Atlanta Braves: candidates for General Manager?

David O’Brien wrote a pointed piece yesterday that included more criticism of the organization that I can ever recall seeing from his keyboard.  But there was also a hint of a future… and maybe not a good one.

I have mixed feelings about whether it would be a good thing to be a fly on the wall during this week’s Atlanta Braves organizational meetings.

There are aspects that would be exciting – such as discussions on the minor leagues and many of the prospects we are drooling over.

Then there’s the mood in general – the feeling of impending doom that comes with the unknown.  Many are probably wondering if they’ll have a job in the near future or whether a prospect they are planning to have will even be permitted to stay with the club.

A chief topic has to be “who is going to run this team in the future?”  I’ve made my own feelings known – that there are two too many “Johns” running the club and the best way to clean house now is going to be… to actually clean the house.

Buried in the middle of O’Brien’s piece (a recommended full read, by the way), was his read of early GM candidates.  Let’s check the names…

• Dayton Moore
• Doug Harris
• Dan Jennings
• Ben Cherington
• Billy Ryan

In turn…

DAYTON MOORE

Been discussed – but Moore is probably the top tier available candidate even if he didn’t have John Schuerholz ties.

For him to take the job, John Hart (who supposedly had to be convinced to take the interim GM job between the Wren and Coppolella eras) has to fade away.  Ironically, this is probably one candidate that Schuerholz might trust enough to leave alone… which would be what everyone wants to see happen.

DOUG HARRIS

Currently the Nationals Assistant General Manager.  As much vitriol as we have here for the Nats, you’ve got to respect this.  Mike Rizzo – Harris’ boss – called the Braves to recommend Harris for the vacant Atlanta job.

"“I think [Harris] leads well. He administrates beautifully. He’s played. He’s scouted. He’s been in player development,” Rizzo said when asked about Harris. “He’s checked off a lot of boxes that you’d want to go through. And he’s a great communicator. Those are all important things you have to be to take the next step.”"

The 47-year-old Harris was named as Washington’s farm director in 2009, and he’s risen through the ranks to the VP/AGM level in the successive years.  He had been thought of as a future GM candidate as early as 2 years ago.  He also is a cancer survivor.

There’s another reason he could be the leading candidate aside from Moore:  he has a John Hart connection.  Here’s a quote from Hart on that subject:

"“He’d be a very strong candidate if you look at the next wave of general manager candidates,” said Atlanta Braves President John Hart, who was the Texas Rangers’ general manager when Harris was a scout there. “This guy has such tremendous character and [a] great family. He brings a field background and scouting background into everything. He understands the whole analytics and creative pieces. But he also has really good feel for players and the game.”"

If the current Powers That Be opt to stay in charge, then Harris could be the guy.