House That Hank Built
Fansided

Reviewing an Atlanta Braves Prospect Evaluation from 2005

By Alan Carpenter

Mar 19, 2016; Fort Myers, FL, USA; St. Louis Cardinals catcher Brayan Pena (33) walks off the field after the game has been cancelled against the Boston Red Sox at JetBlue Park. The Red Sox won 3-1 as the game was cancelled after five innings due to inclement weather. Mandatory Credit: Evan Habeeb-USA TODAY Sports
Mar 19, 2016; Fort Myers, FL, USA; St. Louis Cardinals catcher Brayan Pena (33) walks off the field after the game has been cancelled against the Boston Red Sox at JetBlue Park. The Red Sox won 3-1 as the game was cancelled after five innings due to inclement weather. Mandatory Credit: Evan Habeeb-USA TODAY Sports /
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
2 of 2
Next
Mar 19, 2016; Fort Myers, FL, USA; St. Louis Cardinals catcher Brayan Pena (33) walks off the field after the game has been cancelled against the Boston Red Sox at JetBlue Park. The Red Sox won 3-1 as the game was cancelled after five innings due to inclement weather. Mandatory Credit: Evan Habeeb-USA TODAY Sports
Mar 19, 2016; Fort Myers, FL, USA; St. Louis Cardinals catcher Brayan Pena (33) walks off the field after the game has been cancelled against the Boston Red Sox at JetBlue Park. The Red Sox won 3-1 as the game was cancelled after five innings due to inclement weather. Mandatory Credit: Evan Habeeb-USA TODAY Sports /

Making Careers

The rest of this list is also interesting – not for the words used, per se, but for the names and the careers they have enjoyed since this writing:

  • Anthony Lerew – bounced between AAA and the majors from 2005 to 2014 with a gap from 2011-2013.  61 major league innings.
  • Ryan Langerhans – 697 games from 2002 to 2013 for multiple clubs as a utility/bench man.  Peaked in 2005-06 with Atlanta (3.7 fWAR total in those years).
  • Kelly Johnson – Of course we know about KJ… and many still want to see him back even now.
  • Jarrod Saltalamacchia – Salty is still active and playing with the Blue Jays as a backup to Russell.  881 major league games to date, 9.4 fWAR.
  • Macay McBride – fire-balling reliever from 2005-2008.  Control was his nemesis.  When on, he could strike out everyone.  When off, he walked a lot.
  • Brayan Pena – Good backup catchers can play forever.  Pena started with the Braves in 2005 and is not with the AAA Royals.
  • Wilson Betemit – He hit .305 over 115 games with the Braves, but never really could put it all together.  Betemit last played in the majors in 2013 with the Orioles, but after 2007, it was mostly bit roles for him.
  • Martin Prado – Aside from Brian McCann, Prado has had probably the best career of anyone on this 2005 chart.  1263 games, .294 lifetime avg., 24.3 fWAR, and a reputation as a guy who might excel at whatever position you assigned him.  He’s perhaps the one that Frank Wren shouldn’t have let get away in that Justin Upton trade with the Diamondbacks before the 2013 season.
  • Blaine Boyer – He could be finished now, but not before the Braves gave him one more shot during Spring Training.  Boyer was 14-25 as a (mostly) reliever in 394 games, sporting a 4.17 lifetime ERA with 6 clubs at the major league level.  Not a dominant guy, but a solid steady contributor in his prime.

So What of This?

20 prospect names – seen 12 years after the fact.  15 of them ultimately made the major leagues with the Atlanta Braves in one capacity or another.  That’s a remarkable thing.

Luis Atilano had one extended cup of coffee (85 innings) with the Nationals in 2010.  He’s the only other major leaguer in this group who broke in with another club.

More from Tomahawk Take

So all together:

  • 20 prospects
  • 16 major leaguers
  • 15 became so with their original club – the Braves
  • Roughly 10 (+/-) had “extended” major league careers.  Three of these are catchers.
  • 6 were still active in the majors last season.
  • 3 are still active in the majors today… 12 years later. Boyer could have been a 4th.  Pena is still close by in AAA.
  • 1 – Brian McCann – certainly among the top tier of catchers for his era.  He’s currently 31st all time among Catchers for career fWAR (35.2, currently just ahead of Buster Posey, Yadier Molina and Russell Martin).

It will be tough to make a HOF case for McCann, no doubt.  He won’t approach the levels of Piazza (63.7) or Fisk (68.3) and the like, plus the others mentioned above may very well overtake him… but any time someone is around the ‘Top 30 all time’ of any list like that, it’s still noteworthy… and that group of catchers represent the best of their era.

Certainly, though, McCann is the standout of this prospect class.  Prado is also especially noteworthy.

Next: Whatever Happened to Casting a Wide Net?

Your mileage may vary, but that’s actually a pretty healthy list of success for a semi-random selection of prospects.  Not bad at all.

Home/Braves News