As the trade deadline nears, we offer a defense of Frank Wren
Mike Devereaux, eventual MVP of the 1995 NLCS, delivers the winning hit in Game 1. (AJC file photo)
Even as Braves fans scream, “Do something!”, it’s worth noting that the test of a general manager isn’t to do just anything — it’s to do the right thing. And sometimes what seems the right thing turns out to be …
Mark Teixeira.
The approach of another trade deadline takes us back to July 2007. The Braves made a big move, sending five prospects to Texas for the first baseman Teixeira and the reliever Ron Mahay. On the night Teixeira joined the Braves, Tim Hudson said, “Seems like they’re trying to make us win the World Series around here.”
That night Teixeira hit two home runs. Soon, two giddy fans from Auburn, Ala., had written a ditty and slapped it on YouTube. Sample lyric: “The National League it just ain’t fair-a/The Atlanta Braves got Mark Teixeira.” Also this: “The side effect is mild hysteria/The medical reason in Mark Teixeira.”
The reality, alas, was less scintillating. The Braves were 3 1/2 games out of first place when Teixeira arrived; they finished five back. They’d gone 56-51 without Teixeira; they went 28-27 with him. He was gone the next July, shipped to California ahead of impending free agency. Two of those five prospects grew up to help the Rangers reach the 2010 World Series.
The big heat on is Frank Wren to respond to the Giants’ acquisition of Carlos Beltran and to the Phillies’ trade for Hunter Pence. But a response isn’t always an answer, and here we cite another precedent. In 1983 the Braves were running ahead of the Dodgers, but Los Angeles landed the pitcher Rick Honeycutt. Determined to match, the Braves plucked Len Barker from Cleveland, but at the sky-high cost of Brett Butler, Brook Jacoby and Rick Behenna.
The Dodgers flew past the Braves in September. Barker won one game as a Brave in 1983, nine more the next two seasons. In any ranking of the worst trades in Atlanta Braves history, those two deadline deals would make the bottom five.
We mention this not to excuse Frank Wren from doing nothing yet — the guess is that Wren will move momentarily — but it’s not as if the GM has been trying to do nothing. Wren is the Charlie Hustle of general managers: His default position is to slide headfirst. Sometimes he overdoes it, which is how a team that acquired Javier Vazquez and Derek Lowe in one offseason felt compelled to add Kenshin Kawakami. But anyone who thinks Wren is sitting back watching the river flow is delusional.
Wren knows his team needs a bat, a center fielder, a leadoff man. He watches the games, same as you. But knowing you lack something doesn’t mean it’s available, and even if it is it might not be available at your price. The Phillies traded their best pitching prospect and their best non-pitching prospect to Houston for Pence. It has been reported that Wren offered Mike Minor, the Braves’ third-best pitching prospect. Does that make him stupid? Uh, no.
The Phillies sell out every game. When they lack starting pitching a few years down the road, they’ll buy more. (In recent years they’ve bought Roy Halladay, Joe Blanton, Roy Oswalt and Cliff Lee twice.) The Braves can’t do that. They’ve spent half as much for this roster as Philadelphia has for its.
The Braves might have had Beltran, but Wren refused to trade one of his four top pitching prospects for a three-month rental. We can quibble over his decision — me, I’d have parted with Minor if it meant getting Beltran for however long — but nobody should suggest it was made lightly.
Wren wants to win a World Series, same as you, but there’s no assurance a big-ticket hire makes you a champ. Fred McGriff panned out. Teixeira didn’t. B.J. Surhoff, acquired by the Braves at the 2000 deadline, didn’t. Denny Neagle, acquired in 1996, didn’t. (Though he would win 36 games in 1997 and ‘98.) But Mike Devereaux, who arrived in an afterthought trade for the minor-leaguer Andre King in August 1995, became the most valuable player of the NLCS en route to Atlanta’s’ only World Series title.
More? Well, the acquisition who left the biggest imprint on October 2010 didn’t arrive in a deadline deal. The Giants bought Cody Ross off waivers from Florida on Aug. 22. He hit five postseason homers and drove in 10 runs.
Baseball, as you might have heard, is a funny old game. Those perceived as deadline winners don’t always, or even often, win in October. Consensus holds that the Giants made a winning move to get Beltran. Consensus also holds that the Phillies won by trading for Pence. At least one of those teams will not win the World Series. That’s a guarantee.
By Mark Bradley
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354 comments Add your comment
Listless in Atlanta
July 30th, 2011
8:33 pm
I agree with others..the Tex trade wasn’t a trade for a bad player…it was only bad in that we had no chance of signing him long term. Trading the future for a rental is not generally a good idea, but we parted with most of the players in that trade because they were blocked at the major league level. It was a bad trade because the result was no good, and we lost Tex. Even if Pence didn’t become the missing piece of the puzzle this year, we still would have had another 2 years or so to bring a championship home with him. Would have made the lineup much more exciting. Its really a shame.
Optimistic Brave
July 30th, 2011
8:33 pm
Same mentality
Optimistic Brave
July 30th, 2011
8:40 pm
A trade will help the Braves because a team has to hit as well as have good pitching in the playoffs. The season starts all over. The Phillies’ eys are on the Braves and San Fran looking forward. They made a move to improve their offense. Unless the Braves want to concede the season they will have to get an outfield bat, plain and simple.
Mark Bradley
July 30th, 2011
8:45 pm
As noted, I’m at the game. The Braves lead 4-1 in the bottom of the sixth. Nothing seems to be happening trade-wise, although we Wren watchers did get a scare when he left his booth a half-hour ago. He came back with vanilla ice cream.
Frank Wren
July 30th, 2011
8:48 pm
Here’s my current plan for improving the offense—–wait for McLouth to return from the DL.
Mark Bradley
July 30th, 2011
8:52 pm
Let me go on the record here: I fully expect the Braves to make a trade for a starting outfielder in the next 19 hours.
Brent
July 30th, 2011
8:53 pm
It’s alot easier to make “offseason” deals when you have months of due diligence/research to put towards it, Wren has made some good ones – however, I want us to go beyond “good” and be “bold” and try to get one last piece to take us to the promised land (Bourne = World Series). We have an incredible farm system. We can AFFORD to be bold and sacrifice a prospect or two. For those that think in a few years, we’ll need all those pitching prospects, that’s not the true reality of baseball. Show me a pitching staff that has 5 homegrown starters. We could have Teheran, Delgado, Beachy and 2 free agent starters several years from now. BE BOLD…..STEP FROM THE MIDDLE OF THE ROOF A LITTLE TOWARDS THE EDGE… offer a competitive deal for Bourne, and let’s see if we can win it all this year, and maybe have the attendance that the Braves deserve….taking deep breath for about the hundredth time today
Skeezix
July 30th, 2011
8:53 pm
Well Mark: Are you ready to go on the record with who it’s going to be?
Brent
July 30th, 2011
8:55 pm
I guess I need to offer a “glass half full” statement now – in defense of Wren, silence doesn’t imply inactivity – I know he’s never been one to “broadcast his hand” I hope tomorrow I will be praising his GM skills LOL
Optimistic Brave
July 30th, 2011
8:57 pm
Mark, any word on Coco Crisp who may be packing his bags and headed to Atlanta as we speak? Something is better than nothing…
Mark Bradley
July 30th, 2011
8:59 pm
I will go on the record and say — and this is a guess — Michael Bourn or B.J. Upton.
Optimistic Brave
July 30th, 2011
9:00 pm
Mark, the heat must be getting to ya out there…lol…I hope you are right.
Mark Bradley
July 30th, 2011
9:01 pm
It’s actually comfortable tonight.
James
July 30th, 2011
9:01 pm
If all else fails the Braves should see if they can get Andruw Jones from the Yankees he can still play CF and help the team.
Brent
July 30th, 2011
9:01 pm
I hope that Cookie Crisp is on a National Security alert list and not allowed to fly anywhere in near the ATL – if we want a leadoff hitter with a .319 OBP, we should just let the Jay-Hey kid just bat leadoff for the rest of the year. But, I would take a “we’ll give you Scott Proctor for Coco Crisp PLEASEE” deal and have Crisp be our designated pinch runner (anyone know who Herb Washington is?)
Brent
July 30th, 2011
9:04 pm
Mark, please let us know if you see any other Frank Wren activity – picking up the phone, pacing, enthusiasm, leaving the suite, etc.
jay
July 30th, 2011
9:07 pm
I hope you are right. I get the feeling that he is kind of afraid to pull the trigger and risk
making things worse.
Optimistic Brave
July 30th, 2011
9:07 pm
I know Brent, but Crisp wouldn’t surprise me knowing the Braves management.
Mark Bradley
July 30th, 2011
9:09 pm
Frank seems very composed, Brent. Just watching the game as we speak.
I will surely regret saying this, but I don’t think any trade will happen tonight.
Bill
July 30th, 2011
9:09 pm
I hope you right…Bourn are Bj would be good. We all know Bourn will be high with Astros after Pence deal.
Thanks Mark,,,,,,
Brent
July 30th, 2011
9:10 pm
Optimistic, I know what you mean. I hope tomorrow all this frustration is gone and we’re talking about how we’ve just solidified our lineup with Bourn at the leadoff slot!
Bill
July 30th, 2011
9:10 pm
Maybe he has his Asst doing the work……
Skeezix
July 30th, 2011
9:14 pm
Mark: I’m okay with Bourne–in fact I like him. But Upton, I don’t know.
Mark Bradley
July 30th, 2011
9:14 pm
Jerry Crasnick of ESPN — good writer, good guy — just Tweeted that the Braves don’t have a trade partner yet. But they’ve got until 4 p.m. Sunday.
Brent
July 30th, 2011
9:15 pm
Mark, I think you are correct. I hope that by this time tomorrow, we’re saying “Bring those Phillies on, Bourn is gonna run all over that Phillies pitching staff and Ruiz!”
Mark Bradley
July 30th, 2011
9:17 pm
I like Upton’s potential. Everybody does. But he’s hitting .229. (Like a Brave.)
Mark Bradley
July 30th, 2011
9:19 pm
And let’s not lose sight of this: The Braves are a good team, and they figure to get their best player back soon.
Brent
July 30th, 2011
9:19 pm
Mark, I would agree with you. Upton has great potential, but he’s not a prototypical leadoff hitter, which is what we NEED. Not to mention the fact that we have one of the most cohesive clubs in the league, with incredible chemistry, and we know Upton’s reputation. He could be toxic to our team.
Brent
July 30th, 2011
9:21 pm
I agree Mark that Upton has potential. But he is not of the “leadoff hitter” mold, that we so desperately need. The other factor to consider, is that we are one of the most “cohesive” teams in the league, with our clubhouse chemistry unparalleled. Upton could be toxic to that.
Mark Bradley
July 30th, 2011
9:22 pm
I would also add this: Braves seem to be trying to lose this game.
Bill
July 30th, 2011
9:22 pm
His average is 100 points higher on the road this year. Maybe if he gets out of TB he will take off. Get out of the building. Ron Gant said he was a 5 star player and would be a 30-30 guy in Atlanta.
Mark if you see Gant at game ask him..
Optimistic Brave
July 30th, 2011
9:22 pm
Brent, Amen brother. I have watched these guys for years and years, and they seem to hover over these prospects with some godly optimism, but when it is all said and done…well, look at the record. On the other hand, here is a team like Philly, who give up 3 prospects and also got money back. That is just plain out gutsy. To be cham-peens, we must make a couple gutsy moves here and there.
Edo River
July 30th, 2011
9:22 pm
Well said, I think one’s opinion depends on one’s upbringing. This means: whether or not you are a person who tries to follow the discipline of religious faith or not; whether you grew up in a stable eomotional and physical home life or not; whether you learned to control your physical and emotional appetites or not: whether you were in a fearful home or at least a hopeful thinking homelife or not; and the kind of job you do…whether your sincerely try your best or not…etc. All these factors play into our reactions over such a silly inconsequential thing as a professional baseball game.
Skeezix
July 30th, 2011
9:23 pm
Yeah, let Upton just stay where he is. We don’t need a head case in the middle of this stretch run.
Brent
July 30th, 2011
9:25 pm
I agree the Braves are a good team, they are a DANG GOOD team. But, I’m not content with good. There’s a book out there called “Good to Great” by Jim Collins, that details how companies transition from being average companies to great companies and how companies can fail to make the transition.
I want the Braves to make that transition!
Mark Bradley
July 30th, 2011
9:26 pm
But Jonny Venters whiffs Hanley Ramirez on a slider. Bases were loaded.
Brent
July 30th, 2011
9:27 pm
Mark, you would do Skip Caray and Ernie Johnson proud! Keep it up!
todd grantham
July 30th, 2011
9:27 pm
Hey Mark. Quite a nice defense of GM Wren. Are you sure you didnt miss your calling by not getting that law degree?
Bill
July 30th, 2011
9:28 pm
toxic..he!!..just because he didnt hustle in 08 and mgr cut him down…in 2010 when he got into it with third baseman..We have players on Braves team that don’t hustle…give me a break.
BJ is first payer out of dugout when his teammates do go..he will do fine in Atlanta.
todd grantham
July 30th, 2011
9:28 pm
the Braves have to get a bat and hope Schafer can return quite soon because this team is quite slow afoot.
Mark Bradley
July 30th, 2011
9:29 pm
As a Kentucky AD once told me when I told him I’d skipped a career in law to become a semi-journalist: “There’s still time.”
Brent
July 30th, 2011
9:29 pm
Hinske with the bomb!
Mark Bradley
July 30th, 2011
9:30 pm
Hinske hits a home run. Frank Wren’s second-best acquisition.
todd grantham
July 30th, 2011
9:30 pm
I am really beginning to believe that Heyward is following the footsteps of Jeff Francour. He doesnt seem to have the “fire in the belly” for baseball.
Brent
July 30th, 2011
9:30 pm
Oops Mark that was supposed to be your comment!
todd grantham
July 30th, 2011
9:30 pm
yes, but at 55 and on one knee, how much time is left?
todd grantham
July 30th, 2011
9:31 pm
was Joe B. Hall the AD or Mr. Rupp?
Mark Bradley
July 30th, 2011
9:32 pm
Cliff Hagan.
Bill
July 30th, 2011
9:32 pm
Yes we need the juice back…thats ok
Brent
July 30th, 2011
9:33 pm
Baseball is game of adjustments – batters adjusting to pitchers and vice versa. Many good hitters have a “sophomore slump” because of failure to adjust. I say get him down to AAA for the month of August, and do the “3 Rs”, I mean the “2 Rs and a F” Rest, Recuperate, and Fix the HOLE in his swing!