Rebuild Timeline: Detailing Braves’ acquisition of 15 additional first-rounders

A preferred in-game pastime of John Coppolella and John Hart, while sitting in their front-office box that overlooks their ever-evolving roster, is running through bygone MLB drafts — the prospects, their stories and their scouting reports and how correct or false those prognostications turned out to be. Both men are self-proclaimed draft hounds. It is an obsession that informs their rebuilding efforts daily.

The Atlanta Braves have made 54 trades since the end of the 2014 season, when former general manager Frank Wren was fired and Hart and Coppolella stepped in to hit the reset button. Ten of those trades involved 12 former first-round picks drafted since 2010, including three top-10 talents. Atlanta acquired another former top pick off the waiver wire and stockpiled two compensation round A selections for a grand total of 15 additional first-rounders over the past two seasons.

The influx renovated the Braves' farm system overnight.

“There isn’t a process beyond good players,” said Coppolella, who explained the front office discusses need, fit and upside before finalizing any prospect-driven deal. “We talk with our scouts. We read the reports they file every day. We keep prospect lists; our pro scouting staff does a great job of it, updating every day, working with our scouts. And those are a mixture of our scouts and analytics. When we talk with a team, if somebody shows interest in a player, we go to those lists: 'Who are the guys we like and why?'"

The duo aimed higher than 15, too.

"There’s so many players we’ve asked for that we’ve been told no repeatedly that don’t come to light," Coppolella continued. "We have asked about hundreds. Literally. We’ve been right there at the finish line and the rug gets pulled out from under you."

FOX Sports South pieced together a timeline of the 15 acquisitions. A couple panned out. Others did not. For the vast majority, it’s far too early to tell. In total, the Braves bypassed more than $30 million in draft signing bonuses and added nine of their top 23 prospects. (It is worth mentioning the rebuild targeted other high draft picks like second-rounders Dustin Peterson, Andrew Thurman, Jordan Paroubek and Paco Rodriguez, former top international signings Manny Banuelos and Ricardo Sanchez, pool money and a compensation round B selection.) The overhaul left them with one of baseball’s best farm systems — one that Coppolella and Hart have been reluctant to dismantle this offseason by reversing course. They may not be done quite yet.

"We go back and look at every draft class and there are guys that we like that we don’t get. That’s just part of the draft," Hart said. "But there’s guys that you circle in there that you’ve had great reports on and you like and you keep track of those guys."