Building Blocks

Building Blocks Building Blocks
Presence of Jones, Klesko and Lopez makes future look bright

When they were making their way through the Braves minor league system, Chipper Jones, Ryan Klesko and Javier Lopez were called "The Untouchables" for a very good reason.

They represent the Braves' future, and the thought of trading them -- then and now -- would be unimaginable.

The three best young players in the organization are the lifeline between the success of the early '90s and the hope of success in the late '90s. Many other organizations have their run at a World Championship and then the talent drains away, either via free agency or due to age.

But Jones, Lopez and Klesko are the safeguard against a major downturn in the franchise's fortunes, and that's why the Braves hope they will be different from other organizations who have gone from sizzle to fizzles in the '90s.

* The Giants haven't had a winning season since their 103-victory campaign of 1993.

* Toronto, which won back-to-back World Series in 1992 and 1993, tied Minnesota for the worst record in the American League last year.

* The Twins, who beat Atlanta in the 1991 World Series, have crashed since winning that world title. Minnesota finished 44 games out in 1995.

The Braves, meanwhile, won a World Championship in 1995, and no one is talking about rebuilding -- only repeating.

"Not only is that unique now in this era of free agency, but it's one of the few times it's ever happened in major league baseball that an organization can sustain itself over such a long period," says Chuck LaMar, the former assistant GM of the Braves who is now senior vice-president and general manager of the expansion Tampa Bay Devil Rays. "The key to being competitive year after year is having young, quality ballplayers in the pipeline.

"It's not just Chipper, Javier and Ryan. There are others coming up behind them: Andruw Jones, Tony Graffanino, Jermaine Dye, Jason Schmidt."

Jones, Lopez and Klesko are the foundation. Jones is signed through 1999, and Lopez and Klesko won't be free agents for another four seasons. Jones is 24 years old. Klesko and Lopez are 25.

"It does feel good having three quality players like that coming up," says John Schuerholz, "and that's why we tried to sign all three to long-term contracts."

As Braves fans know very well by now, these aren't merely young players with a lot of potential, the kind nearly every organization has on its roster. These are future National League All-Stars who have proven themselves in regular-season and post-season play and appear on the verge of superstardom.

Jones hit .265 with 23 home runs in his rookie season in 1995 and was runnerup for Naitonal League Rookie of the Year. He also batted a combined .364 in the post-season. After starting this season on the disabled list, he got a hit in his first at-bat and had four hits in his second game.

Klesko batted .310 with 23 homers and 70 RBIs last year, his second season with the Braves. He hit .467 in the Division Series against Colorado and .313 in the World Series with home runs in three consecutive games. The leftfielder hit seven home runs in the first 14 games this year to take the National League lead.

And Lopez hit .315 with 14 homers and 51 RBIs in 1995, his second year in the majors. Like Jones and Klesko, he also had a stellar post-season, batting .444 in the Division Series, .333 in the LCS, and contributing a game-winning home run and sensational pickoff throw in Game 2 of the World Series.

"The Braves are very, very fortunate," says Bob Quinn, the general manager of the San Francisco Giants. "It has been well-planned to have the success they've had and still have very good young ballplayers. It takes time and it takes patience. I keep a dossier about what each team has in its farm system, and the Braves have more good, young ballplayers besides those three."

How far-fetched does it sound to call the Braves the "Team of the '90s" when the '90s are just past the halfway point? It's not a reach -- not with these three players in the lineup.

Besides injecting the team with their skill, Jones, Lopez and Klesko add energy to a veteran lineup of Fred McGriff, David Justice, Mark Lemke and Marquis Grissom.

"It helps recharge your batteries to see good, young players coming along behind you," says John Smoltz. "It's a luxury, but it didn't happen overnight. An organization that does it right and honestly builds from within, more times than not, will be more successful than a team that makes the quick fix."

Adds Schuerholz, "I'm sure the veterans like to see these guys in the lineup because they can help win a game and get the Braves back to the World Series."

The Untouchables are the best of the pipeline of young players the Braves have coming along to secure the future. Schuerholz says several scouts came up to him in spring training and said they knew the big league talent was good, but they were just as impressed by the caliber of younger players in the minor leagues this season.

"The Braves have some good young players coming along where some organizations are caught in a cycle of having to sign extremely expensive older players," says LaMar. "Now, the Braves have Chipper, Javier and Ryan, and all three have relatively low salaries. They can afford them for a few years and build a team around them."

The Braves have been able to hold on to their very best prospects because they have been able to skim the cream off the top and package the rest as trade bait.

"The Braves stuck with their plan in the late '80s when they were losing a lot of games," says LaMar, "People knocked the organization, but we wouldn't trade the good, young players for a quick fix. We waited until they were ready."

The prudence of that strategy should pay off for a long time, thanks in large part to the presence of Jones, Klesko and Lopez.

By Ray Glier

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