The Pride of the Farm System

For many years, thirteen to be exact, the Braves have arguably been the most consistent team in baseball. Thirteen consecutive division titles is a record that no team in any sport has matched. Many things go into such a feat. Luck, a Hall of Fame caliber manager, pitching coach, and general manager, and great players that have come and gone. But there is another key that does not get recognition, the farm system.
When you think of a farm system, you usually think of high school and college players who are starting a career that probably won’t get far, or washed up veterans who can’t make the big show any more. But for the Braves and their fans, the minor leaguers are the future of the big club, the next stars to carry on the tradition of Atlanta baseball. This may be heavy weight for such young shoulders to bear, but when you take a closer look at these guys you will see that this is not your usual farm system; and the Braves take great pride in that.

This kind of tradition has been going on since the beginning of the “great run.” That is a big reason for Atlanta’s success. No team has used its farm system to a greater advantage over the past two decades than the Braves. The early teams that started the string of success, including the great “worst-to-first” team of 1991, saw the promise and emerging talent of Steve Avery, Tom Glavine, Ron Gant, and David Justice. This was just the beginning of the run and of the talent of the Braves’ minor league teams that has helped lead them to such great success.

Later teams were bolstered by homegrown talents such as Chipper Jones, Ryan Klesko, and Javy Lopez, who are still big-time names in the major leagues. And even now, the recent teams that still carry on the great division streak wouldn’t be able to keep that run going without the stars that have been produced from the farm system. All-Stars Rafael Furcal, Marcus Giles, and Andruw Jones, all mainstays in the current Braves lineup, are homegrown talents. The most recent, starting first baseman Adam LaRoche, is proving that he’s a true major leaguer as well.

But it doesn’t stop there. This year’s Braves took gambles in many places for financial reasons and it doesn’t seem to be paying off. As a result, they are looking to the minors for the next great homegrown talent. That, however, is paying off.

You can’t say you’re surprised.

Ryan Langerhans has seen a considerable amount of time in right field with the failure of Raul Mondesi. With the news of Mondesi either leaving the team or taking a lesser role, that most definitely means either a starting spot or platooning with Brian Jordan for Langerhans. In left field, Jordan hasn’t been cutting it either. Kelly Johnson has been called up recently and has shown his skills right away as a starter in left. If his success continues, the starting spot is his as a rookie. Another, starting pitcher Kyle Davies, was promoted to the big show after John Thomson was sidelined with a serious injury to the finger. He has made a huge impact in his first two starts and has yet to allow a run. A future ace? He’s looking like one already.

If you take a look at this week’s lineup for the Braves, you will see something that no other team can say they have. Seven out of eight hitters are homegrown. Furcal, Giles, Johnson, both Joneses, Langerhans, and LaRoche all made their way through the Atlanta farm system and now lead another successful team. The only player that didn’t come through the Braves’ minor league system is Johnny Estrada, who was brought to Atlanta by trading the homegrown Kevin Millwood. If you told anybody that Estrada was going to be an All-Star and Silver Slugger in his first year as a starter, they would have laughed right in your face. But John Schuerholtz and Bobby Cox saw the talent in Estrada and they turned the trade into a steal.

The current emerging stars in the minor leagues for the Braves include the ninth and fourteenth ranked prospects according to Baseball America. Andy Marte, a third baseman who has tremendous power and a great all-around game to go with it, is only a step away from stardom. Jeff Francouer, an outfielder who shows great character along with his potent bat, has been compared to the likes of Dale Murphy. Those two, along with prospects Brian McCann, Luis Hernandez, and Tony Pena, Jr., are the next wave of Braves who will lead the big club to even more success down the road.

Now you may be asking, “How do they keep finding so much talent?” Scouting director Roy Clark and his staff do a magnificent job year in and year out finding and scouting the next Braves stars. Atlanta hasn’t had a draft pick higher than 21st since 1992 and didn’t draft a player until the 71st pick in 2004, yet they are still bringing up more and more players from the minor leagues. There seems to be no end in sight when it comes to the talent coming from the Braves farm system.