Fredi Gonzalez Expected to Take Over as Manager

Fredi Gonzalez will be named manager of the Braves on Thursday.

Most will approve, but some will not. I do not.

Gonzalez was the easy choice. He’s familiar and he’s a student of Bobby. Most fans will find this acceptable and believe if he’s the closest to Bobby, he must be the right one, so they will back him.

No matter that he wasn’t able to command respect from his franchise player. He won’t gain the same respect given to Bobby. He doesn’t have the personality required to gain that type of respect and hard work. Despite Bobby’s in-game mistakes, he got the most from his players due to that respect. I do realize replacing Bobby is next to impossible in that regard, but when you consider it along with Fredi’s managing techniques, it’s not pretty.

If you were annoyed by Bobby’s in-game decisions, be prepared for the same or even worse. Gonzalez wrote out terrible lineups, gave away tons of outs and had the same type of bullpen management. But it’s like nobody realizes or mentions this when praising the hiring.

I want to keep an open mind, but when you pretty much know what you’re getting and you don’t like it, it’s tough. I won’t have any problem admitting I’m wrong if the Braves win the World Series next year, but if they don’t return to the playoffs, I predict a lot of it will have to do with Fredi Gonzalez.