David O’Brien wrote a pointed piece yesterday that included more criticism of the organization that I can ever recall seeing from his keyboard. But there was also a hint of a future… and maybe not a good one.
I have mixed feelings about whether it would be a good thing to be a fly on the wall during this week’s Atlanta Braves organizational meetings.
There are aspects that would be exciting – such as discussions on the minor leagues and many of the prospects we are drooling over.
Then there’s the mood in general – the feeling of impending doom that comes with the unknown. Many are probably wondering if they’ll have a job in the near future or whether a prospect they are planning to have will even be permitted to stay with the club.
A chief topic has to be “who is going to run this team in the future?” I’ve made my own feelings known – that there are two too many “Johns” running the club and the best way to clean house now is going to be… to actually clean the house.
Buried in the middle of O’Brien’s piece (a recommended full read, by the way), was his read of early GM candidates. Let’s check the names…
- Dayton Moore
- Doug Harris
- Dan Jennings
- Ben Cherington
- Billy Ryan
In turn…
DAYTON MOORE
Been discussed – but Moore is probably the top tier available candidate even if he didn’t have John Schuerholz ties.
For him to take the job, John Hart (who supposedly had to be convinced to take the interim GM job between the Wren and Coppolella eras) has to fade away. Ironically, this is probably one candidate that Schuerholz might trust enough to leave alone… which would be what everyone wants to see happen.
DOUG HARRIS
Currently the Nationals Assistant General Manager. As much vitriol as we have here for the Nats, you’ve got to respect this. Mike Rizzo – Harris’ boss – called the Braves to recommend Harris for the vacant Atlanta job.
"“I think [Harris] leads well. He administrates beautifully. He’s played. He’s scouted. He’s been in player development,” Rizzo said when asked about Harris. “He’s checked off a lot of boxes that you’d want to go through. And he’s a great communicator. Those are all important things you have to be to take the next step.”"
The 47-year-old Harris was named as Washington’s farm director in 2009, and he’s risen through the ranks to the VP/AGM level in the successive years. He had been thought of as a future GM candidate as early as 2 years ago. He also is a cancer survivor.
There’s another reason he could be the leading candidate aside from Moore: he has a John Hart connection. Here’s a quote from Hart on that subject:
"“He’d be a very strong candidate if you look at the next wave of general manager candidates,” said Atlanta Braves President John Hart, who was the Texas Rangers’ general manager when Harris was a scout there. “This guy has such tremendous character and [a] great family. He brings a field background and scouting background into everything. He understands the whole analytics and creative pieces. But he also has really good feel for players and the game.”"
If the current Powers That Be opt to stay in charge, then Harris could be the guy.
DAN JENNINGS
Jennings was GM under the thumb of former Marlins’ owner Jeffrey Loria, so it is truly difficult to get a read on how well he did his job… even before he decided to become the manager in 2016.
Certainly, his team on the field endured a tremendous amount of turmoil, tragedy, and general adversity. That said, the Fish have a great core of young players in the field (never mind that they are preparing to ship off some of them).
When the Fish fired him after 2016, Jennings still actually had 2 years left on his contract – which runs through 2018. He was picked up by Mike Rizzo to be a ‘Special Assistant’ to the GM, which made the Marlins complain – and ultimately lose – about still having to pay Jennings while he worked for a division rival.
So much Marlins.
BEN CHERINGTON
Now a VP of Baseball Operations with Toronto, Cherington – still only 43 years old – was the Red Sox GM from 2011 until his resignation late in the 2017 season after Dave Dombrowski had been brought in as baseball operations President.
Cherington’s reign was spotty… he hired Bobby Valentine as manager… that didn’t go well. He then hired current manager John Farrell.
In terms of players, Cherington had money to spend and he spent it – though not always wisely.
- Jake Peavy – was okay in 2013 (2n half), but not very good for them in 2014’s first half.
- Pablo Sandoval – this was a bad contract from the moment the ink hit the paper
- He was able to unload multiple huge contracts in a massive Dodgers’ trade in 2012 – sending Josh Beckett, Carl Crawford, and Adrian Gonzalez west.
- The Red Sox was the 2013 World series on his watch.
Hard to imagine what Cherington would do on a smaller budget, but the current Red Sox team owes its home-grown roots to Cherington’s leadership.
BILLY RYAN
Ryan was an Assistant GM under Coppolella until being reassigned as part of the attempt to purge ‘dissenting voices’ as O’Brien termed the August moves.
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Ryan would be the ultimate ‘internal candidate’, having been in the front office since late 2014. His role is currently a bit fuzzy: he had been Director of Baseball Operations and was moved to ‘Special Assistant’ status after the August shuffle. He had been a professional scouting director previously, so he certainly knows the system.
His previous background includes stints as a scouting supervisor with the Indians, a Labor Relations agent for MLB, and AGM of the Diamondbacks – so he is not exactly a newbie to the intricacies of the position.
Ryan’s presence would serve both as a show of continuity to the organization and a means to keep John Hart in his current advisory role.
That’s the current list… which may or may not be the full list under consideration by the Braves. But it’s a fair guess that one of these men will be running their ship before December.