Atlanta Braves Morning Chop: Billy Wags, Coppy Complains
Sep 30, 2015; Atlanta, GA, USA; General view of the field before the Atlanta Braves host the Washington Nationals at Turner Field. Mandatory Credit: Jason Getz-USA TODAY Sports
Braves remain steadfast as critics grow: ‘We are not tanking’
BOB NIGHTENGALE / USA TODAY SPORTS
DALLAS – Atlanta Braves general manager John Coppolella is on the other end of the telephone, seething, offended by all of the accusations.
“I know it’s hard for our fans, but I’m not running for office. We are doing what I believe is what’s best in for the long-term interest of the Braves. I’ll trust our scouts and analytics.
“I’m getting so tired of this,’’ Coppolella told USA TODAY Sports on the eve of the quarterly Major League Baseball owners’ meetings. “If guys want to take shots, or (degrade) us, fine. But let’s let it play out for a few years before we start branding our pitchforks and torches.
“I feel in my heart this is the best for the Braves.”
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“I didn’t expect it,” Simmons, now a cornerstone in Anaheim with Mike Trout, told MLB Network, “but if you see what’s happening in Atlanta … you won’t be surprised when you hear it’s happening. “I’m happy to be part of an organization that’s trying to win, win right now.”
The Braves refuse to stand by and take it. And Coppolella is livid that no one is giving them the benefit of the doubt. “There is a method to this madness,” Coppolella said. “Judge our trades in two to three years. Not now.”
If you want to know the truth, even after jettisoning 40 players over the last 13 months, the Braves hope they’re not done trading. They’d love to move the bloated contracts of outfielders Nick Swisher and Michael Bourn. If someone makes the right offer for Cameron Maybin, he’s gone, too.
But not Freeman.
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“If we truly were going to tank, we wouldn’t have had Aybar come back in the trade. If we were trying to tank, we wouldn’t have signed (catcher) A.J. Pierzynski. If we were trying to tank, we would have traded Maybin at the deadline last year, and we had plenty of offers.
“We want to win. And we will win. I’m not under any delusions that we’ll win 110 games, but we’re not going to lose 95 games again. We will win more games than we did last year.”
Yet it’s the trade of Simmons that has created all of the unrest, with folks wondering if the Braves are deliberately trying to lose as many games as possible until they move into their new SunTrust Park in 2017.
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“To us, it’s just like five years ago when the Royals traded away Zack Greinke. Everyone was saying, “What are they doing? How can you trade a 27-year-old Cy Young winner?’ Well, how did that work out for them?”
The Royals received future All-Star center fielder Lorenzo Cain, shortstop Alcides Escobar, who was MVP of the 2015 ALCS, and two pitching prospects. Now, after going 29 years between playoff appearances, they have won back-to-back American League pennants and are the reigning World Series champions.
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[ Ed. note: See the link above for more. But here’s the rub: the upper management said that this (the 2015 collapse) won’t ever happen again. Yet at this point, there is no improvement to the offense that finished last in the majors in runs scored. There is no argument here – me thinks thou doth protest too much on that point, John. Without some improvement aside from pitching, this IS a 100-loss team. There may be a plan. There may be an idea here. But there’s also not nearly enough hitting, and now the club will have to score 1-2 runs extra per week to make up for the demonstrably poorer defense.
The other problem: it took a few years for both KC and the Mets to get through their own growing pains. That’s not going to be any different here without an infusion of outside talent.
There’s still time to come up with an answer for 2016, but it’s hard to get mad at the questions when everyone on the outside is seeing exactly the same things. Welcome to the Big Chair, John. ]