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Atlanta Braves Prospects, Coaches and Executives Talk Rebuild at Hot Stove Event

By Blake Silvers

Nov 8, 2016; Scottsdale, AZ, USA; Atlanta Braves general manager John Coppolella during the MLB general managers meeting at the Omni Scottsdale Resort. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports
Nov 8, 2016; Scottsdale, AZ, USA; Atlanta Braves general manager John Coppolella during the MLB general managers meeting at the Omni Scottsdale Resort. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports /
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May 24, 2016; Atlanta, GA, USA; Atlanta Braves manager Brian Snitker (43) in the dugout before a game against the Milwaukee Brewers at Turner Field. Mandatory Credit: Brett Davis-USA TODAY Sports
May 24, 2016; Atlanta, GA, USA; Atlanta Braves manager Brian Snitker (43) in the dugout before a game against the Milwaukee Brewers at Turner Field. Mandatory Credit: Brett Davis-USA TODAY Sports /

Coppolella on Randy Ingle

“Randy Ingle is awesome. He and Snit are cut from the same cloth. Randy is a special, and he’s perfect for these kids. He’s kind of like John Wayne. He’s a big guy, deep voice, and he’s a perfect guy for them. We always talk about ‘we and us.’ It’s not about any one person; Randy Ingle and Brian Snitker are ‘we and us’ kind of guys.”

Coppolella on success at Rome throughout the farm system in 2016

Finally, I asked the Braves GM what it meant to his vision for the organization to have so much success and playoff experience in the minors this past season. “It means a great deal to us. It’s something that the Braves organization takes great pride in.”

More from Tomahawk Take

Coppy also spoke highly of the Rome club, specifically. “This is a team that’s special for so many reasons. Number one it was the youngest team in the South Atlantic League in well over a decade; number two, just the way the guys got better as the year went on. They played for each other, they played to win; number three, we don’t ever stack teams to win.

I don’t want to win with guys who are 25 in Rome, to the point where we send Patrick Weigel to up to double-A with a few weeks left, because we’re more concerned about giving Patrick a good opportunity, helping his career get advanced, than we were with trying to win games.”

Of Rome’s youth in 2016, Coppolella spoke about setting up young players for success. “If we’re going with young kids, and we’re putting them in the right spots to be successful, and to see what these guys did; to see in their two [playoff] series, the four guys to start, all four of them threw so well, all four of them are first round picks, all four of them fed off of each other. It’s big for us.”

Coppy doubled down on the bottom up theme, emphasizing the importance of keeping teams heavy on Braves prospects. “We’ve won minor league championships with guys who were not part of the Braves future. To win it with so many players on this [Rome] team who are so big a part of our future, it means a great deal. The fact that this was the Baseball America Team of the Year, the fact that this team was so young, and that this team won and kept getting better.”

Next: MLBPipeline: Do We Hate Their New Top 100?

“There’s a reason we all showed up for this,” Coppolella said. “We have so much pride in what this team did, and we have such high hopes for the futures of these kids.”

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