Atlanta Braves’ GM Seems to Suggest that His Manager’s Job is Not Safe
Atlanta Braves’ GM Coppolella Did Not Give a Ringing Endorsement to His Manager in Q&A with Mark Bowman Today
Mark Bowman posted a question-and-answer session this morning with Braves General Manager John Coppolella. The overall topic were generally what you might expect: the losing streak. Bowman did not shy away from the obvious, tough questions and nor did Coppy shy away from the answers… with one exception that I’ll get to in a moment.
The Schedule and the Opportunities
We have talked about the brutal opening schedule (6 games vs. Washington; 3 vs. the Cardinals). This weekend represents one of the few ‘breaks’ coming up: the Marlins (3-4). To that subject, Coppolella said the following:
"It’s been a challenging schedule, and unfortunately, we haven’t been able to meet the challenge. The schedule will get better for us as the season progresses, but ultimately it comes down to our execution, and we haven’t played up to our abilities early in the season. It’s very disappointing."
He also pointed out something we’ve noted here as well: opportunities to win have been there. In several games, the Braves took leads into the 7th inning or later. For some reason, this team has been unable to get a timely hit or timely out (speaking to the bullpen in particular).
No Quarter for Excuses
Bowman effectively tried to see if Coppy would bite on using the injury bug as an excuse: losing Ender Inciarte (for a few weeks) and Daniel Winkler for the year. Bait was not taken:
"However, every team has injuries, and we just need to play better with the players we have who are healthy. Injuries should not be an excuse."
Furthermore, Coppy discussed the need to win:
"The Braves are a gold-standard organization, and to start out the season in this manner is embarrassing and unacceptable."
That Brings Us to the Money Quote
Here’s the question:
"Is manager Fredi Gonzalez‘s job in danger if this losing continues?"
Here’s the answer:
"We care about Fredi, and we all hope we can turn things around and start winning games. That will take pressure off everybody."
Wow…. that answer – combined with his answer to the previous question – speaks volumes. It is a classic “non-denial/denial” answer. Moreover, there wasn’t a “vote of confidence” or “his job is safe” or any thing to indicate that the actual answer to the question might be “no”.
This turn-around had better start happening quickly.
A personal note: I have written for TomahawkTake for nearly three years. In a thousand posts on this site (this one literally being post #1000), I have never called for the ouster of any coach, staff member, General Manager. It’s a personal policy thing, because I hate to see people taken away from the jobs they clearly love to do. That remains the case today. It therefore pains me to say what follows:
I am reading in the tea leaves that Coppolella has left for us that changes might very well be in the wind… and not just Fredi: “That will take pressure off everybody“, he said.
The Braves complete their road trip with three games vs. the Marlins before coming home to face the Dodgers, Mets, and Boston in succession. Monday is an off-day.
Earlier in the Q&A, Coppy mentioned that “nothing productive comes from panic”, and mentioned the time needed to complete the rebuild transformation. Yet, the other statements (noted above) seem to weigh more heavily… and change is not always done out of panic, but from a desire to fix problems.
Therefore:
The way I read this is that if the Braves do not win at least one of the Miami games… and maybe at least two… Fredi Gonzalez, bench coach Carlos Tosca and Roger McDowell could be gone on Monday.
Next: What Else Might Coppy Want to Do?
No further speculation beyond that at this time – the above is definitely going quite far enough. It sounds like Coppy might be willing to use this start – schedule considerations aside – to continue to re-form this franchise.