House That Hank Built
Fansided

Atlanta Braves could “look at anybody” to win

By Alan Carpenter

OKINAWA, JAPAN - APRIL 25: Tourists look at a whale shark through the world's largest acrylic panoramic window at the Okinawa Churaumi Aquarium April 25, 2003 in Okinawa, Japan. The aquarium is Japan's largest and is the second largest in the world. (Photo by Koichi Kamoshida/Getty Images)
OKINAWA, JAPAN - APRIL 25: Tourists look at a whale shark through the world's largest acrylic panoramic window at the Okinawa Churaumi Aquarium April 25, 2003 in Okinawa, Japan. The aquarium is Japan's largest and is the second largest in the world. (Photo by Koichi Kamoshida/Getty Images) /
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ATLANTA, GA – MARCH 29: Fans walk in The Battery Atlanta prior to Opening Day at SunTrust Park between the Atlanta Braves and the Philadelphia Phillies on March 29, 2018 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images)
ATLANTA, GA – MARCH 29: Fans walk in The Battery Atlanta prior to Opening Day at SunTrust Park between the Atlanta Braves and the Philadelphia Phillies on March 29, 2018 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images) /

The Background

Kincade then educated Anthopoulos on the “vibe” around the ballpark and how different it was this season:  both from the fans and in the amenities – particularly Battery Atlanta.  Turns out AA has only recently been able to check that out:  when he interviewed, it was “pretty much [an] all night” session as he was shuttling between World Series games and Atlanta, so the first time he’d seen the place in daylight was the first day he came to work!

Kincade says the crowd is arriving an hour earlier than last year… and cites the team’s record as the key factor behind that.  AA agrees that once that really start winning, the place will become “electric”.

Something else of note.  You wouldn’t have seen this by listening to the full interview over the air, of course, but since this tweet came with its own video, we could see it.

The picture was of a relaxed and confident Alex Anthopoulos.  His body language was of someone ready and willing to answer any questions – he even said as much – and without evasion (other than not venturing into areas he clearly couldn’t discuss).

This was an interview with someone who genuinely wanted to share information with fans that are happy to hear from him – and he knows it.  Things are going well for him and that message carried through his whole demeanor.

Making Plans, Changing Plans

JK:  You wouldn’t put numbers on it… when we talked about it in the Spring, and I had said to everybody ‘look, it’s not about 2018, it’s about getting ready for what the future of this Braves team is’.  Now what happens is – doing this show on a daily basis – these fans are all lit on 2018.”

AA:  “Great!”

JK:  “How do you balance out what I know you had as a long-term view for the franchise but when a team [unintelligible] comes out of nowhere… how do you massage the plan?”

AA:  “Well you still stick with it.  It doesn’t change things because… like everyone will say – every GM will take a job and say ‘sustainable success! sustainable success!’, and of course everybody wants to win every single year, so it isn’t anything new.

“Sometimes I think as an industry we get a little bit too caught up on the ‘sustainable’ part and defer, defer, defer, defer… you never get to the winning.  So I do think when the success comes, embrace the success and don’t miss the opportunity that’s right in front of you right now.

“So from our standpoint, we want to develop Luiz Gohara as a starter.  Could Mike Soroka have had more innings down in Gwinnett to develop more?  Of course he could of.  But we’re in a position as a team that we’re playing well, we have a good club, we’re competitive, we have a chance to win this thing, and that’s where you’re starting to balance it.

“So if Luiz Gohara gets a few innings in the bullpen, it’s not going to ruin his development forever, and we’re developing these guys to win up here, and sometimes you can lose sight of the fact that the winning is what it’s all about.  Everything we do, everyone talks about the prospects, the farm system, and all that type of stuff; it’s so we can win.  And I do think you can forget why we’re here.

“So winning is what we’re trying to do; and [that’s] certainly important.  We’re always gonna have an eye on the long view; we’re always gonna worry about development.  But you’re balancing it out, so whether it’s trades or things like that, you’re always going to balance out the short term and the long term, but:  opportunities to win – guys stay healthy, guys are having good years – … you need to take advantage of those while also maintaining an eye on the long term.”

  • Okay, that was a long answer, but I put the whole thing in there for one key tenet of his statement:  ‘you need to take advantage of those [winning opportunities]‘.
  • My interpretation of this is fairly simple:  he’s not one to go ‘all in’ for a winning opportunity, but he is absolutely not going to ignore one either.
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