Smoltz - Minor Leagues and Trade To Atlanta

Minor Leagues and Trade To Atlanta

John Smoltz was an All-State baseball and basketball player at Waverly High School in Lansing, Michigan before the Detroit Tigers drafted him in the 22nd round of the 1985 amateur draft. He was the 574th selection of the draft.

Smoltz played initially for the Lakeland Tigers minor league team and then moved on to the Glens Falls Tigers in 1987. On August 12, 1987, he was traded to the Atlanta Braves. The 1987 Tigers were in a three-team race, chasing the Toronto Blue Jays for the AL East division lead. In need of pitching help, Detroit sent their 20-year-old prospect to the Braves for the 36-year-old veteran Doyle Alexander. While Alexander did help the Tigers overtake the Blue Jays for the AL East title, he was out of baseball by 1989. Smoltz, on the other hand, would become one of the cornerstones of the Braves franchise for the next two decades.

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