BFH's GM Hot Seat: New Regime, New Vision, New Focus

First of all, congratulations to former Braves pitcher Tim Hudson in finally obtaining the elusive World Series ring. I was personally hoping the Royals would win just for the sake of seeing a new uniform celebrate a championship, but a nice consolation to a boring World Series champion is knowing Huddy was able to win a championship in his career. Again, congrats Tim. You deserve it. 

With that out of the way, we'll get to the schematic I've been working on for quite some time now. Since the last time we discussed this stuff, the Braves have opted not to name a new General Manager and have basically decided to have John Hart, John Schuerholz and Bobby Cox run the personnel decisions as a three-headed monster that I am calling "The Triad". 

Some are optimistic, but I will withhold my optimism and choose careful reservation moving forward into the winter. I can't say that I entirely agreed with the way Schuerholz ran things towards the end of his tenure as the GM of the Atlanta Braves and I can't say that I'm entirely happy about John Hart joining Schuerholz and Cox to form "The Triad". While I am certain Hart is his own man and is willing to speak his mind, I'm afraid his mind is too much like Schuerholz and Cox and I will be displeased with the train wreck of a winter they have planned. 

Regardless, that's not what we're here for. What you're here for is to read about what I would do if I were the team's new GM, right? Or....at least that's what you should be here for. Otherwise what are you doing here? Are you lost? Go away, I don't have any Halloween candy for you. But I do have an idea of how I'd create my roster if I were in charge of personnel decisions, and without further delay here it is. 

BFH's GM Hot Seat: Re-Inventing the Vision

I'll be the first to admit: I like Frank Wren as a GM. He's not perfect, but he's far from God awful. That title is reserved for the game's non-elite that make GM stand for Giant Moron more so than General Manager--past names like Bill Bavasi and Dave Littlefield come to mind, as well as current GMs like Ruben Amaro Jr and Dan O'Dowd fit the bill. Nope. Frank Wren is no Giant Moron. That said, maybe Frank Wren is just a regular-sized moron; one that may be losing his job in the near future. 

If I may be candid....

I haven't written here in ages. A bit over three years, precisely. Perhaps it's just because I haven't had the energy, or perhaps it's because Frank Wren has dialed in the Braves' roster to a point where there's absolutely no guess work required in what he's able to do at the trading deadlines and during the winters. Regardless, I have some thoughts I'd like to share...and if I may, I'd like to be candid for a minute. 

The Atlanta Braves are in the midst of a 7-game winning streak, but it does not mean I think things are all hunkydory. In fact, that's why I'm writing. The Atlanta Braves bench--the quintet of Ryan Doumit, Jordan Schafer, Ramiro Pena, Dan Uggla and Gerald Laird--I have a generous compliment for you guys: All y'all suck ass. Really. I'm being nice as I possibly can.