The winds of change are sweeping through Atlanta. Sort of.

Long-time general manager John Schuerholz stepped aside, and Frank Wren is in. There's a vacancy in center field in the big leagues for the first time in a long time, and some of the system's top prospects were traded away during this year's playoff hunt. But some things won't change -- the Braves will continue to develop from within.

Gone are Jarrod Saltalamacchia and Elvis Andrus, two of the higher-profile prospects in the Braves system. Granted, their departures netted Mark Teixeira, and it shouldn't be forgotten that a farm system doesn't just have to provide talent to the parent club, it also can serve up for excellent trade bait. Besides, there's still plenty to be hopeful about when looking down on the farm. There's a good amount of talent developing and learning how to win. While the Braves' overall record in the Minors was a touch below .500, they had three teams reach the playoffs, with Triple-A Richmond (just a phone call away) winning the International League crown.

Atlanta hasn't gone to the postseason in two years -- a huge drought for this organization -- but reinforcements to right that ship should be arriving soon.

Organizational Players of the Year

PRESEASON PREDICTIONS

Eric Campbell, OF: We said that Campbell would keep his steady climb in Myrtle Beach and add a fourth home run title to his belt. Not so much. The third baseman hit just .221 in 81 Carolina League games with 14 homers and a .718 OPS. Then he got suspended in August for insubordination and missed the final couple of weeks of the season. He's still very young and has time to get back on the right track, starting with a repeat at Myrtle Beach.
Audio: Campbell goes yard twice

Jo-Jo Reyes, LHP: Getting one out of two isn't bad. We predicted he'd win the organizational triple crown in pitching, and we weren't far off. The lefty tied for the organizational lead with 12 wins and his 2.72 ERA would've led all full-season pitchers had he thrown enough innings to qualify. His 110 strikeouts put him just out of the top five, but it's an impressive total considering he pitched 109 innings. He also held Minor League opponents to a .224 batting average. The only thing that kept his numbers from being gaudier was a promotion to the big leagues for 50 2/3 innings, making him the clear choice for the postseason award.
Audio: Reyes has a 10K performance

POSTSEASON SELECTIONS
As chose by the author, not the organization

Brandon Jones, OF: It came down to Jones and fellow outfielder Jordan Schafer for this award, with Jones barely getting the nod. The 23-year-old began the year in Double-A, moved up to Triple-A and finished with a brief debut in the big leagues. The raw talent continued to turn into outstanding performance as he hit .295 in 138 Minor League games with 19 homers, an organization-leading 100 RBIs and 17 steals. Yes, he struck out 120 times, but he also drew 61 walks for a nifty .367 OBP. He could just be the next Jones to play the outfield in Atlanta.
Audio: Jones slugs walk-off shot
Audio: Jones goes yard in the playoffs

Jo-Jo Reyes, LHP: See Preseason Predictions.

Climbed the Ladder

It should be noted that the chosen organizational player and pitcher of the year were perfect "climbed" candidates. Here are five others we deemed worthy of such an honor.

Joey Devine, RHP: Talk about a bounce back. The 2005 first-rounder reached the big leagues the summer he was drafted with less-than-pleasant results, including serving up Chris Burke's season-ending homer in the NL Division Series. He went all the way down to Class A Advanced Myrtle Beach in 2006 and worked his way back up to the bigs, again not pitching particularly well. Then things started to click in 2007. Beginning at Double-A Mississippi, Devine had a 2.06 ERA, 51 strikeouts and a .211 opponents batting average to go along with 16 saves in 35 innings. He moved up to Richmond, where he posted a 1.64 ERA, four saves, a .188 opponents average and 27 strikeouts in 22 frames. He even had some big-league success, with a 1.08 ERA in 10 games.
Audio: Devine strikes out the side

Yunel Escobar, INF: Escobar spent the first two months of the season at Triple-A Richmond, waiting for a spot or opportunity to open up ahead of him. He hit .333 in 46 games, playing shortstop every day for Richmond. Then the call came and Escobar never went back to the Minors. Playing three infield positions, Escobar picked up 319 at-bats and hit .326. He rarely strikes out, with only 44 in the bigs and 27 in 180 Minor League at-bats while drawing a combined 41 walks. With Edgar Renteria gone to Detroit, shortstop could be all his in 2008.
Video: Escobar belts an RBI double
Video: Escobar launches one

Tommy Hanson, RHP: Don't let the 5-9 record fool you. Hanson arguably was the organization's most dominant pitcher in 2007. He led the system with 154 strikeouts in 133 innings between Rome and Myrtle Beach. He had a combined .216 opponents batting average and his 3.32 ERA placed him second among full-season pitchers who qualified. The South Atlantic League All-Star was much better at the lower level, with a 2.59 ERA and .194 opponents batting average in 73 innings for Rome, but the 2005 draft-and-follow is still ahead of the curve by jumping a level in his first full season.
Audio: Hanson records his eighth K

Brent Lillibridge, SS: Things started decently enough for Lillibridge in his first season with the Braves after coming over from the Pirates in the Adam LaRoche deal. He hit .275 and stole 14 bases in 52 games for Double-A Mississippi, but the pop he showed the previous year was largely missing, leading some to think it stemmed mostly from his friendly home park in Hickory in 2006. Lillibridge was promoted to Triple-A Richmond in June and was so-so with a .269 average, again showing good speed (10 SB) but no power (.356 slugging) in that first month. He was named to the All-Star Futures Game and things really took off in the second half. Not only did the shortstop hit .304 and steal 16 more bases after the All-Star break, he also hit eight homers, drove in 34 runs and slugged .505 in 53 games. When all was said and done, Lillibridge had a .282 combined average with 13 homers and 42 steals. Now all Atlanta has to do is find a place for him in the bigs. He could compete with Escobar for the vacated shortstop job or perhaps move to center field, his college position.
Audio: Lillibridge hits a game-winner
Video: Lillibridge talks title

Jordan Schafer, OF: Mr. Schafer, welcome to big-time prospect status. The 2005 third-round pick had a ho-hum full-season debut in 2006, hitting .240 for Rome. He went back there to start 2007 at age 20 and exploded, hitting .372 over 30 games to earn a promotion to Myrtle Beach. While he couldn't keep up that pace in the Carolina League, he did just fine, hitting .294 the rest of the way to finish with a .312 average. He also collected 15 homers, 49 doubles and 10 triples, while stealing 23 bases (albeit he was caught 15 times). He finished with a .513 SLG and has excelled as one of the youngest players in the Arizona Fall League.
Audio: Schafer rips a walk-off double
Audio: Schafer preserves a no-hitter

Kept Their Footing

Steve Evarts, LHP: The hope was that the young lefty taken in the supplemental first round of the 2006 Draft would jump from a strong debut in the Gulf Coast League last summer to a full-season gig at age 19 this season. It didn't happen that way as Evarts served a suspension for an offseason altercation before eventually joining Danville in the Appalachian League in July. Once he did, he was outstanding, posting a 1.95 ERA in eight games, holding the league to a .214 average while striking out 34 against only four walks in 37 innings. If he can stay on the straight-and-narrow, he'll make his full-season debut at age 20 in 2008.
Audio: Evarts throws heat

Chase Fontaine, INF: After beginning his pro career as a shortstop last summer, Fontaine began to work on becoming a super-utilityman during his first full season. Between Rome and Myrtle Beach, he played short, second, third and even some outfield. He hit well enough with Rome, with a .288 average and .402 on-base percentage in 95 games, to earn a promotion to the Carolina League. Things didn't go so well there as he batted .205 in 22 games. Still, climbing a level is always a good thing and even assuming he heads back to Myrtle Beach in 2008, he'll still be only 22.
Audio: Fontaine plates a run

Cody Johnson, OF: Finding a spot for Johnson in this review was a necessity, but it was difficult. He didn't really climb the ladder, having played only in Danville. And he didn't belong in "on the radar," since as a first-round pick he never was really off it. That said, he did much more than keep his footing. After a disastrous summer debut in the Gulf Coast League following his somewhat surprising selection in the first round of the draft, Johnson took some huge steps forward in the Appy League. He was a league All-Star and also was named MiLB.com's Short-Season Offensive Player of the Year after hitting .305 with 17 homers, 57 RBIs and a 1.004 OPS.
Audio: Johnson drives in five
Audio: Johnson drills a three-run dinger

Clint Sammons, C: With Jarrod Saltalamacchia traded to Texas, there's less of a backstop logjam in the system (well, of course with the large exception of that McCann guy). Sammons took advantage, starting the year in the Carolina League, moving up to Double-A and finishing with a September callup to Atlanta, a nice reward for the Georgia native. Sammons hit a combined .249 in the Minors this year, but his defense is his calling card. He kept up that end of his game just fine, making only three errors in 82 games at Double-A while throwing out just over 48 percent of would-be basestealers in the Southern League.
Audio: Sammons hits a two-run homer
Audio: Sammons puts 'em ahead

Slipped a Rung

Eric Campbell, 3B: Come game time, Campbell is still as talented as anyone in the system. It's his commitment to daily preparation that has been an issue. As he moves up the system and the game speeds up, he'll likely learn painfully that just showing up to play isn't going to cut it. Not an excuse, but it should be noted that he's still only 22 and the hope is the adversity he faced this season will teach him that it's time to step it up a notch.
Audio: Campbell homers again

Van Pope, 3B: Pope has been viewed as the heir apparent to Chipper Jones at third base, but the jump to Double-A proved a tough one for the 23-year-old. He hit only .223 for Mississippi and his OPS dropped nearly 150 points from 2006. He was moved up steadily by the Braves since being a 2004 draftee, but it will be interesting to see if he's asked to at least start the 2008 season back at Double-A.

Cory Rasmus, RHP: While Cory's older brother, Colby, continued to excel as a top outfield prospect in the Cardinals system, Cory's first full season as a Brave was a non-starter. He barely got his feet wet in the GCL after the Braves took him in the supplemental first round of the 2006 Draft and the hope was to send him to Danville after extended Spring Training this year. Never happened. The Braves tried to rehab a shoulder injury without success, so Rasmus went under the knife and missed the entire season. The good news is he's expected to be healthy in 2008 and will pitch all year at only 20 years old.

On the Radar

J.C. Holt, 2B: When you're 5-foot-9 in this game, you constantly have to prove yourself, even if you come from a college program like LSU. Holt's been doing that ever since the Braves took him in the third round of the 2004 Draft. He spent most of this year in Double-A at age 24 -- though he more than held his own with a 13-game stint in Triple-A -- and finished the year with a .309 average and 23 steals. He was a Southern League All-Star and was faring well as a taxi squad member in the Arizona Fall League. The Braves have a decision to make with Holt as he will be eligible for the Rule 5 Draft if he's not protected on the 40-man roster.
Audio: Holt singles in a run
Audio: Holt plates two more

Kala Ka'aihue, 1B: His older brother, Kila, was "On the Radar" in the Royals system, so it made sense to make this a family affair. We had Kala in our "Under the Radar" section in the preview after the non-drafted free agent led the organization in homers, RBIs and slugging, noting that a non-drafted free agent would have to continue to prove himself in order to find a home on the radar. Consider him there. Spending most of the year in Myrtle Beach, Ka'aihue again led the organization in home runs with 22 and he slugged .583 with the Pelicans. His 33-game stint after a promotion to Mississippi didn't go well (.127 average), but the same thing happened a year ago and he made the adjustments the following year. According to that plan, he'll be a Southern League All-Star in 2008 at age 23.
Audio: Ka'aihue crushes a three-run homer

Carl Loadenthal, OF: Won't anyone give this guy some love? Another non-drafted free agent (2003), Loadenthal has done nothing but hit for average, get on base and steal bags at every level. The 2007 season was no different as the Rider University product hit .300 for Mississippi, got on base at a .380 clip and stole a career-high 40 bases. For his career, Loadenthal is hitting .297 with a .382 OBP and has had three straight seasons of at least 30 steals. Yes, he'll play next year at age 26, but he's already far exceeded expectations.
Audio: Loadenthal belts an RBI single
Audio: Loadenthal ties it up

2007 Draft Recap

1. Jason Heyward, OF: As they like to do, the Braves stayed local with a high draft pick, taking Heyward -- who's from McDonough, Ga. -- with the 14th overall selection. He didn't disappoint, hitting .302 in his brief debut (13-for-43 in 12 games). Heyward has tremendous bat speed and plenty of raw power. His plate discipline is far ahead of most high schoolers, and he should develop into a protypical right fielder in all facets of the game.

2. Jon Gilmore, 3B: The Braves went to Iowa City for their supplemental first-round pick. Taken largely because of his offensive potential, Gilmore batted .284 in 162 at-bats in the Gulf Coast League. He didn't hit for power, but it is believed he will develop that as he matures. Error totals in the GCL aren't all that important, but he did commit 14 in 40 games at third, showing that his defense is a bit behind the bat at this point.

3. Freddie Freeman, 1B: The Braves didn't sign their first second-round pick, Josh Fields, but they're glad they inked Freeman, who'd been on radar screens in the California prep scene for a long time. A left-handed pitcher and third baseman in high school, the Braves converted Freeman to first and he took to it fine, leading the GCL in fielding percentage. He picked up 224 at-bats and hit .268 with six homers and 30 RBIs over 59 games.

Others of note: After hitting .285 between Danville and Rome (he hit .313 there), the Braves sent SS Brandon Hicks (third round) to the Arizona Fall League. ... SS Michael Fisher (sixth round) started in Danville, but the Georgia Tech product got a bump to Class A Advanced Myrtle Beach, combining to hit .289. ... RHP Nick Fellman (12th) did an outstanding job as Danville's closer, saving 16 games, posting a 2.25 ERA and keeping opponents to a .157 batting average, all while striking out 46 in 28 innings. He was an Appy League All-Star. ... RHP Brett Butts (19th) pitched at three levels, ending with Myrtle Beach, during the regular season and posted a 2.61 ERA in 16 relief appearances. He then bumped to Double-A and pitched an inning of playoff ball for Mississippi.