Wren’s problem: He hasn’t earned benefit of doubt
Here's Troy Glaus looking at a called third strike Wednesday night. He's hitting .203. So much for that experiment.
Frank Wren spent Wednesday at a high school game, coughing from pollen that triggers his allergies. That night, the Braves lost their eighth straight game in St. Louis, coughing from their apparent allergy — the other team.
They can’t hit long. They can’t hit short. Some nights they can’t field. Some nights they forget to tag up. Usually, they can pitch pretty well, although St. Louis hung 10 on them Thursday and there are some nights when Derek Lowe looks like he’s allergic to mounds.
When the Braves broke spring training, they looked like a possible playoff team. Now they have the second-worst record in baseball.
What is Wren doing about it? Nothing. Not trading. Not panicking. Not even twitching. Just waiting for the rain to wash away the pollen.
He will tell you the Braves have the advantage of time. But don’t even baseball time frames get shortened when a team has its longest losing steak since 2006 (the same year this non-playoff string began)?
“You can go from last place to first place pretty quickly this time of year,” he said. “I know everybody is jumping off the ship now. But this is like if the Falcons had played two games. We’ve only played one-eighth of the season.”
The math is accurate. But in the NFL, nobody asks, “When is the last time we lost two in a row?” When losing streaks are being researched, there’s a problem.
The Braves lost Thursday, 10-4. That makes nine straight. One more and marketing is going to have to start including lobster with the all-you-can-eat seats.
Their record is 8-14. They’ve been outscored 16-4 in the last two days. Total offense in the nine losses: 17 runs (including three shutouts).
Wren is preaching patience. If he is having a hard time finding support, it’s because that philosophy carries more weight when the preacher has a resume. The Braves have missed the playoffs four straight seasons. Wren is 0 for 3 since taking over. When the team hit a bump during John Schuerholz’ regime, it was easy to remain calm. Wren hasn’t earned the benefit of the doubt.
The leadoff spot figured to be a problem. It is. Chipper Jones’ health and production figured to be questions. They are. Troy Glaus figured to be a risk. Confirmation received. Nate McLouth, Melky Cabrera – it doesn’t end.
It was easy during the 10-game losing streak in 2006. You could look into the bullpen and say, “Their fault.”
Most of Bobby Cox's problems haven't been on the mound (Derek Lowe notwithstanding).
Now, the problems are everywhere. Every day is a new Bobby Cox lineup. Wednesday included six starters hitting .203 or less. Thursday’s lineup opened with Cabrera and Yunel Escobar, both hitting .197. (The blip is Martin Prado. He has no allergies.)
Wren said he is free to make a trade. He said, “We have some flexibility in our payroll,” though he didn’t quantify that.
“The other factor [in a trade] is how it affects us talent-wise. We have a farm system that we’re carefully stocking. We don’t want to do something that will lessen our ability to compete long term.”
It’s at this point that I mention the name: Mark Teixeira. In 2007, the Braves dealt a boatload of prospects to Texas for Teixeira. They hoped he would turn them into a World Series team. He didn’t. The thought occurs that memories of that deal would dissuade the Braves from making a significant prospects-for-All-Star trade again. (San Diego’s Adrian Gonzalez comes to mind.) But Wren said no.
“The Teixeira trade hasn’t impacted us at all,” he said. “If you look at the players we gave up, I’m not sure it’s had any effect on the major league club. We had Escobar ahead of [Elvis] Andrus at shortstop, we had [Brian] McCann ahead of [Jarrod] Saltalamacchia at catcher, the other guys wouldn’t have made our club. Neftali Feliz would be in our bullpen.”
So you wouldn’t be gun shy?
“No, not at all. We’ll make a trade if we feel it helps us.” But he added he won’t deal a prospect whom he feels can be part of the Braves’ future. That list presumably begins with Freddie Freeman.
It’s the end of April. General managers “tend to look at the quarter-poll,” Wren said. “Mid-May is when you start to get a sense where your club is. Really, June 1 is when you start making decisions.”
The math could work out. But if 8-14 turns into 16-28, just remember how early the cough started.
♦
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548 comments Add your comment
escobar
April 29th, 2010
10:14 am
EW…but we would not need wagner and used that money in ofense.
if we had wainwraight, we would not need lowe…that is 23 mill…or 17 after their salaries.
Supes
April 29th, 2010
10:14 am
Jeff…I’m trying to decide which closer sucked more…Wickman or Dan Kolb…remember those experiments at the end of the pen? Yeah, both John S. moves btw…makes you think.
ashvilledawg said it best…Braves season doing well dependent on a bunch of “IF’s” happening…none of which are…when you add struggling McCann, Chipper trying to be hero playing less than 100% which actually hurts the team…other than his “mighty presence” and walks what else can he do that Infante can’t at 3B?
This Braves team is FLAWED big time, and getting exposed.
Lets hope Chipper retires after this season like he said he would (if he had another statistically down year, which all indicators point to the repeat of last), maybe that will save some payroll…and maybe Wren can do a salary dump on Lowe to the Yankees or Boston…
Either way, those 2 contracts are like a boat anchor around the Braves with their payroll restrictions. Don’t let Wren spin it…there are PAYROLL restrictions. Which is why our big OF acquisition was MELKY and why our big 1B bat is Troy Glaus.
EW
April 29th, 2010
10:14 am
Until we realize that we aren’t the team with 3-4 Hall of Famers in our pitching rotation like in the 90’s and actually have to score runs we won’t improve. We HAVE to spend money on offense. Glaus was a budget shot in the dark move coming off of surgery..oh and he’s playing out of position…reminds me of the Guinness commercials..GENIUS!!!…i digress…we have consistently had a power outage in the outfield (hoping Heyward will be a partial solution), Chipper is broken down at third and can’t hit for power, is slower to get to his signature charge and bare hand throw to first play (when he’s not Oleeeing balls at 3rd), Escobar is in his own frosted tips universe playing to the beat of his own drum…Melky..well who cares til he does something…anything!…the list goes on…sad sad times to come I am afraid.
paul
April 29th, 2010
10:15 am
I still have flashbacks from the game at Coors field when the Braves came back and got the lead in top of the 9th. Kolb blew the game and the water cooler went adios. Loved seeing the coolers go flying.
Rough Estimate
April 29th, 2010
10:15 am
I know it is still very early in the season, but if the Braves continue on this track, I would like to see a total “house cleaning” and trade Chipper, Lowe, Melky, Glaus, Kawakami, McClouth, for anything you can get. Hopefully get some prospects in return, and begin building around Hanson, Heyward, Jurrjens, Escobar, McCann, Prado, Schafer, Freeman. Getting rid of these aging players would free up significant money to go after some legitimate hitters in the offseason.
Falkor
April 29th, 2010
10:15 am
This is the 1st time I have ever criticized Bobby Cox, but you have to manufacture runs when you can’t hit home runs. We’ve have made no attempts to do so except for the standard bunt by the pitcher.
It may have worked when Chipper was in his prime, and we had other power hitters like Andruw, Gallaraga, Javy, Sheffield etc but obviously it isn’t working in recent years.
I watch 150 games a year, but it is nearly impossible for me not to change the channel once we are down by 2 or more runs. I thought 08 was bad when we had no starting pitching, but this is even worse b/c we SHOULD be winning games.
Oh, and Wren sucks too BTW….
Ray B
April 29th, 2010
10:15 am
I agree with comment about Infante. Also, Hinske. Until the rest of the lineup perks up (if they ever do), I’d have Infante & Hinske in there every game, somewhere. They’re both pretty flexible as to what position they can play. Maybe they’re not considered your best defensively, but that part of the team has sucked lately too.
ShortBravesFan
April 29th, 2010
10:15 am
I know everyone will disagree with me but I STILL think Braves are going to turn it around! I SURELY hope they win their last game against Cards and come home and beat the Astros! Still time. Just be patient! These are still good players, they just need to WAKE UP!
Don’t get me wrong, I’m still bitter about our losing streak. They act like they’ve never swung at a baseball before! BUT I don’t believe they will be in last place in NL East for long. Just gotta hit hit hit! COME ON BRAVES!
Any other optimistic Braves fans out there?
jod
April 29th, 2010
10:16 am
Please fire booby cox….. why does everyone ignore the elephant in the room?
eastbound and down
April 29th, 2010
10:17 am
Wren is a fool. he has tried to fill position players on the cheap (Glaus, Cabrera, McLousy, etc.) while overpaying for pitchers (Low, Kamikaze) of course he thinks he is doing a great job. just ask him. the standings speak for themselves. yes, you can go from the bottom to the top quickly, but you can also go from the top to the bottom quicker (8-5, 8-12)
EW
April 29th, 2010
10:17 am
escobar….IF we had wainwright….nothing we can do now…lowe was a good move but it turned out not as good as hoped..if he were the ace we paid him to be nobody would complain bc we’ve always built around defense and pitching..to that end, I think Wagner is solid and I like knowing he’s there to close the door..now if we can ever get him the ball with the lead….
wintervilledawg
April 29th, 2010
10:18 am
Chipper said he would retire if he wasn’t able to help the team. I would hope there is a clause that he doesn’t get paid if he retires.
Do not make any trades that effect us long term. I thought Wren did a great job last year putting together a competitivet team. This year it just is not working out but that’s what happens when you expect old injured stars to be you power production. They took a risk and now it is biting them. I’d rather have a season tank than to trade away the future trying to put together a possible playoff run that probably won’t pan out in the end anyway. As for Schurholz, aside from the assembly of the 91 team he has done more to damage this team. The Justice for a one year rental of what’s his name was one of the worst and then Wainright for Drew and of course Texierra were just awfull, awfull deals.
Rough Estimate
April 29th, 2010
10:18 am
I agree that if we can’t hit homeruns, we have to find ways to manufacture them. Unfortunately, Braves teams have never benn built around speed. That last legitimate base-stealing threat and decetn bunter we had was Otis Nixon. A team with no one that hits homeruns, and no one that can steal bases, bunt, put pressure on the defense, etc. is doomed.
Chris
April 29th, 2010
10:18 am
With the talent on this team and arguably the best 1-12 pitching staff in the NL there is no reason for this team to be in last place let alone have an 8 game hitting streak. This falls on management and coaching. Look at the year Kelly Johnson is having. 8 homeruns… are you kidding me? I understand with the emergence of Prado, 2B was filled but why couldn’t Kelly move back to his corner outfield spot where he ismore comfortable anyway? Even the free-swinging Francouer has shown more patience this year under his new hitting coach. It seems that every time a hitter gets away from Pendleton they get much, much better. I’m also getting a little sick and tired of Bobby’s loyalty to his vets. Hinske and Infante need to be given shots at an everyday job. They can’t possibly be worse and who knows they might end up takign a job away like Prado did last year. I am a huge Chipper Jones fan. He and Griffey, Jr. are my two favorite players of all-time (I’m only 26). But I think he is done. The power is gone and his strikeouts look awful. I’ve never seen Chipper look this lost at the plate before. His bat looks really slow and it doesn’t seem like he is enjoying the game anymore. The only problem is we have no heir-apparent at 3B. Again, I am young so I’ve been a bit spoiled in my lifetime when it comes to the Braves but this has been the worst stretch of games I have ever witnessed. The worst part of it is Wren’s lack of urgency. He’s right it is early. Early enough to make a move or two and climb back into the standings. If he waits until June with this current team we will be so far out of it we will end up being sellers not buyers. His lack of desire to win really pisses me off. If I was an owner and read the comments he made above he would be in my office first thing this morning and he would probably be packing up his desk. This shows lack of respect for the people who sign the checks, the players who want to win, the fans who want to win, and especially for Bobby.
Alphare
April 29th, 2010
10:20 am
Jeff, what’s so hard to understand the problem the braves are facing? Sorry, I don’t really mean you don’t understand, I mean Frank.
When Braves are good, they have Chipper, Andruw, and McGriff(or Galaraga later), combined they could hit 120homers a year.
Now Chipper is gone, Andruw is gone, McGriff is gone, who are there to replace them? Cheapper/Melky/Glaus.
Of course the braves are who they are today.
ChippersLoveChild
April 29th, 2010
10:23 am
Easy to say that, but Salty could be playing first by now instead of Glaus, like they experimented with before dealing him, Andrus could be at SS, with Yunel at 3rd… Chipper and the remaining money owed to him could be gone to an AL team that he belongs DH’ing on, and Feliz would either be your money closer or a hell of a fourth or fifth starter. Easy to make a statement like that Frank, but it’s not true… Oh and Wainwright sure would be a nice ace right now.
jod
April 29th, 2010
10:26 am
Lol at T. I don’t agree with ya, but it sounds funny as bell
escobar
April 29th, 2010
10:28 am
EW…you are 100% right, my only point is trades can hurt your team in many diferent ways for years and years…i want braves to develope players, not trade. look at the marlins, rays, padres, giants, rockies.
if they suck 2 or 3 years in a row is ok, but they bounce back, we should be playing one more rookie this year.
if we suck is ok, but i want to keep all the farm system and have freeman next year, 1 more rookie pitcher next year to go along tommy and JJ, and we need 3rd baseman baddddd.
Jake
April 29th, 2010
10:29 am
The problem is Bobby Cox, and has been for the past several years. He may treat his players well, but he’s “old and in the way,” to quote a Grateful Dead song. Only one year did his teams find that extra gear you need to win in the playoffs, and that was 15 years ago. His teams of late have been flat and listless.
There is no urgency and, worse, no imagination or feel for the game. He is wooden and robotic, and Wren is stuck with him. The Glaus experiment is an example of that plodding approach. Logic and statistics suggest that Hinske deserves at least a chance to see what he can do at first base, but not to old Bobby.
So you might as well get used to it: we’re in for a long, dismal valedictory. Then the question becomes, who will they hire — if it’s Pendleton, I’m moving to Irkutsk — and how long will it take him to repair all the dry rot and a real team on the field?
j-man
April 29th, 2010
10:29 am
I said 3 days ago that this streak will hit 10 games and I got called a traitor for not being loyal……….. I just saw this coming. And I wish I was wrong but this team is GARBAGE!!!!! Glaus has as much talent as I do. Melky Cabrera is just pathetic. McClouth has lost what he had. Chipper has turned into ROGER DORN. And Lowe should go to the Bull-Pen. KK is too inconsistant. And all this suckatude has been influencing Jason Heyward. and Escobar has regressed. But other than that we can make a run and be just like the 27 Yankees…………. and by that I mean be a bunch of dead rotting corpses.
Bluestreak
April 29th, 2010
10:29 am
To say Andrus wouldn’t have made the team is ridiculous. Escobar would have been moved to left or second…maybe even third. The pitchers would have been somewhere on the staff. Salty is really the only one that may have not had a place, but first would have been a possibility..or a super sub to back up Brian and whomever was at first.
jod
April 29th, 2010
10:30 am
Escobar needs to be our 3rd base player.
EW
April 29th, 2010
10:30 am
escobar..fair enough…more frustrating is that the Marlins can build a winner, tear it down, build another, tear it down, build another etc…Here we are not even able to build a winner with three years to work on it…
Ben Roethlisberger
April 29th, 2010
10:33 am
RAHHHHH!!!!!!
BEN BE GM FOR BRAVES!!!!
BEN DO JOB GOOD!!!
Joshhh...
April 29th, 2010
10:34 am
I hate writers they can write an entire column about how great a team is doing & then completely forget that and start bashing every single thing about it.
Man up Schultz.
T
April 29th, 2010
10:34 am
WHO DIS IS?!?
washedup
April 29th, 2010
10:35 am
The solution to the team’s offensive woes is simple: the pitchers need to do a better job of hitting. .problem solved.
Bill
April 29th, 2010
10:35 am
84 comments and 99.9 are against Wren and management….WOW ! Do you think they give a damn?
By the way Milky has 9 hits in last 23 ab.NOT BAD?
Fire TP and retire early Cox and Wren get of your A@@ and do something….Fans should stay home till he does.
beauvighn
April 29th, 2010
10:36 am
Look on the bright side. If pendleton is named the new manager(God forbid), at least we will have a new hitting coach
ttuman4702
April 29th, 2010
10:36 am
Rough Estimate, you need to use the median not the mean to see where the Braves stack up on salaries.
Poorbrave
April 29th, 2010
10:38 am
The only team as bad as Braves is LA..both same records & last..even the Pirates are better.
Alan
April 29th, 2010
10:38 am
Its now time to sign a petition from the Braves fans to replace Frank Wren, if everyone agrees start by signing into this blog with a demand to replace him. HERE GOES- REPLACE FRANK WREN.
Phil
April 29th, 2010
10:39 am
Good one beauvighn.
ttuman4702
April 29th, 2010
10:39 am
Enter your comments here
Walker Anderson
April 29th, 2010
10:40 am
We’re gonna start putting together some wins here soon and by June first the braves will be over .500. And then sometime in June we’ll go on a win streak and the story will read ” Braves heat up after poor Spring” …APRIL BASEBALL DOESNT MATTER.. plus we’ve played a really tough schedule. especially for a team with new faces that needs some time to gel. bring on the Pirates, Astros, Reds, etc.
escobar
April 29th, 2010
10:40 am
chipperlovechild…
andrus would be playing becasue he can hit and is under control for 4 or 5 more years, escobar will get expensive in 1 year he will be eligible for arbitration….if we had feliz still would save money 7 mil
now go and trade our top 2 or 4 prospects and get a proven 1 player (gonzales) and the padres will have in freeman 1st base for the next 6 years, give them vizcaino, and 2 more they they will beat our team for the next 5 years.
we would be in the hole with no money, keep prospects and lowe, chipper, KK, nate, wagner salaries willbe off the books in 2.5 years. plus with younger players we would be an athletic team, we look old, skinny, short, light, compared to rockies, marlins…lokk at their players, they work out, they look strong, we don’t.
freshd
April 29th, 2010
10:40 am
Play HINSKE at first, at least he can hit and play some defense. GLAUS looks scared everytime a ball is hit to him. He should take his money and go join the slowpitch softball league, and he is fat and out of shape. STANK WREN should go back to B-MORE where he stunk it up before he put this mess together in the ATL.
Boonie
April 29th, 2010
10:41 am
Speaking of Dan Kolb and Bob Wickman….I bet they would both be licking their fat chops at a chance to pitch against this lineup
bakerman
April 29th, 2010
10:41 am
Nothing good comes until we can fire the owners.
Paddy O
April 29th, 2010
10:42 am
Hankie Aron: YOu add the Francoeur trade, and you have traded those usable players for NOTHING. Wren knows he can’t sign the hot free agent, like TExeira, and he could never sign Adrian Gonzalez – so he should have said, I’d love Adrian, but we know we can’t sign him. Wren is possibly the stupidest GM in baseball. He should have been watching the Braves in St Louis, not wherever he was. What a turd. Did Wren trade Wainwright?
Roy updike
April 29th, 2010
10:42 am
I think Wren has painted the Braves into a corner that they cannot get out of this year. It started with his problems in trading and signing players over the past few years and reaced a head with his trading of Vazquez for Melky and his hope for a miracle with Glaus. Year after year, the Braves have been spending more time, effort, and money (conservatively) while praying for miracles like this instead of making solid decisions. Now, we have put ourselves in a position of not having a contending team or even the potential for 2010. NOW, we need to build for the future by getting rid of the Melkys, Glaus’, and others for a good mixture of youth and experience that can at least give the fans some excitement and hope for another 14 years. This year is only going to be misery for Bobby and Chipper if they persist in believing they have a team to conted in 2010.
Poorbrave
April 29th, 2010
10:43 am
TP will not be mgr…he’s not one of Wren’s men. He is a Cox man. Wren will pick his own man.
Hope all are fired.
wren
April 29th, 2010
10:44 am
TIME WILL PROVE ME RIGHT…
Paddy O
April 29th, 2010
10:44 am
Also, somebody said Glaus is collecting 12 mil – is this true?
Roy updike
April 29th, 2010
10:45 am
Also. With all due respect for Frank. I think we need someone in his position with a fresh or different approach.
Bill
April 29th, 2010
10:45 am
At the end of last year the Braves were one of the better teams in baseball. The overhaul during the winter has obviously created one of the worst hitting and fielding teams in Atlanta history. It is looking like their only salvation is their pitching staff, although it is not good enough to make up for the abysmal play of many of the other Braves. This looks to be a very long year at this time and even a trade for a real first baseman would not be enough to get them back on track.
Alan
April 29th, 2010
10:46 am
To H$*& with it, I’ll find a team that wants to win. !!!!!!!!!!!!!
Mad Mike
April 29th, 2010
10:46 am
sure the braves have been awful so far this season, but i like frank wren. i like using the farm instead of trading it away. i think that’s wren’s basic plan. this year is a bridge to the budding talent we have coming up.
also, what did you think wren would say about the tex trade? his current boss made the deal. it was a bad trade, but he can’t say it.
carlchamblee
April 29th, 2010
10:47 am
“I know one thing you’ll probably never hear Pujols tell reports he was “DEMORALIZED “after being down TWO RUNS in the FIRST INNING. Their comebacks over the Braves in games 1 and 2 showed that. Way to lead, Chip.”
Exactly right, Pat. The day before, Hudson said it was deflating when early in the game Prado hit a liner that was speared for a DP. So instead of being up 5-0 the Braves were “only” up 3-0. Somehow that deflated them so much they couldn’t score another run and Hudson and the ‘pen coughed up the lead.
It’s loser talk. We know where it starts. Cox said yesterday the Braves are playing great ball.
rico43
April 29th, 2010
10:47 am
I’d like to thank the Braves for forcing me to devote more attention and time to my fantasy team. Switching the channel has suddenly become easier.