Jan 27 2009
Future will be on display at Braves’ camp
By Bud L. Ellis
braves.today.com
ATLANTA — Throughout this offseason, we’ve seen time and time again the reluctance of Braves’ brass to sell the future for the present.
Come February at Lake Buena Vista, we’ll see the fruits of those protective measures.
The Braves have extended spring training invites to several of their top prospects, minor-league standouts who make up the next wave of promising talent expected to begin trickling into Atlanta during the next two or three years.
Out of Baseball America’s ranking of the top 10 prospects in the organization, half will be with the Braves when workouts begin next month: Jordan Schafer, Tommy Hanson, Jason Heyward, Freddie Freeman and Kris Medlen.
In remaking the starting rotation by acquiring three new starters, Braves’ GM Frank Wren only had to part with one prospect who figured to make an impact in Atlanta anytime soon: Tyler Flowers. Dealing Flowers is softened by the fact he’s a catcher, and the Braves have a pretty good one in Brian McCann behind the plate, and under contract, for the foreseeable future.
While Heyward, Freeman and Medlen will draw plenty of attention at camp, the spotlight clearly will be on both Schafer and Hanson.
Schafer – the center fielder who wowed the Arizona Fall League with his play in 2007, then impressed with his limited duty in Grapefruit League action – drew less-than-savory headlines last spring when he was suspended for 50 games for alleged HGH use. He finished last season hitting .269 with 10 homers at Double-A Mississippi, but has the speed and the talent to win the center field job outright in what should be an interesting competition with Josh Anderson and Gregor Blanco.
Hanson took his turn turning heads in Arizona this past fall, going 5-0 with an 0.63 ERA and 49 strikeouts in 28 2/3 innings during Fall League play. This came after a season where Hanson won eight games (including a no-hitter) at Mississippi after his promotion from Single-A, and led all of minor league baseball with a .175 opponents batting average. Every time somebody asked about Hanson’s availability in the offseason, Wren said no way, the biggest reason why Jake Peavy isn’t a member of the Braves today.
With just four months above Single-A, it’s likely Hanson will start 2009 at Triple-A Gwinnett. But if Tom Glavine isn’t able to pitch, Hanson definitely will be in the mix for the fifth starter’s spot, along with Charlie Morton, James Parr and Jo-Jo Reyes.
(And if Glavine is able to come back from surgery and secure the final spot in the Braves’ rotation, Gwinnett’s going to have quite a rotation of its own, with Hanson, Morton, Parr, Reyes and Medlen).
Speaking of Medlen, don’t be shocked if he gets a serious look in camp, too. After moving into the rotation at Double-A Mississippi, the right-hander posted a 3.11 ERA in 17 starts. It’s possible he impresses enough to make the team as a reliever, but like Hanson, the Braves would prefer for Medlen to start the season at Gwinnett.
Heyward and Freeman are both 19 years old, just two years out of high school. While neither will make the major-league roster to start 2009, both have tremendous upside and could be in the running for spots on the big-league squad this time next season.
—30—
Any chance we could see Heyward this September?
Bud, you’ll probably have to throw Andruw Jones into the mix soon when talking about the CF competition. Though AJ seems a long shot to win the job.
Bud, with such a sharp decline in skills and numbers, Does Andruw Jones come under the cloud of PED’s. Never seem implicated much but it is amazing the sharp fall off in his career.
I agree that Andruw should probably be playing LF and not CF anymore.