BravesBeat.com–1986 Draft Picks
I’m not going to write up a draft this early, but it’s clear that someone in the Braves’ organization knew talent even if they didn’t actually produce any. This was back when the draft had multiple phases. In the main phase, in June:
11. OF Steve Finley Southern Illinois University
18. OF Tim Salmon Phoenix, AZ
27. RHP Ben McDonald Denham Springs, LA
The one real Major Leaguer they did get out of that draft was Mercker with their first pick.
Thank you, Mac.
I sincerely hope that someone writes a book someday about how JS and Bobby did it. This study is giving us just taste.
Excuse Please! “Just a taste.” Your analysis is great anyway.
Mac, Looks like Kevin Brown was also in the draft, if it’s referring to the same Kevin Brown pitching today. Ah, Ben McDonald, there were some very high hopes on that guy.
That’s not the same Kevin Brown. The famous Kevin Brown was drafted in the first round out of Ga Tech in ’86.
Those old lists are neat to look at. Who knew that the Braves drafted Dallas McPherson, super-prospect-cum-struggling Angels 3b, in the 50th round as a RHP as he was coming out of high school? Cool.
It’s a different Brown — this one is a lefty. They also drafted but didn’t sign the catcher Kevin Brown at a later date. I’m going to write up the 1992 draft next. That year, they drafted Mark Brunell and Terrell Buckley, and actually signed the latter.
I just saw that on T-buck and Brunell, got a good laugh from it. Also Jose Cruz, Jr. was listed from that draft. Thanks for the draft insight Mac, this is cool looking back at this stuff.
Yeah, it’s always interesting what players “slipped through the cracks” but in acutality a player has the possibility of being drafted four or five times by major league clubs, so you’ll get a lot of weird stories. Hey, remember – the White Sox GM once drafted his daughter and NFL guys like Chris Weinke and Quincy Carter played baseball well before their football careers.
A few years ago, there was a minor uproar when the Commissioner’s office, during the publicly available conference call for the draft, announced as a joke that the Yankees – due to their historical service to the league – had been awarded an extra pick in the draft and were selecting right handed pitcher George Will? That most of those participating in the draft didn’t know the political pundit and baseball author wasn’t too surprising.
I love listening to the draft. It’s so informal (it was much less so before it went to the MLB.com webcast) and you get some great laughs, like listening to Tommy Lasorda enunciate all of the Dodgers picks on day one.