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
Mark Biles
April 29th, 2010
1:31 pm
Watching the Braves lately is like watching your mother have a car crash.
Squid Bream
April 29th, 2010
1:32 pm
Does ‘fire in anyone’s belly” help you hit the ball? catch the ball? know when to tag up? throw strikes and miss bats? NO. This is not a brute sport like football, boxing, wrestling, etc. Baseball is a game of concentration. “Fire in the belly” is an overused phrase that doesn’t belong in baseball. Fire in the Belly is just a Mark Bradley trip to Taco Bell.
Tom
April 29th, 2010
1:33 pm
What I would like to know is why is the former Braves doing so well with other teams. They always say players want to play for Bobby Cox, how can they be doing so much better elsewhere. For example: Kelly Johnson( who we couldn’t wait to get rid of) sent to Arizona, hitting around .290 with 8 homers, 15RBI’s, Jeff Franceour sent to the Mets, hitting .290, 6 homers, 15 RBI’s, even former Brave Andrew Jones hitting .300, 6 or 7 homers and 14 RBI’s for Chicage White Sox. Who in the world is evaluating talent?? It looks like to me the deals for Glaus, Cabrera, and Mclouth are blowing up in the face of the Braves. They are dragging down Diaz, McCann, Chipper, Escobar, and the kid to their level of hitting. I’m looking for some response to the above facts. Thank you, but we are close to being the worst team in baseball!!
interesting....
April 29th, 2010
1:33 pm
Momma! Go crash your car. I wanna check something out…
don
April 29th, 2010
1:34 pm
Wren has a problem? He is the problem.
UGAgrad71
April 29th, 2010
1:34 pm
Why not have a weekly (no pun) try out in the Atlanta area for baseball players wanting to wear a Braves uniform for a week. They might not hit, pitch or field, but would be considerably cheaper than the current payroll, and with all the empty seats at the “Ted” , they would not affect the bottom line.
Squid Bream
April 29th, 2010
1:34 pm
Lately, watching the braves is like watching the Mulkey Brothers wrestle.
Phil
April 29th, 2010
1:35 pm
Speaking of Bradley,
It’s about time for his annual Bobby Cox Greatest Manager of all Time blog. Jesse Stone is waiting for that one.
Jesse Stone
April 29th, 2010
1:36 pm
It’ll be right after the “I don’t like Bobby Cox because he didn’t sign an autograph for me’ blog. Phil can’t wait for that
Jesse Stone
April 29th, 2010
1:38 pm
Phil- seriously, yesterday you lied and said Gaston won 2 world series with Bobby’s players. at least tell the truth when you’re criticizing.
Hillbilly Deluxe
April 29th, 2010
1:38 pm
Do y’all really think Wren is going to say, “Look I do the best I can. Liberty Media doesn’t care and they won’t spend money on scouting and the farm system, so I work with what I have.” ?
Jesse Stone
April 29th, 2010
1:39 pm
Jimy Williams followed Cox in Toronto.
GTSteve
April 29th, 2010
1:39 pm
@interesting….now if you don’t that is funny, you need to get off the blog
Jesse Stone
April 29th, 2010
1:41 pm
Sorry, Phil. Maybe you weren’y lying and just don’t know baseball that well.
Phil
April 29th, 2010
1:41 pm
I was mistaken, I forgot Jimmy Williams came right after Cox, then Gaston. Gaston may not have had Bobby’s same players, but the organization took off after Cox left. Same thing might happen here after we get rid of Cox(and TP).
Real UT
April 29th, 2010
1:42 pm
DesiBrave, you might as well go ahead and measure Carl Crawford for his pinstripes. Its pretty much a done deal. Sabbathia’s one of his best friends and has said publicly he’s been recruiting Crawford for more than a year. Might as well measure Cliff Lee out for his while your at it.
coo coo bird fan
April 29th, 2010
1:43 pm
I honestly think they hitting is going to come around and we will be back in the thick of things by the all star break. Wren is an idiot. period! He hasn’t helped the situation by scraping the bottom of the barrell of free agents this winter. Has anyone seen Vasquez? He is stinking it up in the Bronx and Melky has started hitting, scratch. Send Wren to Happy Town so the magic man can make him disappear, please. Oh yeah, and make sure he takes Pendelton with him.
Jesse Stone
April 29th, 2010
1:44 pm
or….the Blue Jays got better when they got different players (Alomar, Joe Carter, Jack Morris, etc).
Real UT
April 29th, 2010
1:44 pm
Yunel got a hit first AB. It would be awesome if he could start heatin’ it up.
Mike Shula
April 29th, 2010
1:44 pm
Hire Nick Saban as GM.
Ackshun
April 29th, 2010
1:45 pm
News flash. We all new we would be here when the jerks didn’t have the balls to pony up and keep the talent we had last year. We went from a team that could hit but couldnt pitch to exactly the reverse. This team has sucked since the corporate (AOL/Time Warner) takeover and it is just going to get worse till an OWNER (singular) with a vested interest brings back the glory days of playoff runs lasting decades!
HEY BRAVES OWNERSHIP!! THE NEXT TIME ARTHUR BLANK MAKES AN OFFER FOR THE TEAM TAKE IT!!! DAMMIT!
John
April 29th, 2010
1:46 pm
To all of the people saying not to panic, I would not panic if we were playing well and losing. The way we are losing games is horrific. I do not think I have watched a worse stretch of baseball from a team. This losing streak has been ridiculous, as we have competed in one game (Hudson’s start against the Cardinals). The Glaus signing seemed like a disaster at the time, and I cannot believe it is actually worse than I thought it would be. I usually am a very optimistic fan, but right now I don’t see them turning it around too quickly. I hope I am wrong.
GTSteve
April 29th, 2010
1:48 pm
Another new lineup, is Chipper hurt again, or is it still
Fire Frank Wren
April 29th, 2010
1:52 pm
But Wren has a track record… It’s in Baltimore. He destroyed that team in one year and tried to run off Cal Ripken, Jr. At least he’s taken longer to destroy the Braves, but the effects may last longer (Baltimore still hasn’t gotten over the Frank Wren Year yet).
Real UT
April 29th, 2010
1:53 pm
awesome, down by 3 already
Happy Jack
April 29th, 2010
1:53 pm
game over
Tmac
April 29th, 2010
1:54 pm
Stl. Cards 3-run Hr in the first inning. 3-0 Cards.
Ball game. Thanks for coming.
Fire Frank Wren
April 29th, 2010
1:54 pm
At least the 755 Club got a face lift this year…
Real UT
April 29th, 2010
1:55 pm
JJ is off this year. Gets 2 out. Then hits a guy. single. homer. WTF!
Casey Stinkle
April 29th, 2010
1:57 pm
Well it’s 3-0 in the first. I think it’s time to panic.
the braves suck my nuts
April 29th, 2010
1:57 pm
3-0 lead cards! The braves are gonna get shut out again today! It feels as if they get shut out once every 4 games or 25% of the time. the other 75% they score 3 runs or less! God help the braves!
Tmac
April 29th, 2010
1:57 pm
I want everyone to notice in today’s game the difference in the way the Stl Cardinals players approach the game vs. the way the Braves players approach the game. Each at bat, while they are in the field, while on the bench…
You see focus and intensity on the cards players, while you see blah and no emotion on the braves faces.
It’s very telling.
A call to action for Frank Wren…is he the problem? « Ace of Braves
April 29th, 2010
1:57 pm
[...] offers this analogy to Jeff Schultz of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution: The Braves have only completed one-eighth of the [...]
Real UT
April 29th, 2010
1:59 pm
That last 1/2 the Braves were at bat took like 2 minutes. The Braves are gonna do their best to make Adam Wainwright look like the next Greg Maddux.
Jimbo
April 29th, 2010
1:59 pm
I’m starting to question the average IQ of the typical Braves fan.
1) What does the team ownership have to do with it other than payroll?
2) The payroll of 4 of the 6 current division leaders is in the bottom 3rd of all payrolls.
3) Of course, John Schuerholz is actively involved in ALL personnel decisions
4) How about stop blaming the GM and Liberty Media and point the finger at the players
5) The season is young. A good home stand and you “fair weather fans” will jump back on the bandwagon.
6) So Wren was OK until 8 games ago…now hes’ an idiot
7) How about all who thought trading Vazquez was a big mistake? 1-3 with an ERA of 9.00!!
I’m frustrated as well, but liked the lineup coming out of Spring Training. If the players play like they have in the past and to their ability, they will win games.
What would you “baseball geniuses” do different ?
Real UT
April 29th, 2010
2:00 pm
El hombre isn’t even playing for the Cards, but they still score runs. That’s what good teams do.
Real UT
April 29th, 2010
2:02 pm
Jimbo, I wouldn’t put to much stock into a lineup based on Spring Training. We had a good Spring last year too.
the braves suck my nuts
April 29th, 2010
2:03 pm
to all MLB pitchers:
if you want to trim your ERA please face the braves. You have a 25% chance of shutting them out. That’s pretty good odds. Just ask the mets pitchers. We made the mets pitching staff look amazing while our bats flat out suck! The braves suck! Who would have thunk it?
Fire Frank Wren
April 29th, 2010
2:03 pm
Jurrjens is hurt. At least we have Vazquez… oh, wait, Wren traded our best pitcher to the Yankees for backup outfielder Melky Cabrera. What’s ol’ Melky hitting this year?
Real UT
April 29th, 2010
2:04 pm
Medlen’s pitching now. I am officially worried that JJ isn’t just off his game this year.
the braves suck my nuts
April 29th, 2010
2:04 pm
We got swept by the Mets? Obviously that’s not enough to panic for frank wren! Why don’t we also get swept by the astros? Maybe then that douche will panic?
the braves suck my nuts
April 29th, 2010
2:05 pm
The braves are douche-fags just like their owners and their GM!
abtoal
April 29th, 2010
2:05 pm
You all need to wake up. Most of this isn’t a GM problem, sure the players he brought in are just awful, but this what Bobby Cox does. This is quite typical of his teams – no fundamental baseball skills. Where he used to be able to hide behind the skill of all of his players, that isn’t there right now and he doesn’t know what to do. It is no coincidence that we have lost 8 (soon to be 9 today against one of the franchise’s worst trade deals ever) games and we haven’t hit a home run since April 20th. This guy doesn’t know how to win if we don’t hit home runs. Problem is (and always has been), this team isn’t built for the long ball. We have been beaten down by the cardinals not by pujols and his shots, but by timely hitting and fundamental baseball. Now is the perfect time to steal, to hit and run, and – dare I say – bunt! 20 errors in 21 games! We deserve the record we have. They look like a high school team. But this is what he does. Business like eh? Goldman Sachs maybe – at best! Why is it too that our two best hitters go do their dads for help (Chipper and McCann)? Maybe we should bring those too in.
Clean house organizationally and just start over. Take Woodson with you too by the way
Fire Frank Wren
April 29th, 2010
2:05 pm
Jimbo, ownership determines what payroll a GM has to work with. Seriously?
And, no, Wren was NOT okay 8 games ago. He was incompetent then. He’s incompetent now.
Real UT
April 29th, 2010
2:05 pm
Yeah, and Jimbo you should check out what Schilling said about Vazquez. It’s a fair assessment of his troubles.
Tim the Truth
April 29th, 2010
2:05 pm
Our most feared bat is a 20 year old rookie….that isn’t fair to Heyward or the fans. Wren is getting paid to GM this team, yet any fan with any sort of knowledge knew that we did ZERO to improve the worst part of this team over the off season, the offense.
NaztiNiq
April 29th, 2010
2:06 pm
When does the hate start going towards the batting coach, is there a single place where someone has said, “he really turned this guy around” or “he takes a normal hitter and makes him a major leaguer”. Look no further than KJ now crushing for more references.
Let’s not let him screw up J-Hey.
the braves suck my nuts
April 29th, 2010
2:08 pm
The Nats have a winning record! We don’t! That’s messed up!
DawgDad
April 29th, 2010
2:08 pm
Cabrera was predictable; anybody with a Bill James Handbook or access to stat site on the Internet could easily see his stats were padded by new Yankee Stadium. At the core, he was a weak-link in the Yankee lineup and they were searching for a replacement.
Glaus was a reclamation project with associated risk. More importantly, he confirmed the team was willing to trade LaRoche’s level of performance for a few million dollars and a prayer.
McLouth is a complete mystery. Is his eyesight beyond repair? The guy was a REALLY good all-round player with Pittsburgh two-three years ago.
Coming out of spring training Wren said the team had 6-7 players who could hit twenty home runs. My mistake, I thought he meant this year, not over the remainder of their careers. They are going to be lucky to have 1-2 guys hit twenty, and they might not get 6-7 into double figures. Couple that with the lack of team speed and fundamentals and this is a sinking ship.
the braves suck my nuts
April 29th, 2010
2:09 pm
FIRE TP! FIRE WREN! Get players who aren’t sissies and runts that complain! Chipper: Ahhh my hamstring hurts! Just shut up and play chipper!