Atlanta Braves and the Great Fredi Fan Debate

Atlanta Braves Manager Fredi G. Begins 6th Season at the Helm; And He’s Not Going Anywhere Anytime Soon

Atlanta Braves manager Fredi Gonzalez has been at the helm for the Bravos for five seasons (2011-present). This season will be his 6th. Many fans are becoming more and more displeased with season after season.

Many fans were against the hiring of Gonzalez to begin with. Of course, there’s not much we can do about it. However, over the course of the last season’s second half fall, which was a bi-product of injuries mounting and moves above Fredi’s head being decided, yet, he still gets blamed for it all.

It’s easy to point the finger at one person. In almost every case, it’s the manager on the other end of that finger. We’re all guilty of it, at some point or another.

But how much influence does a manger really have on the game itself?

A prime example is Kansas City’s Ned Yost. Yost was a former coach in Atlanta when Hall of Fame manager Bobby Cox paced the dugout. Yost was ridiculed relentlessly in KC for years; he still is to an extent.

The Royals are the defending World Series Champs. But I argue that that is a reflection of the talent on the field more than it is with the brains leasing that talent in the dugout.

Fredi Gonzalez is now in the same boat. KC went through a massive rebuild that took years to complete. Atlanta is now doing that, and Fredi Gonzalez will be the man to see it through.

This won’t happen overnight, and to think that 2017 is the “judgement day” awaiting Gonzalez is foolish, but logical to assume.

Fredi inherited a fairly sound roster when Bobby stepped down. Frank Wren didn’t do his managers any favors and we all know this. It was a roster capable of winning, but not going the distance.

So the questions are, is Fredi Gonzalez a bad manager? Can this team win with him as manager? And, will he be manager for the foreseeable future? How much of a teams success is because of the manager rather than the players?

I firmly believe he is not a bad manager. This team can win with him at the helm, and as long as Bobby Cox has a say in personnel, he’ll stay there. A manager, manages players. The players play the game.

The last two seasons, there were not many people who could have won with the roster constructed. Many acknowledge this. But many also forget that first three years of his tour as Braves skipper.

Responsibility is equally shared. You win as a team, you lose as a team, and you lose with humility and grace. You win in the same fashion.

We all have our own thoughts of Fredi as a manger. Some good, most bad. However, while it’s true the manager decides things that happen on the field, and some of his choices have led to certain things happening, he can’t execute those decisions. The players have to execute.

These are professional baseball players. The best 1000 or more players in the world. They know what has to be done, how it has to be done, and when it needs to be done. A manager doesn’t manage the game, he manages the players playing the game.

His choices may impact the game, they may not. It’s no different than a pitcher deciding to throw a fastball instead of a slider and giving up a game tying or go ahead home run. Then again, that fastball could blow right by the hitter, or they could swing through it.

I understand the frustration, I do, but that’s no reason to crucify the man that does the best he can day in and day out, with what he has to work with.

The truth of the matter is, that it’s more cost effective and just plain easier to fire the manager, than trade or release 25 guys who fail to produce and send the team down a wormhole they never crawl out of.

The Braves management has to operate within their constraints. Budget is one of the biggest of those. Metrics and stats be damned.

Players don’t care about stats as much as we think they do or would like them to. they just don’t have the time to care. They are there to help front office trigger pullers make better, educated decisions; not live and die by them.

They are there to give people like us things to analyze and talk about.

The point is, Fredi knows what he is doing. The players know what they are doing. Making it to the post season is a very difficult task to accomplish. We as Braves fans were spoiled for 14 years. There is always turnover and periods of rise and fall.

The criticism will still be there. The second guessing will still be guessed at. I’ll still disagree with decisions he makes, lineup orders, and probably more things that will come during the season. But that doesn’t mean he is a terrible manager, and definitely not stupid.

I’d be willing to bet, though, that if we were put in the position to make these calls, we’d fair no better. We’re fans for a reason. They’re getting paid millions for a reason.

I’m more interested about the product on field improving and developing. Watching the growth of the wealth of talent in the minors that could possibly make it to Atlanta this season.

Next: Over/Under Contest is HERE!

I’m not going to pay too much attention to whether or not Fredi decides to send a runner from first, with 2 out and man on third, with Freddie Freeman at the plate, in the bottom of the ninth, in a one run game.

I’m Sure Freddie and Fredi, know what to do.