The Atlanta Braves are a Major League Baseball (MLB) franchise based in Atlanta, Georgia. They play in the National League East division. Officially known as the "First-Year Player Draft", the Rule 4 Draft is MLB's primary mechanism for assigning players from high schools, colleges, and other amateur clubs to its franchises. The draft order is determined based on the previous season's standings, with the team possessing the worst record receiving the first pick. In addition, teams which lost free agents in the previous off-season may be awarded compensatory or supplementary picks. Since the establishment of the draft in 1965, the Braves have selected 56 players in the first round.
Of those 56 players, 27 have been pitchers, the most of any position; 15 of these were right-handed, while 12 were left-handed. The Braves have also selected eight outfielders, seven shortstops, five catchers, four third basemen, three first basemen, and two second basemen in the initial round of the draft. The franchise has drafted nine players from colleges or high schools in the state of Florida, more than any other state. Eight more selections have come from their home state of Georgia. Two selections have come from outside the 50 United States: Luis Atilano (2003) is from the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, and Scott Thorman (2000) is from Ontario, Canada.
Four of these players have won a World Series championship with the Braves—Kent Mercker, Steve Avery, Chipper Jones, and Mike Kelly—all as part of the 1995 championship team. The team's 1974 selection, Dale Murphy, won consecutive National League Most Valuable Player Awards (NL MVP) in 1982 and 1983, the Lou Gehrig Memorial Award in 1985, and the Roberto Clemente Award in 1988. Bob Horner, the Braves' 1978 selection, won the National League Rookie of the Year Award in the same year. Chipper Jones, drafted by the Braves in 1990, won the NL MVP Award in 1999. The Braves have held the first overall pick twice; in 1978 they used it to select Horner, and in 1990 they chose Chipper Jones.
Atlanta has made 13 selections in the supplemental round of the draft. They have also received three compensatory picks since the first draft in 1965. These additional picks are provided when a team loses a particularly valuable free agent in the previous off-season, or, more recently, if a team fails to sign a draft pick from the previous year. The Braves failed to sign 1995 selection Chad Hutchinson, for which they received the 35th overall pick in the 1996 draft, which they used to draft Jason Marquis.
Key Year Each year links to an article about that year's Major League Baseball draft. Position Indicates the secondary/collegiate position at which the player was drafted, rather than the professional position the player may have gone on to play Pick Indicates the number of the pick* Player did not sign with the Braves § Indicates a supplemental pick†Member of the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum '95 Player was a member of the Braves' 1995 championship team '21 Player was a member of the Braves' 2021 championship team
Picks
Year Name Position School (location) Pick Ref1965First basemanWatertown High School(Watertown, Massachusetts)1966Right-handed pitcherUnion High School(Union Township, New Jersey)1967OutfielderLuther Burbank High School(Sacramento, California)1968OutfielderDenison High School(Denison, Texas)1969CatcherPalmyra Area High School(Palmyra, Pennsylvania)1970Right-handed pitcherBrazosport High School(Freeport, Texas)1971ShortstopGrant Union High School(Sacramento, California)1972Right-handed pitcherEscambia High School(Pensacola, Florida)1973Second basemanRobert E. Lee High School(San Antonio, Texas)1974CatcherWoodrow Wilson High School(Portland, Oregon)1975CatcherDos Pueblos High School(Goleta, California)1976Third basemanEast High School(Youngstown, Ohio)1977Left-handed pitcherSaugerties High School(Saugerties, New York)1978Third basemanArizona State University(Tempe, Arizona)1979OutfielderShawnee High School(Lima, Ohio)1980Left-handed pitcherUniversity of Portland(Portland, Oregon)Right-handed pitcherUniversity of Texas at Austin(Austin, Texas)1981OutfielderCentralia High School(Centralia, Washington)1982Right-handed pitcherFarmington High School(Farmington, New Mexico)19831984First basemanPurcell Marian High School(Cincinnati, Ohio)1985Right-handed pitcherWhiteville High School(Whiteville, North Carolina)1986 '95Left-handed pitcherDublin Coffman High School(Dublin, Ohio)1987 Left-handed pitcherUniversity of Georgia(Athens, Georgia)1988 '95Left-handed pitcherJohn F. Kennedy High School(Taylor, Michigan)1989CatcherValley High School(Las Vegas, Nevada)1990 †'95ShortstopBolles School(Jacksonville, Florida)1991 '95OutfielderArizona State University(Tempe, Arizona)1992Right-handed pitcherOsceola High School(Kissimmee, Florida)19931994Right-handed pitcherHartsville High School(Hartsville, South Carolina)1995*Right-handed pitcherTorrey Pines High School(San Diego, California)1996First basemanCenter Grove High School(Greenwood, Indiana)Right-handed pitcherTottenville High School(Staten Island, New York)§1997ShortstopSt. Thomas Aquinas High School(Fort Lauderdale, Florida)199819992000Right-handed pitcherGlynn Academy(Brunswick, Georgia)Third basemanPreston High School(Cambridge, Ontario)ShortstopWestwood High School(Austin, Texas)§ShortstopHempfield High School(Lancaster, Pennsylvania)§2001Left-handed pitcherScreven County High School(Sylvania, Georgia)ShortstopJoseph Wheeler High School(Marietta, Georgia)Third basemanGeorgia Institute of Technology(Atlanta, Georgia)§2002OutfielderParkview High School(Lilburn, Georgia)Left-handed pitcherJames Madison University(Harrisonburg, Virginia)§2003Right-handed pitcherGabriela Mistral High School(San Juan, Puerto Rico)§CatcherRoyal Palm Beach High School(Royal Palm Beach, Florida)§20042005Right-handed pitcherNorth Carolina State University(Raleigh, North Carolina)Left-handed pitcherDestrehan High School(Destrehan, Louisiana)§2006OutfielderA. Crawford Mosley High School(Lynn Haven, Florida)Right-handed pitcherRussell County High School(Seale, Alabama)§Left-handed pitcherThomas Richard Robinson High School(Tampa, Florida)§2007OutfielderHenry County High School(McDonough, Georgia)Third basemanIowa City High School(Iowa City, Iowa)§2008Left-handed pitcherNiceville High School(Niceville, Florida)§2009Left-handed pitcherVanderbilt University(Nashville, Tennessee)2010ShortstopMcKinney High School(McKinney, Texas)§2011Left-handed pitcherFlorida State University(Tallahassee, Florida)2012Right-handed pitcherBrookwood High School(Snellville, Georgia)2013Right-handed pitcherOklahoma State University–Stillwater(Stillwater, Oklahoma)§2014OutfielderT. C. Roberson High School(Asheville, North Carolina)§2015Left-handed pitcherSan Clemente High School(San Clemente, California) '21Third basemanDeSoto Central High School(Southaven, Mississippi)§2016 '21Right-handed pitcherShenendehowa High School(Clifton Park, New York)Left-handed pitcherShawnee Mission East High School(Prairie Village, Kansas)§2017 '21Right-handed pitcherVanderbilt University(Nashville, Tennessee)2018*Right-handed pitcherEau Gallie High School(Melbourne, Florida)2019CatcherBaylor University(Waco, Texas)ShortstopTexas A&M University(College Station, Texas)2020Left-handed pitcherWake Forest University(Winston-Salem, North Carolina)2021Right-handed pitcherWake Forest University(Winston-Salem, North Carolina)2022Owen MurphyRight-handed pitcherRiverside Brookfield High School (Riverside, Illinois)20JR RitchieRight-handed pitcherBainbridge High School (Bainbridge Island, Washington)§2023Hurston WaldrepRight-handed pitcherUniversity of Florida (Gainesville, Florida)242024Cam CaminitiLeft-handed pitcherSaguaro High School (Scottsdale, Arizona)242025Tate SouthiseneShortstopBasic High School (Henderson, Nevada)222026AJ GraciaOutfielderUniversity of Virginia (Charlottesville, Virginia)9Carter BeckOutfielderIndiana State University (Terre Haute, Indiana)§
Footnotes Through the 2012 season, free agents were evaluated by the Elias Sports Bureau and rated "Type A", "Type B", or not compensation-eligible. If a team offers arbitration to a player but that player refuses and subsequently signs with another team, the original team may receive additional draft picks. If a "Type A" free agent leaves in this way his previous team receives a supplemental pick and a compensation pick from the team with which he signs. If a "Type B" free agent leaves in this way his previous team receives only a supplemental pick. Since the 2013 draft, free agents are no longer classified by type; instead, compensatory picks are only awarded if the team offered its free agent a contract worth at least the average of the 125 current richest MLB contracts. However, if the free agent's last team acquired the player in a trade during the last year of his contract, it is ineligible to receive compensatory picks for that player. The Braves gained a compensatory first-round pick in 1980 from the Montreal Expos for losing free agent Rowland Office. The Braves lost their first-round pick in 1983 to the New York Mets as compensation for signing free agent Pete Falcone. The Braves lost their first-round pick in 1993 to the Chicago Cubs as compensation for signing free agent Greg Maddux. The Braves gained a supplemental first-round pick in 1996 for failing to sign 1995 first-round pick Chad Hutchinson. The Braves lost their first-round pick in 1998 to the Colorado Rockies as compensation for signing free agent Andrés Galarraga. The Braves lost their first-round pick in 1999 to the St. Louis Cardinals as compensation for signing free agent Brian Jordan. The Braves gained a compensatory and a supplemental first-round pick in 2000 for losing free-agent Russ Springer to the Arizona Diamondbacks. The Braves gained a supplemental first-round pick in 2000 for losing free agent José Hernández. The Braves gained a compensatory and a supplemental first-round pick in 2001 for losing free-agent Andy Ashby to the Los Angeles Dodgers. The Braves gained a supplemental first-round pick in 2002 for losing free agent Steve Karsay. The Braves lost their original first-round pick in 2003 to the Kansas City Royals as compensation for signing free agent Paul Byrd. They gained a supplemental first-round pick for losing free agent Tom Glavine. The Braves gained a supplemental first-round pick in 2003 for losing free agent Mike Remlinger. The Braves lost their first-round pick in 2004 to the Texas Rangers as compensation for signing free agent John Thomson. The Braves gained a supplemental first-round pick in 2005 for losing free agent Jaret Wright. The Braves gained a supplemental first-round pick in 2006 for losing free agent Kyle Farnsworth. The Braves gained a supplemental first-round pick in 2006 for losing free agent Rafael Furcal. The Braves gained a supplemental first-round pick in 2007 for losing free agent Danys Báez. The Braves lost their original first-round pick in 2008 to the New York Mets as compensation for signing free agent Tom Glavine. They gained a supplemental first-round pick for losing free agent Ron Mahay. The Braves lost their original first-round pick in 2010 to the Boston Red Sox as compensation for signing free agent Billy Wagner. They gained a supplemental first-round pick for losing free agent Michael Gonzalez. The Braves lost their original first-round pick in 2013 to the Tampa Bay Rays as compensation for signing free agent B.J. Upton. They gained a supplemental first-round pick for losing free agent Michael Bourn. The Braves lost their original first-round pick in 2014 to the Los Angeles Angels as compensation for signing free agent Ervin Santana. They gained a supplemental first-round pick for losing free agent Brian McCann.