Grading our GMs: Dimitroff’s at the top, but where’s Wren?

I figured it was Waddell’s grade, but then why say it also stands for the “dean of Atlanta GMs”? Unless you are now referring to Dimitroff?

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MAN, you guys are hard on Frank Wren. If he had let Smoltz hijack the payroll we would have lost an awful lot more than we did. And Glavine’s washed up 60 MPH changeup all season instead of Tommy Hanson? What are you people smoking? Both of those greedy prima donnas have been more than adequately compensated, and both ditched their teammates and fanbase for more money anyway. Neither deserve SQUAT. I don’t get why you guys get all over Wren for doing his job: building the best team he can with what he has to work with.

A “D” for Waddell is mighty generous. He should have been run out of town on a rail years ago.

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We was surpirsed Wren didn’t do a little better on the Bradley Scale . He brought some fine pitching in to a team that had none. He seems to be his own man. We like that. Now, being good at public relations works both ways. He willed the club to get better even though he moved Bobby and a few others out of a comfort zone. We was hoping he’s make some more changes and one of them might be letting Troy Glaus play 3B and moving Chipper to 1st or maybe even to the American League. Whoa! We may be criticized for that one. The basic thing a Clusters notes is that winning a little division sign is no big deal – even 14 of ‘em – if the team can’t advance and win the pennant and/or the Series. That’s like getting the bait on the hook every time but never catching the fish.

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I disagree. Sund deserves an A for the job he’s done and I put him ahead of Dimitroff. Yes Sund is building off of some of Billy Knight’s players, but Sund has bolstered a team that was barely an 8th seed in 08 to a team that was a 4th seed in 09 (and won a playoff series) & is challenging for a division title this yr. Yall give Dimitroff too much credit, id say he gets a B plus. Sund gets an A minus

-REEcently Roe!!!

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Wren is probably a C. Obviously the big learning disability in the room is the dreadful ownership but Wren is a big time dreamer when it comes to signing players.

If wishes and hopes won championships Wren would get an A plus. He’s done a pretty good job building a mostly competitive team but they are years away from winning anything.

His grade will improve if Troy Glauss actually works out at 1st…. but considering the work he did getting JJ perhaps you could say B. The bugetary constaraints kill thier ability to buy what they need which is middle of the order mashers.

Frank has done a lot of good stuff as GM but they still aren’t close to winning anything even with Bobby as manager.

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Once again, I am in total agreement with you. Is one of us “dumbing down”, or is one “smartening up”. Only The Shadow knows.

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Good job with this Mark.

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Unlike AJC sports writers Frank Wren is constrained by a budget. I agree that there are lots of wild cards in this lineup but we don’t have the liberty of filling the roster with big salaries. With our pitching, however, this team could land in the World Series.

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I agree with Sunds decision to negiote Woody’s contract at the end of a contract. If you follow the Hawks you will see much progress but you wil also see many questions concerning the ability of the current staff to coach up any type of offensive system.

Let Woody finish out his contract, his pay day will come.

Sund had done very good.

Wren has the Braves pointed in the right direction. John Schurholtz left the cubboards very bare!

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I have no idea why you gave Wren such a low grade! We have a team which will compete for play offs and with what little money he has to work with he has done a great job. The only one signing that has yet to work out is Lowe who will most likely rebound this year.

I would give Wren no lower than a B.

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Agree on Dimitroff.

I would also give an A or A- to Sund. Sometimes the best move is no move at all. He is yet to make a single bad move, which is quite remarkable considering the financial constrains he is under…

Wren did a superb job upgrading our pitching staff and considering our financial constrains there is little else he could have done. Also, one of the toughest things to do in business is maintaining objectivity when emotions are involved, as Wren did with Smoltzie and Glavine. For that alone he deserves a B-…

If anyone ever deserved an F then Wadell is your man…

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Amen, Sonny Clusters! You get an “A.” Or perhaps a “DQ.”

Mark, I suppose I was thinking more of Shultz than yourself.

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Mark, sorry to pick nits, but in Wren’s section you said “rednering the new rotation more durable”. I suggest rendering, as in “rendering the outfield asunder”. Substance wise, I generally agree with the article, thanks!

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I think Waddell secretly owns a majority of Thrasher’s stock else how could he have been retained given his abysmal performance?

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Waddell D or F…Thrasher just not good….Wren—C, Essentially giving Vasquez away to Yankees. And it was said that Braves have pitching—and bats were needed for this yr…don’t see where we have that now…We need to figure out what the collective batting avg is for all the guys on the roster now–just as a barometer to see what our team batting avg might be this yr…If I am thinking correctly most of the good teams will bat about .280 plus for team avg…might adjust my thinking on Wren depending…..but as of right now—don’t see where We have lots of reasons to be excited about Braves this yr………….Sund—like the job he is doing…B+ is about right…Hawks headed in right direction.—-a veteran that has won a championship would be nice to have on team for leadership…sometimes they don’t play hard enough…..Dimitrioff—A….Falcons are so much better…wonder who they will hire to take Emmitt Thomas place.

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We also think somebody should tell Bobby that games in April and May count as much as games in August and September. And we believe they is way too much seed spitting going on in the dugout. They should be watching the game and studying the pitcher. Clusters got caught up with some things when Andruw was allowed to bat cleanup for a season and a half with no results and Jeff was allowed to spoil rallies over and over and over and over and over and over and over again. Players work to get back in a game and Bobby makes no effort to see that the rally continues. We get to see the same old same old. Clusters say change it up some. The Braves are in a habit of missing the playoffs now. Bring in some players that will make a difference. That’s what Dimitroff did. Let Wren work some magic if he can. Somehow, an organization talking about Glavine right now instead of talking about a power hitting corner outfielder is mis-directed. Wren’s not the one doing that talking – it’s the “look at us we won the division” boys doing that.

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We was very glad to see some baseball blogging going on here today. This town needs a good baseball blog written by a good baseball man. Mark is leading the way by getting a little baseball into this blog about general managers. Next, we hope he will talk a little bit about the Braves’ spring training and how it seems the players come out of it not ready to play ball. They do get in a lot of golf and fishing, though, and they seem to pull hammys for the first month of the season as a result. Oh, well, not making the playoffs is a habit now. Will anything change? Oh, that’s right they want to bring Glavine in. As The Grinch is wont to say, BWHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

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Wren and Waddell both deserve their poor grades but in their defense, the respective owners don’t appear to be real committed to winning.

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I feel like we have a fake Sonny Clusters today.

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Anyone criticizing Wren for the Vasquez trade is at the least premature in their assessment and at most uninformed. We got excellent talent in return for a pitcher with an expiring contract who just had a career year. There is a reason he has changed jobs as often as he has. Cabrera is a good outfielder and the two pitching prospects we got were rated very highly by all accounts…

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They is no faking a Clusters. Either you are a Clusters or you’re not. They is no faking a Clusters just like they is no crying in baseball. The only thing different today, is that this Clusters is fed up with JS and the others in Braves la-la land that tell us how good we have it because they won 14 little division signs. Frank Wren looks to be posturing them to win something more than a sign. Having hangers-on like Glavine running around won’t add near as much as a power hitter or a lead off man will. Instead of pandering to Glavine JS should be finding ways to help Wren fill in the blanks. It should be noted there will be a blank at third base for 10-20-30 games this year if Chipper has his usual hurts. We was thinking maybe Wren can fix some things if they’ll let him. He fixed the pitching, didn’t he? Some of that fix involved letting go the past. We had to let the Dairy Queen go for a time. We was getting fat. We realized we’d been eating too many peanut buster parfaits and we was starting to look like a sportswriter. We went on a program and took off some pounds and gradually worked the DQ back into our life. Now, we are fit and trim and enjoying DQ treats on a daily basis.

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Solid grades on Dimitroff and Sund. Waddell, F. No way Kovy is staying. Wren, D. If the plan all along was to consider signing Hudson, why sign two pitchers to long term contracts last year? There were plenty of one year rentals to be had. He had to make a really bad trade for Vazquez to unload the best pitcher he picked up last year. And there is no way the Opening Day 2010 offense is better than the offense that ended last year, no matter what Wren says.

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Frank Wren belongs in Hell.

Frankly, the Atlanta Spirit Group owners, Vick Supporters, Bad Newz, Kennelz patrons, Lane Kiffin, Tiger Woods & his harem of mistresses, losers who shout “Knights!” during the National Anthem like the DUMB MASSES they are and Jeff Schultz should all be there to keep Wren company.

Burn, Wren, Burn.

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Frank Wren Belongs in H-E-L-L.

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Sund getting Jamal Crawford was genius especially since he gave up nothing to get him. Dimitroff is on his way to building something special with the Falcons. The other two should be tied to a rocket and shot out of Atlanta.

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Not sure how the Falcons get an A? They had the worst defense in the league, and the offense was sporadic at best even when healthy. They fell bellow expectations this season. The Hawks on the other hand should be an A. They are exceeding expectations. The others are about right.

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Mark: Yor C+ on Wren is generous. I grade him a D. Under Wren, the Braves again missed the playoffs and finshed third place in their division–and 2009 was not his first year. The Marlins beat the Braves with 1/3 the payroll (give that GM an A). He is a PR disaster and while there’s nothing wrong with deciding to let Smoltz amd Glavine go—it was the clumsy way he did it. Like you I can’t figure the Vasquez trade and worse why he’s paying Melky 2X what he was getting. He overpaid for Lowe and KK; but I give him credit for improving the pitching —but what GM wouldn’t have? He hasn’t improved the offense over this break, instead he has signed second tier guys like Glaus, Melky and Hinske. Losing Vasquez, coupled with only slight improvement in the offense, means we aren’t competitive with the Phils. I hope I’m wrong, but I see the Braves finishing third or maybe second in 2010. Baseball’s a crazy game, so I’ll never give up hope (the Phils still have to perform). What to look forward to? I am anxious to see Heyward play and more of J.J. and Tommy Gun Hanson.

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I’m not a big Wren fan, but you can’t dismiss the Jurrjens trade, which was an absolute steal. Also got Gorkys Hernandez in that deal, who was flipped to the Pirates for McLouth.

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When do we get to grade the AJC writers?

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ONE-THIRD of Braves’ 2010 payroll ($29 mil) is tied up in an average pitcher (Derek Lowe) and a 38 year-old third baseman (Chipper Jones) with diminishing fielding and hitting skills. This money should have been used to attract much younger talent, players in their prime or with an upside. Third place at best !

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Too early to tell yet on Dimitroff. Letting almost all of the defensive vets go to free agency being my harshest criticism.

Face it, Ted doesn’t own the Braves anymore and Wren’s hands are tied by having to please corporate suits much more than his boss faced at least until the end of his tenure as GM. That being said I still can’t condone trading away one of your best starting pitchers from the previous season just to save a buck. His actions during this and last year’s hot stove league seasons have been luke warm at best. Mediocre bats at best on a team desperately needing them, I know this gets back to the hands tied thing but someone must realize you have to spend money in order to make money.

I think we’ve had enough time with Waddell to know it ain’t getting any better. Delta is ready when he is.

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Not Wren.. I know that much.

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Remember how the Spirit concocted the myth that Kari Lehtonen was the next Patrick Roy. I do not know anything about hockey, but every time I saw Lehtonen play, thought I was just not able to comprehend his greatness.

It finally took three years for Waddell to admit that the whole thing was a charade and Lehtonen was not a competent NHL goalie, much less the second coming of Hasek.

I remember going to a couple of games last year and watching our midget defenders get physically manhandled by everyone they faced. I know nothing about hockey, but thought it odd that everyone on Atlanta’s side of the program with a ‘D’ beside their name was listed at 5′10″, and all the players for the other team with ‘D’ beside their names were listed at 6′4″ or taller.

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Atlanta still has a hockey team? Really?

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Mark: You have to bump Wren up to at least a “B” for acquiring Jurrjens for an aging over the hill Shortstop in Renteria, McLouth for players that would never start here, Infante for a pitcher that will never be more than a AAA pitcher, and though many don’t like the Vazquez trade; Wren acquired a very useful or tradeable player in Melky Cabrera, a potential top notch bullpen lefty in Dunn, a young pitcher, who Callis at Baseball America thinks is the #3 prospect and most likely pitcher to be a NO. 1 starter in our minor league system, and at the same time replaced Javier Vazquez with Tim Hudson, a pitcher with much better career numbers at $2.5 million dollars less, which helped to sign Glaus and Hinske.
That at least deserves a B!

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Thomas Dimitroff, Falcons – B+: it’s too early to offer an A. Second draft produced little, though it still as potential to help in 2010. Baker needs to move to right tackle and TD needs to find a left tackle for 2010. Jettisoning dead weight (Brooking, Hall, etc).

Rick Sund, Hawks – ?: a truly beautiful game has been reduced to a dunk-fest. By the way – how many steps is considered traveling these days?

Frank Wren, Braves – B: putting your personal bias aside, Mr Bradley, Wren has made more than a few good moves. Reconstructing a pitching staff is far more difficult than mentioned, the jettisoning of dead weight (Smoltz, Glavine, Francouer, Kotchman, etc) and the PR hit that ensued, deft trading (including Vazquez – twice) even when the results may not be apparent now – these things make the grade AT LEAST a B. Is the man a egoistical jerk? Could be.

Don Waddell, Thrashers – F+: Hey, at least a made a handful of good trades in the early days (Audette, Kozlov, Savard). That’s about it.

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Dimitroff has a hole in his game.

His otherwise excellent record is marred by his tendency to draft players with a history of injury.

If he continues to do so the Falcons will never be consistently at the top. Each year the most successful NFL teams are also the healthiest ones.

If Dimitroff continues to draft players with a history of being injured, the Falcons are unlikely to stay healthy and will struggle each year.

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Wren is a “D” ’cause I don’t see his vision of Braves’ 2010 coming to fruition. Waddell is a clear “F”.
Like an earlier poster said, he’s had YEARS to do a decent job and hasn’t managed to yet. If Kovy isn’t signed, Waddy needs to be riding the sticky vinyl of the Hound of out town the next day!

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You know, that Sonny likes to make out like him and Jeff is a couple of angels. Well, they ain’t. Leastwise, Sonny ain’t. Where’s my check for the baby?

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Mmmm I like me some Frank Wren, he’s an A+ in my book.

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86th

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Rick Sund is riding off BKs shine.
Wren is an idiot.
Who is Waddell.
Dimitroff couldnt do worse, it was impossible.

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i agree with Richard Simmons, Wren makes my mouth water…..A+

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I understand Vasquez had to go, but I can’t believe who we traded him for. I like LaRoche, but it seems like a lot of people don’t. Why is that?And Wren, I haven’t decided on him yet. If this roster manages playoffs, I guess he has to be a genius. If they flop, he will look like a complete idiot.

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Agree with Dimitroff and Sund. Waddell is an F. Plain and simple. It should stand for fired.

Wren to be is a B or B-minus. Baseball is not the instant roster rebuild sport like some of the others. The minors where thin, and his hands were more tied than new GMs in other sports. He did a great job the first year in addressing pitching, and the Vazquez trade may be viewed in the same light as the Downing for Smoltz trade down the line. When the key to a trade is a 19 year old, single A pitcher, you have to wait for results.

What I don’t understand is the rush to get rid of Soriano and Gonzales. All four pitchers in this swap out of setup man and closer are quality pitchers, however, there is a significant age difference.

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Cecil34, they always have a nice tan and some golf trophies when they get to Atlanta. But, they can’t bunt, hit behind a runner, throw to the cutoff, or work a count. Other than that, nothing needs fixing. The injuries at the beginning of the season might be avoided if they did some running and some stretching and ate more Dairy Queen. We was thinking the approach to Spring Training may need to change. Somebody reported Bobby was on the way to his car last spring because Frank said or did something Bobby didn’t like. We don’t know if that happened or not, but if we was GM, Spring Training would produce some well conditioned, fundamentally sound ballplayers much like the bloggers on this blog.

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The Braves were playing Colorado I think in April last year and Jeff hit a triple, and after he eased into third, huffung and puffing, he looked at the Rockies third baseman and said “this is the hardest I’ve run in a month” – that told me all I need to know, right there.

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Come on…………Waddell gets a pass here.
The poor guy doesn’t even know who owns the Thrashers.

Does anyone ??

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The Thrashers have a GM? Couldn’ve fooled me.

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What I’m about to write might be controversial. I think people are being tough on Frank Wren. I don’t like some of the moves this offseason. But at least he’s making moves and trying to make the most of his payroll (limited as it apparently is). When has John Schuerholz ever won with a restricted payroll? I mean, any idiot can be GM when there is no limitation. I’m not saying he was an idiot, or that he was not a good GM. But as soon as the Braves had a cap on their salary, the Braves began to decline. Most of the home grown success the Braves enjoyed were drafted/traded for by Bobby Cox when he was GM. Glavine, Avery, Chipper, Klesko were drafted by GM Cox. Smoltz was traded for by GM Cox. Javy Lopez was signed by GM Cox. That was the basis for their run in the 1990’s. Adding Greg Maddux and Fred McGriff were key, but no-brainers.

I liked what Frank Wren did between 2008 and 2009 to the starting staff. He made a weakness a strength. Now let’s see what happens to the offense. I think the moves made show just how much the Braves think of Jason Heyward. Just like the affect Tommy Hanson had on the pitching staff, I think they hope Heyward effects the offense. Why not? Pujols was a star from day one. Why can’t the Braves have a great player?

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“good article…….. now what would be really interesting to me would be if we graded the Atlanta Journal sports writers”

Best one they ever had retired recently (Bisher)

The rest basically parrott the party line.

Next AJC sportswriter to point out the fact that Bobby Cox is the single most inept on-field tactician in the history of baseball gets my vote as best

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Wren is fawesome… dude gets an A- in my book………. especially if he gets Damon !

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Dimitoff and Sund both appear to be near the top of their respective leagues in terms of competence. Very glad to have them.

Wren is hard to grade as the budget is full of loopholes that apparently render him incapable of spending as much for 2010 as he spent in 2008 and 2009. If I believe what I read about the budget, he’s doing an average job within the limits. He floats a lot of bad ideas out there and handles situations really badly from a public relations perspective, but he also has pulled several rip-off trades in a short time period. I agree that a C is about right on balance.

He gets an A+ for his “first move” with Jurrjens but an F for his handling of the Glavine/Hanson/Medlen decision. Signing Lowe was good, but paying him 15 million a year for 4 years was about 33% more money than was necessary. That’s a very crippling decision maybe a D. But getting Mclouth and Vasquez fairly cheaply in terms of prospects given up is a solid B+ type work. Can’t give him much credit on getting Laroche for Kotchman, because no GM would turn that down. So yeah, he’s just all over the board.

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No grade for Radakovich? I’d say he’s an GM of sorts, and one that deserves the highest A you can get.

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Atlanta coaches, top to bottom:

Paul Johnson
Mike Smith
Hawks coach (sorry, don’t spend a lot of time on the Hawks’ blog)
Thrashers coach (yeah, definitely don’t know his name)
Bobby Cox
Terry Pendleton
Glenn Hubbard, Brian Snitker ( we can’t steal bases, can’t run the bases)

Yeah, I just wanted to reiterate how much I think the Braves coaches suck. It never gets old.

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Can Chino even swing a fungo bat?

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There is no place for hairpieces in baseball. Somebody on the team may be wearing a hairpiece. One day that cap is going to come off and so will a lot more. The days of the mullet are pretty much gone but those were some good haircuts for ballplayers. The Braves had some of the best mullets in baseball. Some of the worst players, but some good mullets.

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Wren should have kept Vazquez. Hudson is now damaged goods; if he goes down it’s gonna get ugly. I also have a bad feeling about our first base experiment. Chipper won’t play over 100-games at third. Our bullpen has been considerably weakened. Also, look for Prado to revert to his utility-man self. I don’t see the playoffs OR a winning season.

Wren – F- If there was a G-, I’d give him that.

After watching the Falcons for 40+ years, Dimitroff gets an A++. If, for nothing else, giving the Falcons organization the look and feel of a PROFESSIONAL NFL outfit.

Sund has been here a short time, but his experience has shone in some very wily moves. He gets an A for the Crawford trade (rape) alone.

Waddell gets my highest grade, AA++. Any guy who can suck so badly for so many years, and still be around, has figured-out something we’d all like to know…

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Marynell Meadors, GM of the Atlanta Dream, gets an A in my book.

Biggest turnaround of an Atlanta franchise since, well, the 2008-2009 Falcons!!

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It’s amazing to me … that the Snyder tragedy can even still be mentioned, as it relates to the successes or failures of the Atlanta Thrashers franchise. Dany Heatley is NOT a character guy. He whines like a Primadonna, and asked for a release from his Swiss Team, his Russian team, the Thrashers, and this past season, the Ottawa Senators. Character? Hello??

Dany Heatley has won at every level and consequently expects the world to kowtow to him. He got his “ready-made” Cup contender trade to Ottawa in 2005, but lost the 2007 Finals to Anaheim. And now, he’s finagled a trade, out of sheer selfishness, to another ‘ready-made’ Cup Contender in San Jose. I used to support the Sharks. But now, I can’t. Not with Heatley on them. And not after knowing who and what Dany Heatley is. That’s a shame, because those fans in San Jose deserve a Stanley Cup. They’ve patiently waited, enduring many bad seasons and playoff disappointments.

And guess what Heatley will do, once the Sharks are no longer contenders? With 5+years left on his deal? That’s right. He’ll request a trade out, citing that, “I’m not being properly utilized.” So, we were going to LOSE DANY HEATLEY, pretty much no MATTER WHAT. That’s the truth I believe. If Dan Snyder were alive and well, and presently retired from hockey, Dany Heatley would still be gone from the Atlanta Thrashers. That’s what he does. He abandons ship in the face of any adversity. He runs from his problems. Then he says, “I don’t think I’ve done anything wrong.” Niiiiiice.

Okay, Waddell gets a “D.” I can’t argue there. Character matters, even in the prospect of “can’t miss” bluechip players. Kari Lehtonen, at times in his carrer, shows up to training camp horribly out of shape. There was the “blue hair” incident. It’s important to know WHO you are drafting, not just how PROMISING their talents are. And Ilya Kovalchuk … has refused to learn how to properly backcheck or make any kind of committed effort to the defensive aspect of his game. He’s a minus eighty-something (-88) in his career. And for this, he wants to make the same or MORE than Crosby and Ovechkin?

Don Waddell has done his level best for this franchise. But his “habitus” is that of a minor league GM. He doesn’t know or can’t learn what it takes to take an NHL franchise to a level where it can compete for the Stanley Cup. He was way behind the learning curve on the “new” rules of the NHL, despite sitting on the very committee that designed them. His list of blueline selections is atricious, in the aggregate. And he has something close to no luck with goaltenders. The poor guy does what he can, with the resources he’s been given. It’s going to be tough for any GM to succeed here, with this ownership, and this business model. They simply don’t understand the dynamics of running an NHL franchise. And the proof of which is … Waddell will stay as long as they own it.

Waddell … after a DECADE’S worth of seasons, still hasn’t crafted an IDENTITY for his team. And really, isn’t that “JOB ONE” for an NHL GM? Have a strategy. Have some sort of “plan.” And draft players into that mold/strategy. Don Waddell took a bucket of paint, turned on a fan, and let the splatter hit the canvas. Then called it, “art.” And that was his “master plan.” A hodge podge of randomness, thrown together with no continuity. Our core area of “player retention” is abysmal.

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“Being friends with your players, though, is not necessarily a good thing”

It might get Cox into the Hall of Fame. Either that or his .225 career batting average. Certainly wont be what he did with some of the best teams of the century

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Bobby is a GREAT “players’” manager. Bobby is also GREAT at keeping a team on an even keel. Therein lies the problem. The Braves enter playoff series on that vaunted “even keel.” (wonderful during a loooong regular season; during a short series, not so much) Just so happens, the opponent shows-up PUMPED through the roof. We’re dead before the first pitch…

Bobby couldn’t fire-up a parolee in a hoe house.

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Mark: You get an A from me. But regarding Waddell—The Thrashers are to professional hockey what the Washington Generals are to the Globe Trotters. They are so bad no one even pays attention. The Thrashers are so bad Wren should send Waddell a thank you card cause it makes Frank look good in comparison. But the real question is—will Atlanta, Ga., home of Bobby Jones, the Braves and nuts about high school, college and pro football, ever be a hockey town?

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Mark, are you bored with this whole blogging routine?

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I knew Sonny Clusters, and you sir are no Sonny Clusters.

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Give Frank Wren a salary cap (as in the NFL) and I think his grade increases substantially. The issue with the Braves isn’t Wren. In fact, I suspect without him things would likely be much worse. His performance revamping the rotation last season was brilliant. Everything worked and was validated.

His issues this off season are due entirely to Liberty’s constrained payroll. Even the jaded among us presumed the pursestrings would be loosened slightly given Cox’s pending retirement. No such luck!

We have actually been reduced to a $90 million payroll with the same hard inflexibility. If Wren spent another dollar, Liberty would fire him!

All I blame Wren for is rank dishonesty in not telling the whole truth. Then again, that would get him fired also. So, I cannot blame him too much.

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There you said it yourself Mark, you give thomas dimitroff a big fat A, proving a GM can get an A grade without making the playoffs, so why are you always giving Frank Wren crap for not making the playoffs, when prior to this season the falcons had not even had back to back winning seasons? Bottom line is after this season anyone doubting frank wren will pleasently surprised.

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GREAT comment Pete !!!!!!!!!!

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Man,it saddens me to see how little respect the Hawks get from people. If it isn’t between the hedges people don’t care

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Good job Mark. Right on the money. Wren C- clock still running on him.

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Mark,I always enjoy reading your columns on the Hawks. You guys at the AJC do a pretty good job on trying to keep Basketball relevant in this town. I do my best to support them when I can get down there and always follow them on TV. Maybe a strong playoff push this year will stir up some excitement.

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[...] AJC’s Mark Bradley Rates Thomas Dimitroff Highly [...]

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[...] AJC’s Mark Bradley Rates Thomas Dimitroff Highly [...]

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Who cares about the Thrashers?

^ Top reason why Waddell gets an F. Hockey is a tough enough sell in Atlanta without a terrible GM running the ship into the ground.

As far as Wren, you’ve given him too high a grade as well. The best thing you can say about him is that he brought in Javy Vazquez, but he screwed that up by trading him away for Melky Cabrera. And then there was that little thing about not doing his due diligence with Soriano, and signing an aging Billy Wagner when Soriano wanted to stay. As a Braves fan I fear that we’re already well on our way to the pre-1989 Braves, and Wren is accelerating that as fast as he can. I don’t see us breaking past either the Phils or the Mets under his direction.

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some are disdainful, many, many others ambivelant.

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I think you guys should give DWad at least some slack.
I’ve been following the Thrashers from 2001 and am just as frustrated as anyone.

But this season the guy has actually done some really good deals.
Any GM who gets Max Afinogenov with 800k $/a year can’t be all that bad.
Added with the Kubina and Antropov deals + the drafting of Evander Kane,
he’s actually had a really good season. Not to mention the last season additions of Marty Reasoner and Rich Peverley.

Also, as far as I’ve understood, the ownership hasn’t actually made his job any easier.
And he’s had some terribly bad luck over the years.

BUT, I do also agree, that as a whole his whole career with the Thrashers has been pretty darn bad. Other than bad luck, he’s also made some really bad decisions over the years.

Also I think that in all of its excistence the Thrashers have had huge problems with the defence, but at no time I’ve seen any real commintment in trying to prove that. I think that many of the goalie problems also have a lot to do with this fact. – the lack of defence just makes the goalies look terrible.
Most of the Thrashers’ d-men are well known for one ability – the good offense abilities.
So we pretty much lack of any good defensive defence-men (aint that their #1 duty?).
We did have Braydon Coburn once, but DWad decided to get rid of him.

So we’ve had this system – where the best defence is suppposed to be a good offence for over a decade now. And where has it put us? Once in the playoffs, with not a single one game of them won.

So to summ it up. I’d say that only because of his good moves this season and the season before DWad still may earn this his extension time as a GM. But if the Thrashers don’t only get to the playoffs this spring, but also go at least to 2nd round there, he just got to go. Plus, nevertheless, I think he has to change his whole concept of building a team.
(Coach Anderson, who is also known for his offence emphasizing attitude towards the game, already tries to change the team philosophy to more D-minded one. But it just may be too little too late.)

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A better question is were does Bobby Cox rank as a manager – when you look past the fact that he rode the best pitching staffs perhaps in baseball history to Division wins over the long 162 game regular season sechedules in spite of in management procedures and lack thereof.
Do Cox supporters NOT THINK:
(1) That it defies logic that even with this great pitching he could sin only 1 WS in 14 post season opportunities;
(2) That it is a little strange that he continuously keeps position players in the lineup for months when it is obvious to everyone that they cannot produce and that he has far better options on the bench;
(3) That it is a little odd that he does not seem to know that he can adjust his batting order up and down based on who is hot and who is not.
(4) That it is hard to explain why season after season he takes a relief pitcher who cannot get anyone out and keeps on using him on and on and on;
(5) That it is wierd that he does not make lineup adjustments and batting order adjustments based on how great or how terrible certain hitters do against certain pitchers;
(6) That it is difficult to justify that he misuses his bullpen season after season, after season;
(7) That it is odd that he doesn’t seem to know that you if your 3rd place hitter is in a terrible slump (even though he has been a star), you can still move him down in ghe batting order;
(8) And most important of all, that it is unbelievable that he apparently has no concept at all of the absolute necessity to run production that you to teach, emphasize, demand that hitters work the count, be selective, make the opposing pitcher throw a lot of pitches
(9) That it cannot be explained why he seems to have no concept of putting pressure on the opposing pitcher – in a variety of situations and in a variety of ways.
(10) And this does not even go into his blundering strategy moves in game after game after game.

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You are too kind with a D. 10+ years of futility would have ended Donnie’s tenure in any major sports city long ago. And if several coaches, including him, cannot succeed, you have to wonder about the GM.

Saddest is that if they had a winning franchise they would sellout every night even without “Chik-Fil-A Night”.

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Whether Waddell gets a D, D-minue, or an outright F, doesn’t matter because neither is a grade to be proud of and even if he re-signs Kovalchuk, he needs to go.

If the former Hawks G.M. Knight had a track record even remotely close to Waddell, Knight would have been fired long ago. Why is Waddell given so much slack? Why was Pete Babcock given so much slack despite what he inherited from former G.M. of the Year Stan Kasten which was an enviable situation and despite what he proceeded to do over succeeding years including the outright stupid is-he-on-drug decision to bring in J.R. Rider?

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At this point, I am not sure that you should give Dimitroff an A. I am not a Falcons fan, but I admired the new GM’s work in his first year, but his 2nd year left a lot to be desired. Every team has injuries, and the Falcons had their share, but the Falcons played in a division that wasn’t very strong. The Falcons knew they needed upgrades on their offensive line and their defense, and they didn’t do enough there. On the other hand, Tony Gonzalez was a nice pickup, the kind of guy who can keep a second year QB like Matt Ryan from losing his confidence. I think you should have given the Falcons GM a B-minus; lines of scrimmage win in the playoffs, and the Falcons need major upgrades on both of theirs.

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Ive said it numerous times and I will continue to say it until I get feedback from others. The Falcons blew an opportunity to easily WIN a superbowl this season by releasing players during the offseason. Those players would have enabled the Falcons to be Superbowl champions this season. If they had those three players signed right now, the Falcons, healthy, would have been better than the Saints, Vikings, Jets and Colts, the remainding four teams that are currently playing to get into the superbowl. The Falcons season of 2009 would not have been a waste, but rater a superbowl championship season and about 3 weeks from know the Falcons would be getting fitted for the Superbowl championship winning rings. Too bad. Bad personnell decisions by Dimitroff caused this and now the Falcons will regress and go backwards from here. Case in point. The Falcons record this season was 9-7, DOWN from 11-5 last year, so you can see the regression starting to take place. Next season, the Falcons should be sitting at either 6-10 or 7-9 if they are lucky and the regression will continue from there. They had the players to be champions, they were too cheap to sign them and give them market value for their services. The Falcons need a new general manager as far as Im concerned.

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“Even the jaded among us presumed the pursestrings would be loosened slightly given Cox’s pending retirement.”

Why? What sense would that make? Cox has already shown that he can ruin a top budget team as thoroughly as he can ruin a mid-budget team

The time to think about expanding the payroll budget will be when we have a chance to win something – which will be the day after Cox leaves the premises for good

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The only mistake that Billy Knight made as a hawks gm was not drafting chris paul over marvin williams. Thats is! In spite of that mistake the Hawks are in first place and when billy first came here, the hawks were the worst franchise in professional sports. Billy Knight should receive a bouquet of flowers for the job he did in turning around the Hawks. If the Hawks dont win a title now it wont be Knights fault. Knight provided all the horses for the Hawks to win. If they blow it now its their own fault or the fault of the current hawks gm.

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Wren – All Blow Give him a big fat F

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“Robert..are those scrabble words?”

A fancy way of saying that something has the proper number of chromosomes.

I wouldnt be at all surprised to learn that Cox is missing a few – it would explain his retardation

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After being involved in baseball for over 60 years (as a player, coach, manager, fan); the two biggest mysteries – most amazing things I have seen are:
(1) How could Bobby Cox manage for over 20 years and continuously do and fail to do the things that he does that defy logic and common sense and the most fundamental essentials of winning?
(2) Secondly, why do the AJC writers continously ignore Bobby Cox’s obvious incompetency and blunders game after game after game? Are they under orders to do this? Do they just have an agreement not to be critical? Has the Braves organization ordered this or they will not give thim access. So many things are so obvious – things that any manager (at any level of baseball – Little League to High School – to College – to Semi Pro – to Minor League – to Major Leage) would do or not do as some of the most simple essentials of winning. Is it that his incompetency is so significant, his blunders so numerious – that there is no where to begin – that it is impossible to address?

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All I can say Braves fans is we’re in for another disapointing year. No lead off hitter and about all we got was players out of their prime. As long as a media company owns the Braves and no individual owns them we can’t expect much so hang on to your hats Braves fans. We’ll be talkingabout this next year again.

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Don – Baseball is a good ole boys club. Nobody says anything bad about anyone else in the club, cuz if one does, then they are essentially black-balled.

Sportswriters depend on their being “in the club” to get access to, candid discussion with, and scoops from, players and staff.

Look, anyone with HALF a brain realizes that Cox is incompetent. It’s the elephant in the room. But if you’re a sportswriter, you have to toe the party line and speak only well of Cox (or any other of the frat brothers).

Now, a guy like Canseco – you can rip him apart. Never mind the fact that while player after player has been proven a liar, the one guy who every claim of his that has been checked on he has been proven to have told truth. Thing is, he spoke bad, he said things that “dissed” others, or put them in bad light

Appearances and buddy-buddy are what count in this ole boys club. Everyone SAYS they think Cox is great. Now tell me, do you think any team would actually do anything but laugh if we offered Cox in a trade?

To be in the club, you say as they say, and if you do, then they’ll verbally back whatever you do – no matter how wrong or stupid

Look at the photo on the Braves front page over the headline Meet the New Braves. Cox is visible in the background. The only other time I have seen that facial expression was whenn they showed coverage of the medal ceremonies at the Special Olympics

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Don – I have called out doucheblog Dave O’Brien many many times on the Cox issue. He despises me for it. He can not admit the truth. All he can do is try to discredit me thru ridicule and/or hate. It works with a corps of brainwashed head-nodding bloggers who either really believe anything OBrien says or who dont have the guts to disagree with him and thereby face his hate.

But the bloggers who think for themselves know. They may not all agree with me about quite how bad Cox is. Some of them also dislike me quite intensely. But they admit that OBrien and most of the rest of the ajc staff ignore the blatantly obvious Cox issue.

Here’s something that says a LOT. Who is the ONE ajc sportswriter who has done anything even close to really calling Cox out as a buffoon?

It was Bisher.

When did he do it?

A couple of months before he retired. As in, when it didnt matter any more whether the ole boys club accepted him or not.

Look what happened a couple of years ago when Smoltz treaded close to calling Cox out. He was shut up, and FAST, by Cox thru his chief minion and favorite son Hoss (aka Chumper Jones)

But then look at what Chipper himself said about his maybe retiring. It was in the interview that was posted on ajc a while back – Chipper said, and this is a paraphrase not an exact quote – that there were ’some politics in the game that get tiresome having to deal with’.

Ya think maybe he meant that my manager , (who he compared to a favorite grandpa), gee I like him like a grandpa but dang he’s an idiot but I cant say nuthin cuz I know where my bread is buttered, ya know?

I think that’s EXACTLY what he meant.

I also know that if anyone asked him that, he’d deny it and ridicule the idea.

GOTTA be that way – or you’re outta the ole boys club

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Mark

Your comment “hockey is doomed in Atlanta” is misguided and careless. Yes, attendance is bad but the core fans (there are plenty) are voting for a change of leadership in the front office by not showing up. Even Gary Bettman has said the Thrashers have not won so how can they be judged. I know you follow the Hawks closly and they are winning however attendance is horrible on a relative basis but are they doomed? When the Hawks were playing poorly during a better economy at times had 3 or 4 thousand in the building but yet did I read comments by you and the AJC making a careless projection about the fate of the Hawks in AtL? When the Thrahsers were winning their attendance was competitive and far better than the Hawks. It was just a couple of years ago that the Thrashers were out drawing Boston, Washington and Pittsburgh but they all started to win. The issue is not if hockey can survive but rather why is the GM still the voice and surviving (altough DW is a good guy). I wish you and your friends at the AJC had a better undestanding of the real issues.

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Sund A+

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Fellas fellas fellas, of course cowardly Bradley, baby girl Bowmen, and Sindee Schultz aren’t going to be critical of Booby Cox. 2 solid reasons…

Let’s start with number 1 :} These guys are not good writers and are incapable of writing a decent article, especially Bradley.

#2 Scared. Plain scared. They are little teeny eeny p-ssies and don’t want to rock the boat for fear that there job will be gone, and we all know what would happen if they lost this job…. they would not be hired anywhere in the country, mainly due to being the worst of the worst in the writing business…

So there you have it.

Not knowledgeable enough

and

No balls

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Wren did a good job rebuliding the pitching rotation, and then gave away the most durable and effective starter and got nothing in return. He should have been looking all winter for a solid #4 hitter. Betting the farm, hoping that a player who missed all of last year with an injury can be an effective clean-up hitter, makes no sense. LaRoche was more than an effective defensive and offensive player. No other Brave has hit more HR’s than he has in a season in the last 9 years.

He has upheld the GM’s traditon of trading starters for players that don’t last a year. We’ve seen Furcal, Andrus, Betemit, Sheffield, LaRoche, and Frenchy all traded for players that did not last a season. I’d say that is poor performance. He kept an ineffective battiing coach, and let Frenchy go to a division rival. Bad move. That hitting coach will still be in place when the new young studs arrive from the minors this year, and he will without a doubt screw them up.

I give Wren high marks for re-tooling the rotation last year, and then low marks for letting a starter and two key relievers go for nothing in return. He did not acquire a valid #4 hitter in the off season, and has allowed the most ineffective hitting coach in the game to stay in place. I give him a D, because he has not improved the team on offense, weakened them on defense, and kept TP as the hitting coach.

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Two suggestions to consider:
(1) Even though TBS can no longer carry baseball on a regular basis, they could still carry all the Braves games (with Cox managing) as a “Comedy Show”.
(2) The AJC should sponsor a weekly contest for fans to select Bobby Cox’s biggest blunder. Of course, it could be a daily contest.

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Kovi has left town. So does Don now get a F?

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Whatever is lower than an F, that’s what he got.

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Waddell is now a B for his 2010 season transactions ESPECIALLY moving Kovy – a move that has been pivotal in our strong playoff push since “captain” exited!

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