The Braves overhauled their farm system faster than anyone could’ve imagined, sacrificing in the present by trading established players for prospects and draft picks to build a foundation they believe will make them contenders again before too much longer, and keep them there for many years.
Some of those recent acquisitions were among the 23 prospects who’ve been in Atlanta for the past week, getting to know each other and learning exactly what the Braves expect from them if the franchise is to reach the lofty goals it has set. Nine of the team’s top 15 prospects and many others in the top 30 have taken part in the first-time event, which the Braves called the Winter Elite Development Camp.
“I think it’s an awesome bonding experience for all of us,” said Mike Soroka, an 18-year-old Canadian pitcher who was selected by the Braves with their second pick in the first round of the June 2015 draft.
“They brought us in here and told us, this is what we think of the future of the Braves,” said Chris Ellis, 23, a right-hander from Birmingham and Ole Miss, who came to the Braves along with left-handed prospect Sean Newcomb as part of the Andrelton Simmons trade in November.
Ellis is No. 15 and Newcomb is No. 2 on Baseball America’s recently revamped Braves top-30 prospects list. Newcomb had a scheduling conflict, but was able to attend the first few days of the camp that wraps up Friday.
“There’s a lot of talent in this room,” Ellis said, as he and other Braves prospects sat in locker stalls in the circular home clubhouse at Turner Field on Thursday, during a 45-minute session with reporters that was the only part of the camp open to media. “You look at guys, for the most part they’re first-, second-, third-rounders, that kind of stuff. So it feels like a special place to be right now.”
Special place, and special time to be an up-and-coming Brave. That’s what they’ve been told, and that’s what they’ve seen this past week for themselves.
“Yeah, we get that sense,” said shortstop Ozhaino Albies, No. 6 on BA’s Braves list and the top-ranked position player outside of 30-year-old rookie Hector Olivera. “They told us this is a special group, and you can see it. They treat us like big-leaguers. It feels good to be here.”
That was a primary purpose for the event, which was organized by Braves player-development director Dave Trembley, his top assistant Jonathan Schuerholz, and player-development assistants Ron Knight and A.J. Scola.
‘They all did a great job getting this set up,” said Braves general manager John Coppolella, who along with president of baseball operations John Hart has been at the controls for all the roster moves over the past 13 months. “What we’re trying to build is a family. It’s something where we want to do some great things. We want to win some World Series, and you see what teams like the Royals have built, and it starts right now.
“It starts with your young players. It starts with they get to make each other part of each other’s family. It’s great seeing this, great trying to teach them the Braves Way, and we’ve got some great people leading this program.”
Schuerholz, the son of Braves president and longtime former GM John Schuerholz, was pleased with the inaugural camp and said it’s something the Braves likely would do again, though perhaps they would shorten it a bit. He said all the prospects were invited, but a few couldn’t attend because of previously scheduled commitments, including shortstop Dansby Swanson because of vacation plans he’d made long before he was traded to the Braves last week.
“My hat’s off to Coppy and John Hart,” Schuerholz said. “We’re building with youth, we’re building with high-upside talent, and we’ve got a ton of it. … We are really excited about what’s coming up the pike for us. We’ve got a tremendous amount of responsibility in the minor leagues in our player development to produce major-league caliber players to win at a championship level. That’s what we want to harp on is we’re not just building big leaguers, we’re building championship-caliber big leaguers, and it’s not done overnight. We have the rocks to shape them, now it’s our job to polish them up and make them into fine big-league players.”
The Braves spent a lot of money to bring prospects to Atlanta and put them up in a downtown hotel for a week. They were at the ballpark before 8 a.m. each day for sessions that included everything from agility drills to strength-and-conditioning work, yoga, and sessions in which the entire group heard from Braves officials about what would be expected of them.
Trembley left an impression when he spoke to the group Thursday morning.
“The one thing I tried to tell them today,” Trembley said, “is that a lot of times in this game people don’t tell you what they think, and I wanted to tell you what we think: You’re important to us. You’re special and we care about you, and we have expectations. And to meet those expectations is going to take 100 percent on our side and 100 percent on your side. And the last thing I told them is, remember where you come from, and don’t chance once you get to the big leagues.”
Soroka is No. 11 on BA’s Braves top 30, having moved down two slots after last week’s Shelby Miller trade that brought shortstop Swanson and pitcher Aaron Blair from the Diamondbacks.
“It’s exciting to know your team is very active and building for the future,” Soroka said. “It’s pretty awesome to be a part of that. I think what they’re doing is awesome, and I’m very honored to be part of this organization right now.”
