From ‘epic fail’ to the playoffs: Saluting Frank Wren’s wild year
Chipper Jones went down, but Frank Wren stood tall all season. (AJC photo by Hyosub Shin)
One year ago today, Frank Wren consummated the trade that prompted this correspondent to write the geeky words “epic fail” and to describe it as “the worst thing I’ve seen all year.” (Not that you can actually see a trade happen, but I was so stunned I was thinking even less clearly than usual.)
It was, as I’m sure you remember, the Javier-Vazquez-to-the-Yankees swap, and two of the three acquired players (Melky Cabrera and Mike Dunn) have already been rendered ex-Braves. And the third, young pitcher Arodys Vizcaino, hurt his arm midway through the minor-league season. But you know what I’m calling Frank Wren 365 days later?
My man of the year in Atlanta sports.
The Braves broke a four-year playoff drought for many reasons — Jason Heyward’s flying start, Tim Hudson’s recovery, Troy Glaus’ month of May — but mostly they broke it because their general manager kept plugging leaks, of which there were many. The lineup on Opening Day shared only two starters with the one that took the field for Game No. 162, which meant an awful lot had gone wrong. But the Zen of Wren in Twenty-Ten was his utter persistence in drawing up new plans.
The Braves’ relationship with Yunel Escobar finally soured, so Wren imported Alex Gonzalez to play shortstop. Glaus went bad after lifting the Braves to first place and Chipper Jones got hurt in August, prompting Wren to pry Derrek Lee from the Cubs. At the trade deadline Wren acquired Rick Ankiel and Kyle Farnsworth from the Royals, and lo and behold they were the key figures in the Braves’ first playoff victory since Oct. 6, 2005.
That no single Wren move had the dramatic oomph of John Schuerholz’s trade for Fred McGriff in July 1993 only underscores the point: This GM wasn’t shopping with Ted Turner’s bankroll. Wren had to buy cheap and keep buying. It’s a cliche to say that baseball teams assume the personality of their manager, but this season offered a twist: The 2010 Braves actually took after their general manager. They were dogged. They were resourceful. They kept figuring out ways to steal a ballgame here and there.
At the end they had almost nothing left: Chipper was gone after hurting himself making the Braves’ second-best defensive play of the year, and Martin Prado got hurt making the season’s best defensive play. Glaus stopped hitting. Nate McLouth never started. Kenshin Kawakami won only one game and was replaced in the rotation by Kris Medlen, who hurt his arm. The Braves’ first two starters in a key three-game series in Philadelphia were the rookies Brandon Beachy and Mike Minor, the former making his big-league debut.
Somehow this incredible shrinking club made the playoffs, whereupon Billy Wagner was lost. And still the Braves were one strike from taking a 2-1 series lead on the team that would win the World Series — Eric Hinske, an offseason Wren find, had hit a stunning two-run homer in the bottom of the eighth — when the inevitable-in-hindsight collapse occurred.
Without Wagner, Bobby Cox turned to two rookies — first Craig Kimbrel, then Dunn — to try and close. Without Jones and Prado, the Braves were down to the third-stringer Brooks Conrad at second base. (Conrad had already made so many errors at third base in the regular season’s final week that he was moved across the diamond.) Dunn yielded the tying single to Aubrey Huff, and then Conrad made his third error of the most awful night any player has ever had.
“The worst loss I’ve ever had,” Wren would say later, but in its way that wrenching Game 3 only showed how much the Braves had to surmount to get that far. The Phillies had a bunch of guys hurt, but they got well, and when in doubt Philly can always go buy another pitcher. (This July it was Roy Oswalt.)
To view the Braves in preseason was to think, “If all goes well, they’ll have a chance to make the playoffs.” Almost nothing followed the script, and still they made it. They made it because Wren was willing to try anything and everything — and did.
Oh, and Javier Vazquez? He stunk as a Yankee.
By Mark Bradley
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137 comments Add your comment
james
December 22nd, 2010
8:06 pm
thank you for putting the season in perspective.
Wren pulled a rabbit out of the hat.
The season was fun for the fans.
We have a tremendous general manager and we can look forward to success.
LivinInAL
December 22nd, 2010
8:09 pm
Wow! If stachemoney22 were the GM………
MitchC
December 22nd, 2010
8:34 pm
Mark, I’m sorry to say this. While you are completely correct about your analysis of Wren, your article actually contradicts your article from earlier this week about Uggla and his contract.
You praise Wren for shopping wisely with a bargain basement payroll, and for building a team that won 91 games, and made the playoffs, yet.. when Wren makes another important acquisition, for the power hitter this club so dearly needs, you wrote that you wouldn’t offer him a contract that is actually BELOW market value of what other players of his talent would receive.
I’ll admit I have made “Fire Frank Wren posts”, during my time as a poster on this blog. However, after seeing what the Braves accomplished in 2010, injuries and all, and after seeing FW get the power bat we need, I think the guy is doing well, with the budget choke that Liberty has around him, especially if we can lock Uggla up long term.
Maybe I’m missing the point.. but.. it seems to me it has to be one way or the other, Mark. Either praise Wren, or criticize him. We can’t really have it both ways.
Road Dog
December 22nd, 2010
9:26 pm
Well, obviously no one here read the DOB interview with Mr. Wren. He stated emphatically that Liberty Media has no monetary “choke hold” on the operation of the Atlanta Braves. He, in fact, praised them for their “hands off” position regarding the operation of the team. That said, I hope and pray he can round us up a couple of legitimate MLB outfielders before Spring Training. Be creative and get it done! Hell, trade Chipper. The Braves traded both Hank Aaron and Dale Murphy in the twilight of their careers. The two additional outfielders I’d like to see in town are Gardner from the Yankees (left fielder with speed to burn!!) and the very young, exciting, young center fielder from South Georgia with that .305 rookie batting average. Welcome back home Lorenzo Cain!! (Also has a smile worth a million bucks…)
jarvis
December 22nd, 2010
9:36 pm
Maybe we could convince KK to fake an injury this spring. Insurance picks up the rest of his salary, and he gets to go back to the land of the rising sun.
stachemoney22
December 22nd, 2010
10:23 pm
LivinInAL, come up with an intelligent rebuttal. wren screwed up from the get-go by signing KK for too much $ and doing the same with Lowe. He made these moves knowing good well that we would have a restricted payroll for the foreseeable future. Those two guys have impacted all of our moves for the past two years and will impact us for at least two more years. Wren single handedly messed over the team midseason last year. He didn’t make a single solid addition. Instead, he brought in three garbage players-anKiel, Farnsworthlessness, and Alex Gonzalez.
SawThat1nce
December 22nd, 2010
10:37 pm
The worst part of the Vazquez trade, was the acquistion of Melky Cabrera.
He stunk, but Cox loved him for some reason. How many rallies did Cabrera kill last season? We started calling his ‘weak grounder to 2nd Cabrera’ around here.
It seemed like every time one of the other LFers or CFers would get hot with the bat, Cox would have to replace him with the lazy, dead bat Melky.
I truly believe that the Braves would of had a chance to win 8 to 10 more games last year, if Cabrera would not have been on the team for Cox to blow the games with.
SawThat1nce
December 22nd, 2010
10:40 pm
Oh yeah, Cox blew that playoff series with the Giants.
Road Dog
December 22nd, 2010
11:23 pm
Melky signed with the KC Royals to be their starting center fielder. They have an established left fielder and our old friend Jeff Francouer in right field. They also have ex-Brave Gregor Blanco to back up Melky in center field. I submit the Royals with Dayton Moore’s connections with the Braves specifically acquired Lorenzo Cain in the Greinke trade to be traded to the Braves to be their starting center fielder and send McClouth packing his bags to anywhere but here. He’s 25, great baserunner, great defense, a native of Valdosta, Georgia — and in my humble opinion — a likely candidate for rookie of the year!! Welcome him home, Atlanta.
Road Dog
December 22nd, 2010
11:29 pm
To be clear, Lorenzo actually batted .306 in only 47 plate appearances — which I believe would still make him a “rookie” next year. Hence, the award.
Road Dog
December 23rd, 2010
12:02 am
Oh yeah. Brett Gardner is a native of Holly Hill, South Carolina. See earlier post. The Yankees are desperate for starting pitching. Cashman (their GM) said they may have to go with two rookies in their starting rotation! The Braves have pitching, both present and future, coming out of their “ying yang”. Trade one for Gardner. He’s young, he stole 46 bases last year, and plays great defense! Bats around .270 or so. That’s good enough with what he brings to the table. With Cox finally gone, the future is speed and defense! Uggla will hit enough home runs and base hits. Let’s get some players who can get on and get in scoring position in front of him. Let’s get these guys, close the book on Cox, play a different kind of baseball, and win the World Series next year. Both guys can be Braves if we move quickly. Beachy could probably get Gardner. (Yanks are desperate.) A pitching prospect could probably get Cain. How many pitching prospects can you continue to warehouse?? There’s always ten more on the list……
MitchC
December 23rd, 2010
12:14 am
Road Dog, I’ll admit I didnt read the interview with Frank, but.. I’ve been a Braves fan for almost 30 years. I know full well how this team operates with payroll the last eight years since Glavine went to the Mets.
One of the posters mentioned about “Trading Chipper”. I don’t know what value he would have. When Dale Murphy was traded in the twilight of his career, he had two things going for him that Chipper doesn’t. One.. he was only 34 at the time of the trade, and Chipper is going to be 39 in April. Two., even on the downside of his career, Murph played 150 games a year. When was the last time Chipper did that? Murph had a lower batting average at this point in his career, but. I believe he hit 18 or 20 homers the year he was traded from the Braves to Philly. Chipper only hit 10 last year.
Unless the Braves could get Chipper to agree to it, as he’s a 10 and 5 guy, and unless you had a team desperate enough to take on his 10 mil plus salary, I dont think any team would take Chipper now with his injury problems the last several years.
Chipper will likely stay a Brave until he retires, making him one of the few Braves HOF;s to actually retire as a Brave. Hank didnt, neither did Spahn. Knucksie “Technically” retired as a Brave, but not before a four year stint in the AL, and a farewell game, back home, as we know.
I’ll be shocked if Chipper goes anywhere but to retirement.
Trey
December 23rd, 2010
1:55 am
Mitch, Chipper retiring as a Brave is a very, very big possibility. The only way I could see him possibly going to another team is if he gets cut the way Tom Glavine did, and he didn’t feel like giving up; goes to another team and tries for them. I know Glavine didn’t, but that is the only way I could see Jones to another team, however; I think Chipper would just go ahead and retire. However, that is seeing if he makes it past spring training.
Road Dog
December 23rd, 2010
2:25 am
Hi MitchC! Great to hear from you. You are probably correct that Chipper may well be untradeable. And I have nothing against him. I like him a lot. Always have. My point was meant to be that if a franchise can trade Hank Aaron and Dale Murphy — two of our best ever — Hank maybe the best player of all time — what makes Chipper any different?? He’ll probably retire an Atlanta Brave and that would be fine. I just thought he might be “trade bait” as a DH in the American League or for a team in Texas (closer to his ranch!). May just be his nature, but he seems to me to be the polar opposite of Dale Murphy. He has no real ties to the community even after 15 years in Atlanta. Murph still comes back to Atlanta a lot — ’cause I think, he thinks, he’s still an Atlanta Brave. I met Murph at a Braves 400 Club banquet two years ago. He is the nicest human being on the planet — but he could barely walk. His knees are shot. Probably even at 35 or so. What is the 38 year old Chipper’s latest malady? Oh yeah, a torn up knee. Hmmm… But I got you beat on being a Braves fan the longest. I attended the first Braves’ game ever at old Fulton County Stadium. It was an exhibition game against the Detroit Tigers in 1966 best I remember. (Al Kaline, Rocky Colavito, all those guys…) If I’m right (no patience to look this stuff up!) — I was 11 years old at the time — so I would now have been a Braves’ fan for 44 years. Take care and Merry Christmas!!
MitchC
December 23rd, 2010
8:29 am
Trey, I see your point, but Chipper is in a different position then Glavine. Glavine’s contract had totally expired. Unless its options that I dont know about, I believe Chipper is signed through 2012 or 2013.
Road Dog, I see what you’re saying about the franchise having no problem trading Chipper, if they can let Hank Aaron and Dale Murphy go.
I’ve met Murph too. He’s awesome. I used to live in NY. I believe it was 1984. My father knew a guy who was a lawyer for the Yankees, and he was able to get me into the Braves clubhouse, before a game with the Metropolitans at Shea. I went around, getting autograhs. Murph was in the training room getting a massage, and heard that he was my idol, and I wanted to meet him, so. he came out, and signed an autogrpah, and I got to shake his hand. I was 14 at the time, and it was one of the greatest thrills of my life. Murph was about the only good player the Braves had in those days. I still wish the Veterans Committee would vote him into the Hall. I know he never won a World Series, and that the Braves teams he played on weren’t usually very good, but.. he was one of the best players in baseball, for most of the period from 1980 to 1987. Maybe that wasn’t long enough, to give him serious consideration.
Mark’s going to love this. We take his article off topic. Sorry, Mark.
Road Dog
December 23rd, 2010
9:52 am
He’ll get over it. I used to be in that “business” a long time ago. And I haven’t heard anyone call the Mets, the Metropolitans, in maybe forever — although that is their name! And I would of course vote for Murph to the HOF if I had any say in the matter. Seems I met Dale 22 years after you did. He looked in great shape. Same boyish grin. Full head of lightly graying brown hair. Except for the knees, he looks like he could bring home another MVP!! I’ll let you go. I pop on here occasionally to talk Braves. Take away the idiots, the drunks, and the abused as a child types — I find many times the fans have a clearer idea of what’s up with their sports’ teams sometimes moreso than the media types. Maybe not having to worry about that paycheck coming in frees one up a bit. Thanks Mark for starting the discussion…
TreyT
December 23rd, 2010
11:31 am
MitchC, I believe Jones’ Contract ends after next season. I know he said he wanted to play until he was 40. You’re right thought; I didn’t think about Glavine’s contract being expired.
TreyT
December 23rd, 2010
11:56 am
Road Dog, it is possible that the Braves traded Jones, but I really don’t think they will. He has this year left on his contract, and I think next. I know Wren set his contract up so he would have the opportunity to retire as a Brave. Like you said, it is possible for him to get traded, but I don’t think he will. Heck, he may not even go past Spring Traning next season; but just see if he is able to play.
Trey
December 23rd, 2010
12:00 pm
Gah, I don’t mean to keep the T in TreyT. That was something I forgot to take out.
Fourbee
December 23rd, 2010
12:48 pm
C from Marietta wrote:
I love how stupid Yankees think they know everything.
I remember my first job at age 14 (back when it was legal for kids that young to work), at a restaurant. The manager of the restaurant was a damn yankee. He had me mopping the floor. I had to go to the bathroom to pee. When I returned, he asked if I had washed my hands. I told him I was only mopping the floor not handling food or equipment. He said: “Up north our Mothers teach us to wash our hands after we pee.” I said;” Well, down South, our Daddies teach us not to pee on our hands!”
Trey
December 23rd, 2010
12:53 pm
Fourbee, that is pretty funny. I think I heard that somewhere before.
Trey
December 23rd, 2010
12:56 pm
Mark, Mr. Roddy White wants AJC to stop posting his tweets.
FW
December 23rd, 2010
1:53 pm
That Frank Wren guy is brilliant.
Paul Hewitt
December 23rd, 2010
1:54 pm
Ga. Tech lost last night because of lack of support from the sportswriters at the ajc.
Trey
December 23rd, 2010
2:13 pm
FW, he’s alright. I mean, sometimes he has me scratching my head, and other times; he has me thankful he did what he did. I am kind of disappointed that we didn’t go out for any more pitchers, and I am kinda disappointed we have to stick with McLouth. Maybe he knows something we don’t.
Trey
December 23rd, 2010
4:18 pm
Mark, so do you expect any more major moves this off-season?
Trey
December 23rd, 2010
5:10 pm
Man, I wish more people would comment on this blog. Mark is a talented writer; yet he does not have as many posters as he deserves.
Trey
December 23rd, 2010
6:49 pm
Well, I hope your blog picks up Mark. I also hope Clusters starts posting again.
Marty in Rochester
December 24th, 2010
3:40 am
righteous column Mr. Bradley. couldn’t agree with you more on this one.
Antonio Gates is not a lock for the playoffs – CBS Sports | Bet Baseball Club
December 24th, 2010
9:07 am
[...] From ‘epic fail’ to the playoffs: Saluting Frank Wren’s wild year – Atlanta Journal Cons…Somehow this incredible shrinking club made the playoffs, whereupon Billy Wagner was lost. And still the Braves were one strike from taking a 2-1 series lead on the team that would win the World Series — Eric Hinske, an offseason Wren find, had hit a … [...]
Kenny J
December 24th, 2010
9:47 am
Just for fun — Below is a lengthy blog I posted here after 30 games last year. The Wren debate was raging, and Bradley was at the top of the pile with his lob shots. Then and now, I believe we have one of the to 5 GMs in today’s game. And I agree, wouldn’t it be awesome if Arthur owned this team!
“I share the disappointment in this team but I differ in my view of Wren. Here’s why. His payroll is not bad, but not near the top, and with it he put together a team this winter that was definitely solid, sound and well-balanced: pitching, hitting, defense, bullpen and bench. All facets of the game aligned to win 85, and from that base it’s about performance to stretch that out to win 93-95. The winter is long gone, and we have seen what’s happened on the field after 30 games to show otherwise, but we disagree on the source of the problem.
Here’s Wren’s winter work: hall of fame third baseman, rising SS-2B combo, all star catcher and center fielder, and a phenom worth betting on in right field. A left field platoon that should predictably produce .280, 18 and 85, good enough for any contender whose other cylinders are firing. One of the top five rotations on paper in baseball and the best bullpen we’ve seen here in awhile. An excellent backup catcher and a reserve infielder that can step in at 4-5 positions and fully handle major league pitching. Missing: SB speed and a load of power, although with Jones, McCann, Glaus, McLouth and Hayward all fully capable of 25 plus HRs, certainly decent enough power to win if the pitching and defense are right. All this without giving away any of the organization’s top minor league talent, and picking up one of Baseball America’s top 50 prospects in the Vazquez trade to boot. Lastly, a gamble at first, where we needed a RH power hitter for the short term. Players with Glaus’s major league track record have come back from a shoulder injury and been themselves again, and clearly others haven’t. But the 1B RH Power-Hitting market wasn’t exactly easy pickings, and Adam wanted 2-3 years, big money, and signing him would block Freeman’s arrival which makes no big-picture sense. Glaus was not a bad winter gamble – and we can all agree it’s not paying off so looks horrible.
The fact that the team is so painfully underperforming on the field does not strike me as a reflection of the front office. McLouth, Escobar, Jurrjens, McCann — these guys are proven talents and are supposed to perform. They’re not. I can’t put that on Wren. True, Lowe is overpaid and past his prime (that was a Wren mistake), and Chipper is the same problem. If the public outcry hadn’t been so bad when Wren made his Glavine and Smoltz decisions – both of which proved to be right from a baseball standpoint, he could have probably made a good baseball decision with Chipper too. We the righteous fans didn’t allow that, and so now we are looking at a legend whose value TODAY is low, but whose salary is in the way of bringing in someone who can do the job in the number 3 hole and at the hot corner.
I am down on this team too, but not because of the GM. The clubhouse, the dugout, on the field, the manager-coaching staff – that’s where I’d look. Of course we’ll never get inside, so we’re simply left disappointed, wondering and entitled to our opinion. That’s mine.”
Ozzie
December 24th, 2010
11:26 am
GW – fair point. Expectations have been reduced to reflect the reality of corporate ownership and a FO which won’t fight them on it.
No Braves FO staffer is going to protest (at least publicly) how this club is run. Until Liberty unloads this club Wren and his successors (btw – Wren has no contract beyond Oct 2011 so this may be his epitaph should they miss the post season in 2011) will have to band aid and finger cross their way into the playoffs.
There is nothing for it.
The Braves payroll is lower than it was 10 years ago while MLB revenues are higher. And as pointed out by Schultz the CEO of Liberty Media made 87mm in 2009. That is more than the Braves payroll.
Sure some of it was in stock but its still 87mm for one guy in a suit 2000 miles away who has probably not attended one Braves game in the past 12 mos.
squintyeyed
December 25th, 2010
7:10 am
t
squintyeyed
December 25th, 2010
7:35 am
somebody said that FW screwed up from the get-go by overpaying KK and Lowe. I agree those contracts were a bit much but the first thing I remember him doingwastradeing for JJ. Last year he was hurt but he was our best pitcher 2 years in a row at a bargain. I dont think it is fair to hammer on the KK contract and ignore the JJ one.
squintyeyed
December 25th, 2010
7:36 am
oh, I am far from first but I am the first of the day….Merry Christmas to braves nation from Portland OR
squintyeyed
December 25th, 2010
7:53 am
I hate to sound negative but I think we will be better next year without Cox. He really took the supporting players too far. One could go on and on with examples. Last season come playoff time he had to patch together an infield with only a few players to choose from. He chose the rookie who was falling apart down the stretch amid the pressure of a pennant race over 2 veterans with playoff experience, one of them had a Gold Glove. I know both Hinske and Glauss were far from ideal at third but, we are not talking about oppening day. We are talking about fielding a team that lost 2 infielders in the playoffs. Cox didnt sit conrad until it was too late and only did it then so the kid wouldnt have to go through it again. At least that is what Bobby said. He didnt do it for the good of the team he was too focused on being a nice guy. Same goes with hitting Chipper 3rd all year.
World News As It Happens » Blog Archive » nfl playoff bracket
December 28th, 2010
10:49 am
[...] From âepic failâ to the playoffs: Saluting Frank Wrenâs wild year – Atlanta Jou… But you know what Iâm calling Frank Wren 365 days later? My man of the year in Atlanta sports. The Braves broke a four-year playoff drought for many reasons â Jason Heywardâs flying start, Tim Hudsonâs recovery, Troy Glausâ month of May â but … Dec 14, 2010 4:25am [...]