Braves Front Office Shakeup

After being swept by the Mets on Sunday mathematically eliminated them from the playoffs rumors that the Braves front office rebuilding could start today.

Front Office Shakeup

The rumor mill kicked into high gear bright and early this morning when David O’Brien sent out this breakfast in Atlanta tweet.

That rumor was supported quickly by the ever dependable Ken Rosenthal

Both men were right. At 10:51 EDT XM Radio reported and the AJC confirmed the Braves have fired Frank Wren and that John Hart will step in as acting GM while the search for a replacement goes ahead.

When Hart was hired as an advisor to Schuerholz last October I suggested that Hart might end up being more than an advisor. The front office was in turmoil after losing Dave Wallace and Dick Balderson and nearly losing Roger McDowell to the Phillies and Hart provided an outside and impartial voice.

Who Is John Hart?

I wrote the following in my post last November.

"Like many older baseball execs, Hart started out as a player but didn’t quite have what it took for the majors. He worked his way up through the ranks earning his stripes as a minor league manager for six years and eventually third base coach for the Expos. He moved back to minor league management with the Indians in 1989 and even had 11 games managing in Cleveland after Doc Edwards was fired that year.  In 1990 he became Director of Baseball Operations and in 91 took over as GM. While he was GM the Tribe put up a 870-681 record winning six AL Central titles in seven years 995-99 and 2001) and reaching the World series twice; 1995 and 1997.  He took over an organization that was a joke in baseball circles, played in a ballpark called “the mistake by the lake” and in a city opposing teams hated to visit. While there he revitalized the franchise, brought in a young staff – all of whom went on the be successful GMs – and woke up baseball fans in Cleveland where they set a record of 455 consecutive sellout games.  What fans outside of Cleveland remember about Hart was his at the time bold move to lock in his younger star players like Jim Thome, Manny Ramirez, and Charles Nagy in long term contracts before they were close to free agency. While there he became close friends with another successful GM; John Schuerholz."

Like Schuerholz Hart is considered a future Hall of Fame GM but at 66 he’s likely not interested in long term possession of the job. The search for the next GM will be led by Schuerholz, Hart and Bobby Cox and I expect it to be  a wide ranging search as the choice of Hart as interim GM casts doubt John Coppolella continuing the internal line of succession the Braves have traditionally used.

That’s a Wrap

It is reasonable to assume that more changes are coming. I believe Fredi Gonzalez should go as well. Managing when times are great is easy but when times get tough a manager earns his paycheck.   Gonzalez has shown a complete inability to lead when times are tough. The hitting coaches will go as well and I believe the only coaches of significance that will remain is McDowell -who could well be the next Braves manager- and Eddie Perez.  When more is known on the Braves front office shakeup or changes in leadership in the clubhouse we’ll keep you in the loop here at the Take.