Are Frank Wren and/or Fredi Gonzalez in trouble? ABDS TAKE: Frank Wren damn well should be; signing Uggla, at the time, no one would quarrel with, but the B.J. Upton signing smacked of desperation, and overpaying FOR him only made the transaction smell worse. Fredis done about as good a job managing such a piss-poor lineup as one can ask for, and his handling of an injury-ravaged pitching staff is second-to-none, IMHO. Now, that being said, the continuation, under Fredi, of BobbyBall (no interest in station-to-station ball in manufacturing runs, but instead playing for the two or three run homer instead) is maddening. With B.J. and Jason Heywards speed, you rarely see a surprise drop-bunt for a hit or the stolen base to rattle opposing pitchers and creating run-scoring opportunities. The Braves problems are deeper than JUST a GM and manager, though; its philosophical. Since 1991, this franchise has sought to build a contender on strong and stingy pitching, with power production in the lineup to complement it. Problem is, that philosophy took root, and reaped over a dozen years of success in the roid era, and the days of the 40-50 HR hitter are long in the rear-view mirror. Since then, teams like the Red Sox and Cardinals have won MULTIPLE World Series trophies with more fundamental offensive approaches and arguably weaker - or at least no BETTER - pitching staffs. The Braves need to take a long, hard look at itself, organizationally and philosophically.
Posted on: Tue, 09 Sep 2014 16:07:31 +0000
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