Braves' Frank Wren Should Be Fired

[paynomind]

I'm convinced that the Braves would be far better off if someone else was in charge of trade and free-agent negotiations. Wren must be spitting in people's sweet teas, or something.

What is the problem? Why cant he close?

We need Joe Isuzu to sell the Braves org to some players.

Too much? Lets see how the offseason failures have gone.

They tried to re-sign pitcher Mike Hampton, who jumped instead to Houston and cited a desire to be closer to his children in Arizona.

The Braves spent six weeks trying to trade for San Diego ace Jake Peavy, only to pull out after the Padres kept asking for more in return for the Alabama native. Peavy told people he didn?t know if he would agree to a trade to Atlanta anyway.

The Braves then made what was the biggest offer at the time for pitcher A.J. Burnett, who eventually accepted a slightly larger offer from the Yankees, citing the city?s proximity to his family?s Maryland home and his wife?s desire not to fly.

Then came the Rafael Furcal debacle. The Braves said they had a gentlemen?s agreement with their former shortstop, but said his agent used the Braves? offer to leverage a better deal to re-sign with the Dodgers.

Two days after Griffey told a close friend that he planned to sign with the Braves, the enigmatic outfielder instead returned to the team he played for during the first 11 seasons of his illustrious career.

The simple fact here is; Players arent coming here. You can debate the value of the individual players, or debate that thr Braves suck with or without them, but what I am arguing is; Frank Wen is broken. He cant sign the guys they want. He is broken and should be fired.

He isnt alone in the blame. His ownership tell him how much he can spend on each guy. They need to tell him "Keep Smoltz, no matter what" "Get Furcal." "Bring Glavine back"

If ownership isnt doing that, they need to sell the team to someONE. Not some media group, but to someONE. I'd rather be owned by Mark Cuban, than Federal American liberty Mutual investment media... blah blah.

I'm very irritated. I dont see how this can be acceptable.

[NJTank]

I think unless the Braves have a good year Wren will be gone

[HedleyLamarr]

I'm not really all that disappointed with the Braves moves and non-moves. However, it's not a trend that I like, either.

John Smoltz: Would have been signed purely on sentimental value. He'll be lucky to pitch half a season.

AJ Burnett: Basically a right-handed Hampton, as far as injuries are concerned. The Braves would have been overpaying for his services.

Rafael Furcal: Basically missed all of last year with a hurt back. Back problems aren't good for an infielder. Wasn't really needed here, anyway.

Ken Griffey: Basically a bench/platoon player. No biggie that he's not playing here.

Mike Hampton: Woud have liked to see him get re-signed, but for cheap. He's stolen enough money here.

Jake Peavy: Wasn't worth the asking price, seeing as how the Braves aren't that close to contending.

Us Braves fans were spoiled by the 14-year streak. The fact is, the Braves lost 90 games last year, and got hit with the injury bug more than normal. The young guys got some valuable playing experience as a result, and now has some depth. I'm not expecting the Braves to contend for the World Series this season, but 2010 is looking very feasible.

[BrySmalls]

It seems the Braves are only going after the big name players just because they think they can obtain them. Maybe they should start looking at the quality of each player's contribution within the starting 9 instead of their shortcomings.

Just saying.....

[Audiodrama]

They did sign Derek Lowe, though. That's a solid signing, regardless of their other moves.

[epper]

At least your GM is trying to do something...

JP Ricciardi hasn't signed a single major-league free agent this entire offseason, for a team that finished 11 games out of the lead and will be without 3 of it's top 4 pitchers from last year.

i'd be pretty happy with Lowe and Vasquez if i were you.

[JayJaxon]

I have to wonder myself what is going on in the Braves organization. Would Schuerholtz have been able to sign some of these guys? He was well respected and liked. He has said that in his tenure only one player was pretty much a Brave before being snatched from his grasp. That guy was Barry Bonds, and it was the Pirates organization, not him that went back on their word.

It seems that this sort of thing has been happening to Wren since he became the GM. I'm starting to think something needs to happen too.

[patsox]

-The Burnett deal is no big deal. He's not that good anyway and they would have overpaid for him big time like they did with Lowe.

-I have a gut feeling that Griffey never intended to sign with the Braves deep down.

-John Smoltz is actually saying he's ready to pitch, but the Sox are saving him until May or June to help to ensure that he is ready for October.

[Gothamite]

I really thought Griffey was going to sign with Atlanta. Going to Seattle means he's going for sentiment over a chance to win. Maybe he didn't think the Braves were a better bet.

[The_Admiral]

Not as if the Braves have relied on free agent signings in order to survive. Silly topic.

[Gothamite]

Yeah, but Wren is no Schuerholz. They're now trying to rebuild through free-agent signings, but can't close the deals.

That's the point of the topic. Not whether they should be doing it or not, but the fact that they can't do it well.

[JayJaxon]

That's exactly it. The Braves didn't have this problem in the past. It's a big deal when you can't get free agents to come to your organization.

[BJBerthiaume]

I don't think Braves fans should actually be that disappointed. If you think about it, none of those players mentioned are sure things except for Peavy.

Mike Hampton: Hurt every single year, I don't see why anybody would want him. Already missed time at Astros camp.

A.J. Burnett: Sinkerballers are hardly ever a sure thing, and he is also injury prone. I heard somewhere that the Jays had the best defensive infield in the league last year and that sure helped Burnett out. Plus, anybody who would have signed him would have overpaid, so might as well let the Yankees do it right?

Rafael Furcal: This guy is very injury prone. He only played about half a season last year, and I would never sign anybody to a fairly big contract after a injury-riddled year, especially a player who has a reputation for injuries.

Ken Griffey Jr.: Griffey simply isn't that good anymore. Yeah, he would put fans in the seats, but he is far from a sure thing and is clearly in the decreasing talent stage of his career. He is far better off being a DH too, his range in the outfield has greatly decreased. Not to mention his years with the Reds were filled with injuries.

Overall, Furcal probably would have been the best addition, but none of these players would guarantee to lift this team past the Phillies or Mets.

[JayJaxon]

The points made about the missed opportunities are no doubt true. But Frank Wren can't even lock those guys down! If he can't even get an overrated Burnett or a past his prime Griffey, how can he expect to land the big fish at the trade deadlines and offseasons? How can we expect him to?

[BJBerthiaume]

The points made about the missed opportunities are no doubt true. But Frank Wren can't even lock those guys down! If he can't even get an overrated Burnett or a past his prime Griffey, how can he expect to land the big fish at the trade deadlines and offseasons? How can we expect him to?

He's going to have to do what the other teams did that landed the potential Braves players. He's going to have to spend money to get the key player, or give up strong potential talent to get talent that is already there. The other teams upped the ante on the Braves, and Wren is going to have to do exactly that to get the players he wants. The major thing players seek these days is money, so Wren's simply going to have to have the balls to spend money to get those players.

[oddball]

Off-Season moves just like trade deadline deals are over-rated. Derrick Lowe is a solid signing? Anyone who says that has never watched Derrick Lowe pitch over a full season. He usually steps up only when the team is winning. He will not stop a losing streak, he just like Brad Penny, has no heart. Don't worry about off-season moves, worry about the farm club you're building. The problem with the Braves is the same problem with the Yankees, too many trades depleted your once quality farm system and you have little to replace the old guys with.

[JayJaxon]

Off-Season moves just like trade deadline deals are over-rated. Derrick Lowe is a solid signing? Anyone who says that has never watched Derrick Lowe pitch over a full season. He usually steps up only when the team is winning. He will not stop a losing streak, he just like Brad Penny, has no heart. Don't worry about off-season moves, worry about the farm club you're building. The problem with the Braves is the same problem with the Yankees, too many trades depleted your once quality farm system and you have little to replace the old guys with.

I wouldn't say too many trades. One trade in particular still stings. (The one for Tex) But the Braves still have one of the best farm systems in baseball.

[TFoA]

I have to wonder myself what is going on in the Braves organization. Would Schuerholtz have been able to sign some of these guys?

I bet the house on it.

Look, I know that we got Lowe and Kawakami, and we've actually had a pretty decent offseason...but quite frankly, if JS had GM duties this offseason, we'd have Peavy, we'd have Furcal, Hampton would've hit the bricks nonetheless, we'd have Burnett instead of Lowe, Kawakami maybe, and Griffey definitely, and we'd be talking about a 3-horse race for the NL East crown this year. We also would've got some more bullpen help, but that's another story.

Instead, here I am, a Braves fan, praying for the day that Jason Heyward & Tommy Hanson (Two of the most highly-regarded prospects in the minors right now, even though oddball doesn't believe that the Braves don't have a quality farm system. ) hit their Major League prime. That'll probably come around 2011, and Heyward lost out on what would've been the best guy to learn from, and Hanson will probably be great, but because the bullpen has been once again ignored, it probably won't matter because they will still be blowing games by then if Wren doesn't address it.

So, I said all of that to say this: Wren's done a decent job, but the drop-off from JS to FW has been REAL STEEP. Most of these deals would've been done.

[JayJaxon]

Well said TFoA. I know that Schuerholtz was looked at by many as the best GM in baseball, and I know that is a tough act to follow. But I don't want to be looking at Wren and saying "WTF?" every time. He needs to address the bullpen and outfield if the Braves want a piece of the action.

The Braves are stacked with minor league talent. They are also not the type of organization that rushes their players to the majors. That's why they look elsewhere from time to time. But until this year, they were doing great at getting who they seriously go after.

[HedleyLamarr]

I have to wonder myself what is going on in the Braves organization. Would Schuerholtz have been able to sign some of these guys?

I bet the house on it.

Look, I know that we got Lowe and Kawakami, and we've actually had a pretty decent offseason...but quite frankly, if JS had GM duties this offseason, we'd have Peavy, we'd have Furcal, Hampton would've hit the bricks nonetheless, we'd have Burnett instead of Lowe, Kawakami maybe, and Griffey definitely, and we'd be talking about a 3-horse race for the NL East crown this year. We also would've got some more bullpen help, but that's another story.

Instead, here I am, a Braves fan, praying for the day that Jason Heyward & Tommy Hanson (Two of the most highly-regarded prospects in the minors right now, even though oddball doesn't believe that the Braves don't have a quality farm system. ) hit their Major League prime. That'll probably come around 2011, and Heyward lost out on what would've been the best guy to learn from, and Hanson will probably be great, but because the bullpen has been once again ignored, it probably won't matter because they will still be blowing games by then if Wren doesn't address it.

So, I said all of that to say this: Wren's done a decent job, but the drop-off from JS to FW has been REAL STEEP. Most of these deals would've been done.

John Schuerholz had a lot more money to play with when he was signing free agents than Frank Wren does now. That's a big difference. I don't think Schuerholz would have fared much better, to be honest.

Lest we forget, Schuerholz's biggest moves during the offseason his last few years were made through trades, and not free agency. Who's the best player the Braves have signed via free agency (not first acquired through a trade) in the past six seasons? The Braves are no longer the free-spending team they used to be from the 90's until 2002-03.

Of course, the closing of the Gold Club hasn't helped matters, as far as "finishing the deals" are concerned....