Message heard: Welcome to the 2010 season
See this flag? It's not that the Braves don't want another one. It's just not Frank Wren's highest priority right now. (AJC photo)
Two years ago at this time, when the Braves were coming off a non-playoff season and so many of us believed it had to be some aberration, the team’s front office had a similar delusion.
“We thought, ‘This is our opportunity. We have the assets to get arguably the best offensive player in the game — let’s make it happen, let’s go for it,” Frank Wren recalled of the Mark Teixeira trade. “Obviously, things didn’t work out.”
The ripple effects of that deal — five prospects for a star first baseman who led them to third- and fourth-place finishes — were still being felt Friday.
This was Wren’s second trade deadline as general manager since taking over for John Schuerholz (who pushed the button on the Teixeira deal). At no time has he been tempted to repeat an all-or-nothing deal.
He showed it by his actions this week. He confirmed it with his words.
Wren hasn’t given up on 2009. But 2010 ranks as a higher priority.
Whether you agree with that position, just don’t expect the message to come through during ticket commercials.
“There are times when you say, ‘We’re going all in,” Wren said. “This isn’t one of those times. We’re not at that point right now.”
Casey Kotchman for Adam LaRoche. It’s the trade that didn’t move mountains. It may or may not move the Braves in the standings.
In short, the Braves reacquired LaRoche more for his past than his present. He has a little more power than Kotchman and a history of getting hot in the second half. That’s nice, but it doesn’t mean he’s a better player today. Fact is, right now he’s not. He has more home runs (13-6) than Kotchman, but he’s hitting a career-low .248, which is 34 points less than Kotchman (.282). (In the past 22 games, Kotchman also was hitting .333 with four homers, 13 RBI and a .528 slugging percentage). Defensively, they’re a push.
If you reacted to this trade with a shrug, Wren understands. It’s a little roll of the dice.
“We’re banking on what [LaRoche] has done before,” he said. “We’ve got to find power where we can get it because we don’t have that stereotypical home-run hitter.”
The 2009 playoff hopes are not dead. They’re just kind of caught in traffic, and October may start without them. It’s a seven-team wild-card, pileup, and these things are impossible to predict.
This is when it’s difficult to be a general manager. The competitive side of you says, “Do something. Win now.” The other side says, “Sit on your hands. Be patient.”
Two weeks ago, Chipper Jones said that while it was clear the front office had made improvements to the roster, “we’ve got our eyes toward next year and the year after, and whatever comes this year is gravy.”
Wren has never hid from that perception.
“I think we’ve been pretty clear about that, even going back to spring training: We think our best days are ahead,” he said. “The level of talent we have in the minor-league system and [the talent] we have that’s getting close, is going to improve our club. Whether it’s in 2010 or 2011, we think we’re going to be better. To that end, those players that we’ve identified who are part of that improvement process, we’re not going to trade — even if it’s to improve this year and make us a few games better.”
They demoted the rookie center fielder, Jordan Schafer, because he showed he wasn’t ready. They traded the right fielder, Jeff Francoeur, because they didn’t think he ever would recover, and they weren’t about to give him a raise after the season. Martin Prado for Kelly Johnson — that was just manna from heaven.
But those changes were about trying to salvage the season, not elevating it to something special.
They tried that two years ago. Didn’t work.
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191 comments Add your comment
don
August 1st, 2009
9:13 am
It is goodto seethat the stupidity of the Teixeira trade is finally being acknowledged in and around Atlanta. The rest of baseball has known it for a long time. Some,including me, assailed the trade before it was made. Some disasters should be obvious.
VHH
August 1st, 2009
9:14 am
btw…I was a Braves fan in the 60’s…when they were really, really bad except for Aaron and Neikro.
jimmya
August 1st, 2009
9:16 am
HOW MUCH DID wren OVERPAY for lowe who did he trade for vazquez how much for kawakami any wonder where the money went for a hitter
Braves Fan Since '66
August 1st, 2009
9:17 am
Wren sucks… Sign KAMAKAZE to a 3 year, $25M contract… What an albatross… He coukd have used that money to sign Adam Dunn… We’d be in 1st place if he had made that move… Then Wren goes and signs our singles hitting, often hurt 3rd baseman to 3 more years at $15M… Wren is paying Chipper like he’s an all-star power hitter, which he is not anymore… These 2 contracts will keep the Braves out of the playoffs for the forseeable future…
Chris
August 1st, 2009
9:19 am
I don’t think this is an eye for 2010, but possibly 2012 or 2013. Freeman isn’t going to be the starter next year. And by the time the next batch of kids are ready, Wren will make some other dumb move. It’s hard for me to even watch knowing that some dumb move or decision is just around the corner.
NCBravesFan
August 1st, 2009
9:19 am
ATLFan – I checked and it looks like there would not be any draft compensation possible for LaRoche. So it comes back to Casey not being the answer for this team in the long term.
And remember – Kotch batted out of the seven hole most of the time – he’s not a key to the offense. If the Braves win the wild card, it will be because of guys like McCann, Chipper, Yunel and McLouth. Subtracting Casey doesn’t change that.
Paddy
August 1st, 2009
9:20 am
LAC Who did the Hawks hire as GM and when? I must have heard the name but it did not stick.
chris from md
August 1st, 2009
9:27 am
Hi Jeff,
Good article but I’m not sure I totally agree. If 2010 was the main priority, wouldn’t they have dealt Gonzo, Soriano, and/or Vasquez for prospects?
Chris from MD
DMac
August 1st, 2009
9:27 am
Anyone who thinks the Braves have “a chance” this year, or any other year, with the same front office and manager, is delusional. They won’t win again until they completely clean house.
Braves Fan Since '66
August 1st, 2009
9:28 am
VVH, If you were a Braves fan in the Sixties you would remember guys like Joe Torre, Orlando Cepeda, Felix Milan, Rico Carty, Felipe Alou, and Dusty Baker to name a few. I seem to remember they made the playoffs in ‘69 as well. The city was so excited they rolled the television set into my classroom and let us watch the game against the Mutts.
DMac
August 1st, 2009
9:29 am
The smartest thing anyone could do, would be to start a “Boycott the Braves” movement, to force ownerships hand to make the long needed changes in the front office and management.
DMac
August 1st, 2009
9:31 am
However no one will, because people are cattle and will eat whatever the Braves feed them.
McCann Fan
August 1st, 2009
9:31 am
Mane I hat speling mestaks.
jimmya
August 1st, 2009
9:36 am
hey dont yall know all baseball wants is our money they dont care what we think then even charging to watch it on tv send more moey they say
jimmya
August 1st, 2009
9:38 am
not me
Gabron Salome
August 1st, 2009
9:38 am
Do any of you morons pay attention? They got rid of a mediocre first baseman and freed up salary for next year. Laroche, unless he goes on a tear will be gone next year and we’ll have Freeman in the spot. Norton, gone. KJ, gone. If you wanna rant about something, lets get together and get Brooksie back up to the majors, he has the fire a young ballclub needs.
Gabron Salome
August 1st, 2009
9:39 am
Atlanta GM’s are terrible hungh? I noticed you didnt put Dimitroff in that list of names.
abudefdef
August 1st, 2009
9:43 am
DMac…you obviously haven’t been to a home game…it’s like there’s already a boycott
Big Al
August 1st, 2009
9:45 am
Wish I had known they were waiting for next year I would have waited to buy tickets till next year.
Howard
August 1st, 2009
9:45 am
One more month to position for wild card. If not in any better position at that time then I want to see Freddie at first and Haywood in right. If Freddie and Haywood prove they need more time then Braves should try to trade for Juan Pierre and play him in right field and let him lead off. They need speed at the top. Braves should have a good starting pitcher to trade. Someone, whose contract runs soon and they can save some money. With JJ and TH the Braves have two outstanding young starters to be like the old days. The others aren’t bad either and the relief pitching is better than when they won divisions. Another idea is to see if they could get a great young third baseman like Zimmerman and move Chipper to first. The point is that the Braves are not far off from being division leaders again with a few good moves and some more development of young players.
Jeff, what do you know about Cody Johnson. He hits a lot of homers in the minors. Do the Braves consider him a prospect. I never hear about him. How far away is he.
jimmya
August 1st, 2009
9:46 am
dont they even charge to watch batting pratice lol
abudefdef
August 1st, 2009
9:46 am
If we want to start a movement, let’s start the “NORTON GONE, BROOKS UP” movement!
Lash La Rue
August 1st, 2009
9:55 am
Just one Rose will do!
AndyC
August 1st, 2009
10:03 am
Yet another reference to the Tex trade. You guys are really getting lazy. Get some new material.
Roja
August 1st, 2009
10:05 am
If we are looking forward to 2010, why don’t we release Gonzo, Moylan, Norton, Kawakame, KJ, and Diory and bring up some minor league prospects to take their place now! Or as Kawakami would say: 私達が2010年に先に見れば、don’なぜ; t私達はGonzo、Moylan、Norton、Kawakami、KJおよびDioryを解放し、彼らの場所を今取るためにあるマイナーリーグの見通しを持ち出す!
abudefdef
August 1st, 2009
10:07 am
All you Chipper Bashers—who is a better switch hitter in MLB history?
Acworthdon
August 1st, 2009
10:10 am
Can’t ever go back, only forwards now. So, I’m kinna like what we have now. I see guys trying hard
and fellas I have to tell ya, we’ve got good pitching. What with everything set up for the power hitters
today and we’ve only one, I still like our chances for the balance of this year and next too. That said,
I’m gonna go to the end of the limb and say we’ll be very close to the playoffs and should we arrive there the Bravos could be great in a pitching series!
abudefdef
August 1st, 2009
10:13 am
Everyone who is claiming we’re “looking to 2010″, don’t forget we have 9 games left vs the Phillies, and are 7-2 against them so far this year…36 (I believe) games left against the NL East…
IT AINT OVER!!!
GO BRAVES!!!
Mike Jordan
August 1st, 2009
10:14 am
Wren is very overmatched. Why trade Francouer for a player who is not as good, and a hometown favorite? They could have platooned him with Diaz. The Braves have not had a good hitting lineup since Andruw Jones left. Chipper is waning in his career and no big bats are showing up. Their pinch hitter of choice, Norton, is hitting below the Mendoza line. This is the big leagues- if your farm system has better players, bring them up. If you don’t have better players down on the farm, why isn’t the GM held responsible for the lack of talent?. The pitchers can’t do it all by themselves.
john
August 1st, 2009
10:29 am
You are right. Wren trades a 280 hitter and the guy caring the braves for the last two weeks for a guy that they didnt think much of in the past and have no intention of resigning. They trade for a center fielder who cant. make contact with the ball when it matters and cant throw. Time for the Braves to trade Wren and start over
Shadetree
August 1st, 2009
10:30 am
Salome,
Bringing up Conrad will not bring fire to the club. Coxie doesn’t want fire on the club. Trading Casey was a bad deal. You notice it didn’t take long for Boston to pull that trigger. If I was Casey I would rather be a bench player for the BoSox than a starter for the Braves. We better look to the future because the only people that want to play here are the kids in the minors. No vet wants to come here. Of course unless you’re Lowe and getting paid $15 mill.
Casey for LaRoache. What a dumb arse.
Reid in EAV
August 1st, 2009
10:32 am
As someone who attended his first Braves game in 1978 and has followed the team since then, I am deeply appreciate of the fact that we’re still in the mix. As someone else put it, for many many years we were the Pirates or Nationals of our day, and I don’t take over .500 baseball for granted. I’m just glad something’s at stake and the future is bright. I’ve no real reason to complain about Frank Wren yet — anyone who knows baseball realizes that he’s done a pretty amazing job with what he has to this point. Just compare this year’s starting rotation to what we had this time last year.
I realize such a positive attitude puts me out of step with the nonstop whining from the armchair experts in this forum. And you know what? I’m OK with that.
Scott B
August 1st, 2009
10:34 am
I hope Adam can belt a few big homers along the way. I’m not counting on it, though. I hate to see Kotchman go. He never made an error in a Braves uniform. Think about that. He was a Brave for exactly a year and did not commit an error. His bat was starting to get going, too. I wish him well in Boston.
tralfaz
August 1st, 2009
10:36 am
Hey, why don’t you re-run your column crowing about how great Pendleton was, because we had a brief display of offense!
Reid in EAV
August 1st, 2009
10:44 am
Rasheed, if Prince Fielder were available, I’m sure the Braves would love to have him. Ditto Ryan Howard or Jimmy Rollins. (Let’s not forget that one of the most anticipated prospects in the organization is Jason Heyward, an African-American currently ripping the cover off the ball at AA Mississippi. And didn’t we go out and get Garret Anderson in the spring after trying and failing to land Ken Griffey Jr.?)
The Braves may not be over the hump yet, but I’m pretty sure it’s not because they’re biased against capable African-American players. Methinks if they were, Braves VP Henry Aaron would have something to say about that.
At the end of the day, it has to be about talent in the most color-blind way possible — MLB clubs can’t afford to look at it any other way. If you can hit, field or pitch, it doesn’t matter what you look like or where you’re from.
Obama is my president, too, nevermind what color he is.
chipperchop
August 1st, 2009
10:50 am
Not that I’m suggesting that we make a Wild Card push, it’s possible, but very unlikely, I would like to point out one thing. While I don’t quite understand this move for LaRoche now, (Casey Kothcman is young, cheap, and a double machine under control for a couple more years, whereas Adam LaRoche is a Free Agent after this season), I think one thing is clear. Rochey can hit. I don’t really think it is fair to judge his numbers with the Pittsburg Pirates who were selling off all their stars one right after the other. McCann and Chipper haven’t had the quite the success they normally have this year, because there is very little protection in the lineup. I think this was clearly the case with LaRoche as well. I think LaRoche should find more success in Atlanta, with better hitters, and where he is happy and well liked than he did for the Pirates, who have been awful for years. Giving Kotchman away is a bit of a head scratcher. If Wren doen’t think we are going to the post season, I am not sure why we would bother with a trade like this. It opens a whole at first, unless LaRoche resigns, and then what happens when Freddi Freeman is ready to come up to the bigs? The only thing I can think, is I have heard quite a few rumors that Kotchman did not fit into the Braves Clubhouse. Maybe that is why he had to go. And if you think about it, Boston is planning on using him as a bench/late inning replacement guy.
Larry Orange
August 1st, 2009
10:52 am
As someone who’s been following the Braves since 1972, i do remember those Pirate, Nationals days well. We are headed in that direction again if we dont get some new blood in the front office. This trade made no sense whatsoever. Instead of Niekro and Aaron, it will be Hanson and Jones.The whole front office needs cleaning out.
coach k
August 1st, 2009
10:53 am
what a dumb a** move. If you want some results, blow out Norton and Church. Bring back Brooks. Move Kawakami to the bullpen. Use Medlin to set up Soriano. When Infante is back he starts in left. Kotchman may not hit as many homers but he will save 60+ runs with his defense and he is hitting 100 point higher in the last month then LaRoche. We never give this team a chance to gel and once it was we moved Conrad back to the minors. Give me more players that have that passion… I never see this team act like a team just a bunch or individual and that I blame on Cox. And for the love of the game get rid of Norton, he is anothe Francouer in our line up, rally downer!!!!!!
Dorothy Davis
August 1st, 2009
11:00 am
I hope Adam and Chipper get in some hunting this fall, as his days are numbered. He is just a “fill in” till the best minor league prospect is ready for next year. Getting rid of Kotchman is just an indication the head office is ready to settle for a lost season and concentrate on next year. I can live with that, as I am used to that kind of thinking from Wren. The highlight this season will be that we will finish ahead of the Mets…HOPEFULLY. The good news is we got rid of Bennett.
ATLfan15
August 1st, 2009
11:03 am
well said coach k! I told my buddy the other day that this is the most uninspired bunch I’ve seen in years. trades aside, it matters when your players are fired up to play, or least that’s what I tell the Little Leaguers: ACT like you want to play, be sharp, focus on the game…..i know they make a lot of money, but it’s still a kids’ game.
Yes, Dorothy…..Amen! We are definitely not in Kansas anymore.
(blatant movie reference….which one was it?)
Lee Raines
August 1st, 2009
11:07 am
2010; 2011; 20whenever. The Braves will not become a contender until “plate power” is added into the lineup. A lineup needs more than two or three fairly CONSISTENT hitters. There must be hitters across the lineup. This is one area; the other is the bullpen. The Braves must acquire relievers who are truly “stoppers” and “holders.”
Many trades made this year have simply not been good ones.
jimmya
August 1st, 2009
11:10 am
hey send me some blacks that have power or speed i am white but these white boys aint getting it done
Hillbilly Deluxe
August 1st, 2009
11:10 am
Mark Bradley goes on a 3 day brainstorm and Kotchman gets traded for LaRoche. Coincidence? Perhaps; perhaps not.
Sonny Clusters knew what underwear Francouer had on at the Dairy Queen?
The Braves did indeed make the playoffs in 69. The Mets rolled over ‘em like a locomotive. I was there, very top row of the upper deck, dead away center field. Could barely see the field but great view of the skyline when the games got out of hand.
erik
August 1st, 2009
11:17 am
Hey,
Lets look at this from a 2010 standpoint. The pitching staff is solid and will only get better with the return of Hudson. We lose 2 contracts in Frenchy and Kotchman and gain two free agents in Church and LaRoche. Next year we can bring in a bat to assist the half way decent offensive the Braves field. The free agent pool will have some good players Lets go afer Matt Holliday. Also for all of you that cused wren for the Smoltz deal look how that has worked for Boston ( a 2-4 record with a 7.12 era). For as much as people want instant gradifacation sit back and wait. Frank Wren has a plan and he seems to have a good idea of what he is doing.
Always Next Year
August 1st, 2009
11:25 am
I can not believe what I’m hearing, everybody is looking to 2010 but are you losing your memory we can’t beat the Philadelphia Phillies who just added a CY Young pitcher without losing their farm system. Braves fans get your heads out of the clouds and wake up! The Braves are not better than Florida Marlins, wake up Please!
coach k
August 1st, 2009
11:30 am
if you want change lets move Cox and Pendleton. The buttons are not getting pushed and these guys argue balls and strikes more than trying to figure out who should be hitting, Norton?? oh an why was freaking Moylan hitting when Soriano was coming in with men on base, you still had Ross on the bench, this is the typ of brainless s##$ we have had t put up with for 15yrs, Smoltz, Maddox Glavine are not going to save your butt any longer!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Always Next Year
August 1st, 2009
11:38 am
All I’ve been hearing is how good the chemistry was with the group of players including Casey Kotchman who hadn’t hit until this past July and then management changes the chemistry for a loser who you shipped out of here. The psychologist the old Braves hired for John Smoltz is he still available so he can bring Braves management to their senses!
Rufus
August 1st, 2009
11:40 am
The Brave remind me of a dog chasing its tail, time after time.
hop
August 1st, 2009
11:41 am
sorry always next year, florida has proven for many years that it is a better organization than the braves and they have spent far less money by winning two world series to the braves one!
EJ
August 1st, 2009
11:53 am
If this keeps up, we will bring back the oldies but goodies….