Atlanta Braves future front office choices
By Fred Owens
As the MLB investigation into alleged rule violations allegedly carried out by former GM John Coppolella nears its end the question of who leads the Braves moves center stage.
Yesterday I wrote that no evidence found to date linked current Atlanta Braves President of Baseball Operations John Hart with the violations in question. The same report suggested Hart’s ‘disengaged’ management did not go unnoticed.
Hart made some perfunctory moves to stabilize the ship and keep the team moving forward, albeit slowly. However, a new GM and potentially a new president of baseball ops must be named before serious postseason decisions are made.
Many names floated so appear to be reporters rounding up the usual suspects. While one of those individuals could be hired, that’s by no means a certainty.
The usual suspects
Whenever a GM position opens, old reliable names appear of the list. The criteria seems to be either:
- a past tie to a club or to the president of baseball operations for the club,
- or a GM who recently found himself unemployed or
- somebody who floats through a some sports writer’s brain near a deadline
In this case the individual whose name the press most often mentioned – Dayton Moore – made his lack of interest known in various interviews.
In a news conference on October 18 (video link), Moore says pointed that he is passionate about being a leader in Kansas City and with the Royals. He says that he loves the Glass family and can’t think of anywhere else he’d rather be. That’s pretty definitive.
Nevertheless the Atlanta Braves reportedly contacted the Royals and owner David Glass turned down their request. When Frank Wren departed Moore’s name topped the list. Glass said then he would never stand in the way of Moore’s personal desires. Turning the request down now shields Moore from the need to publicly refuse and offer from his former team.
Other names mentioned include Ben Cherington, Omar Minaya, Dan Jennings, Doug Harris and of all people architect of the Cubs collapse, Jim Hendry. Of that list, I find Harris the most appealing but, If I was going to present a fresh face with winning credentials I’d look elsewhere.