The Rise and Falls of Fredi Gonzalez

Atlanta Braves manager Fredi Gonzalez (33) looks on pondering what he do. his options are limited and his choices always questioned. Mandatory Credit: Steve Mitchell-USA TODAY Sports

The David O’Brien interview of John Coppolella and subsequent piece by Ken Rosenthal bring into  question the future of Atlanta Braves manager Fredi Gonzalez as Braves manager. I’m firmly in the camp that says he must go; here’s why.

I said at the beginning of the season that I wouldn’t blame Gonzalez for a losing year. The roster then wasn’t good enough to win and it would get worse as the year went on. The need to change managers comes from a pattern of not delivering when the going gets tough.

How we got here

In the beginning I felt that having someone trained by Bobby Cox would be a good thing; studying under a Hall of Fame manager is a pretty good résumé bullet after all.  As the season wore on and other seasons of disappointment followed however it became obvious that studying under someone and actually learning from them is two different things.

When management finally decided a change was needed at the GM level it seemed reasonable that they would also change the manager but politics got in the way.

Bobby Cox and Gonzalez are as close as father and son. Gonzalez coached third for Cox before leaving to manager the Marlins and Cox recommended Gonzalez when he retired. That in itself was odd as Frank Wren and Cox were never on the same page about the direction of the team. In any event when Terry McGuirk ask John Schuerholz to get the team back on track his first call was to Cox.  At their press conference Cox expressed his open support for Gonzalez even though word leaked later that new President of Baseball Operations John Hart was not convinced. In the end Gonzalez stayed as a concession to Cox.

Don’t look behind the curtain

In spite of Gonzalez shortcomings and assisted by a the stumbling Mets, aging Phillies, chaotic Marlins and inexplicably inept Nationals, the Braves managed to have winning seasons However they always failed in the last lap as highlighted by the September collapse of 2012 and last year’s fade after the All Star break.

There were excuses for the collapses of course – injury to Brian McCann, Dan Uggla’s unexpected fall off the cliff as a hitter, bad choices for roaster additions but our GM at the time – and while those things affected the result questions arose about Gonzalez handling of the lineup, bullpen and inevitably the clubhouse but they were simply the most obvious signs of an annual occurrence.