in the draft.

    By Blogger Chris Needham, at 3/12/2007 12:31 PM  

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