Jeff Passan of Yahoo sports reports that John Hart has finally convinced his good friend John Schuerholz that he doesn’t want the job.
Sources: John Hart has turned down the Braves' offer to be GM. For now, Atlanta focused on AGM John Coppolella and Royals GM Dayton Moore.
— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) October 15, 2014
Passan says Hart press in with his original plan to remain an advisor instead of shouldering the Braves GM burden for one last fling.
Hart plans to stay on in advisory role. Atlanta essentially threw a blank check at him, but he did not want the rigors of the 24/7 GM job.
— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) October 15, 2014
While Dayton Moore’s name continues to be discussed as a possibility Passan says no talks have taken place.
Braves have yet to speak with Dayton Moore and do not know level of interest. Doubt in Atlanta org whether he'd leave Kansas City.
— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) October 15, 2014
I’ve said before that it makes absolutely no sense for Moore to leave as his team is about to jump into the World Series. The other name suddenly surfacing again is former Rockies GM Dan O’Dowd.
Another name that has been bandied about: Former Rockies GM Dan O'Dowd, whose ties with John Hart go back to their days in Cleveland.
— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) October 15, 2014
O’Dowd’s name came up initially but he was still GM in Denver at that time. Rockies fans were however as eager to see him leave town as we were to see the back of Frank Wren. He has the advantage of having been Hart’s right hand man in Cleveland
Denver has been a black hole for GM’s as it’s been impossible so far to put together a pitching staff that works there. O’Dowd’s results were mixed at best in Denver and whether he’s close enough to the Braves way to come to Atlanta is unlikely. Another name that’s been floated in the past but brushed off by the “Hart will be GM” brigade is Gerry Hunsicker.
Hunsicker started off with the Mets organization and became minor league operations and assistant general manager before moving on. He moved on to become General Manager of the Astros from November 1995 through 2004 and is the longest serving GM in Astros’ history. After the 2005 season he moved to Tampa and became President of Baseball Operations for the Rays, serving in that position through the 2011 season. In 2012 he left the Rays to become Senior Advisor of Baseball Operations for the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Hunsicker was reported to be on John Schuerholz short list in 2007 but he decided to promote Wren instead.
Speculation is bound to heat up and as soon as we learn more we’ll get it to you here on the Take