Reading Between the Lines: DOB’s Interview with Atlanta Braves AGM Coppolella

Aug 15, 2015; Atlanta, GA, USA; Atlanta Braves manager Fredi Gonzalez (33) looks on from the dugout prior to the game against the Arizona Diamondbacks at Turner Field. Mandatory Credit: Jason Getz-USA TODAY Sports

The Unsaid

Almost any time we examine an interview with a General Manager, we’re looking for the things that he didn’t say.  Frank Wren was a master of this art form:  you could glean tidbits from his interviews for weeks.

As a rule, GM’s will hedge on answers – for lots of reasons – but chiefly it is because they are always playing poker with their 29 counterparts.  They all have to guess what the Braves and each other may want or need to do, for it’s all about negotiations and leverage in negotiations with these guys.  Certainly Coppolella doesn’t wish to tip his hand by making definitive declarations of future plans.

In this interview, there are two things in particular that jumped out.

Q. ARE FREDI’S AND ROGER’S JOBS SECURE GOING INTO NEXT SEASON?

As indicated above, Coppy went on at some length about how unfair it would be to judge them.  But he didn’t actually give a direct answer to the question.  He mentioned that there have been players regressing to some degree or another, that they are still playing hard every night, etc.  But he indeed left an opening… if you’d like to call it that.

Admittedly, while I’d like to read a lot more into this ‘non-answer’, I have to believe that this was a statement that probably means what it says:  that Coppy is telling not to judge Fredi and the staff harshly for this season’s results because he isn’t going to do so either.  That could change if they fail to win another game or the team is perceived to have completely quit on them (and you might already think so, but it’s not your call).  But right now at least, this disaster is the result of bad pitching and poor offense – at least a lot more so than coaching decisions.

Q. DO THE BRAVES PLAN TO POSSIBLY SPEND SIGNIFICANTLY ON FREE AGENTS TO FILL SOME HOLES THIS WINTER, OR IS THAT STILL A YEAR AWAY?

Here’s a summary of the answer given:

• We will have a lot of flexibility this winter.
• We will have more flexibility next winter.
• Wow, things have improved fast in this organization over the last year.

In other words, he didn’t actually answer the question.  But here’s my take on this non-answer:

It would have been very easy for Coppolella to say “no”.  That didn’t happen.  He did say – kinda – that spending would be possible.  I believe that means it’s likely.

The next questions that all of us will have, of course, are going to be “How” and “Who”?

Unfortunately, we “Can’t” and “Won’t” have an answer to that key question yet – for good reasons.

At the end of the year, there is generally a ‘cooling off’ period that happens… everybody gets away from the game for a couple of weeks and then comes together – coaches and management – for an evaluation meeting.  This is where strategy is discussed about who needs to stay, who needs to go, and who needs to be targeted.  It is this month’s play that may determine a lot of those decisions, so Coppy couldn’t possibly answer this question directly.

Next: So What to Do, then?