The Braves have extended the contracts of general manager Frank Wren and manager Fredi Gonzalez, team president John Schuerholz announced to reporters, including David O'Brien of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution (Twitter link). Both had been entering the final years of their contract. Terms of the extensions were not disclosed.
The 55-year-old Wren has been the Braves' GM since taking over for Schuerholz following the 2007 season. In his time as the team's GM, Wren has pulled off numerous high-profile trades, including deals that landed Justin Upton and Chris Johnson from the Diamondbacks, Michael Bourn from the Astros and Dan Uggla from the division-rival Marlins. This offseason, Wren and his staff have hammered out long-term contracts for Freddie Freeman, Julio Teheran and Craig Kimbrel while also inking Jason Heyward to a two-year deal that locks in his arbitration salaries. As is the case with most GMs, he's made some moves that haven't panned out, such as Uggla's five-year extension and B.J. Upton's five-year, $75.25MM free agent contract (of course, Upton still has four years to change that perception). A full list of Wren's moves as GM of the team can be seen in MLBTR's Transaction Tracker.
Gonzalez, 50, took over for legendary skipper Bobby Cox (who is now in the Hall of Fame) following the 2010 campaign. Previously the manager of the Marlins, Gonzalez came to Atlanta with four seasons of big league managerial experience. With the Braves, he's led the team to a 279-207 record in three seasons, finishing fourth in NL Manager of the Year voting in 2012 and third in 2013. Overall, Gonzalez has a 555-486 record in seven seasons as a Major League manager.
Everyone really is getting an extension. I wonder how that negotiating went with Wren.
Probably….
Want an extension?
Yes.
Sign here..
Or that is how I like to imagine it. I like to see it as a no brainer, with a little humor of course.
A lot of people complain about Wren, and his decision to sign Lowe, Kawakami, Upton, and Uggla. I on the other hand was excited about all of these deals when they happened. Kawakami had that Tanaka like mystique, Uggla could absolutely rake, Lowe was playoff proven veteran the staff desperately needed. Upton though may have been the exception, he came from a division of tiny ballparks However, in a world where Bourn wanted 100MM it wasn’t a bad idea at the time, and the Braves had to replace his production. Wren is one of the best small market/low budget GM’s out there.
Uggla raked with the Marlins, and unfortunately this was a failed attempt to bring some pop to the Brave’s lineup. I didn’t really like the trade when it happened, and it looks worse now. Infante could have been starting at 2nd and Mike Dunn could have replaced Venters when he went down. Oh well.
I know it looks bad in hindsight, but the Uggla trade looked like a steal when he made it. We trade a journeyman utility infielder and wild young lefty for a 30HR/yr second baseman. I personally wouldn’t want any GM that wouldn’t have made that deal with the information in hand at the time. You can complain about Kawakami, but his contract didn’t really have any long term effects, Lowe was a reach in terms of years, but following the pitching train wreck we had and failing to trade for Peavy or sign Burnett it was a necessary evil at the time. The one move he made that I can say if you put me in his shoes at the time of the deal I wouldn’t have made is Upton, but with Philadelphia a potential landing spot and not knowing the twins were going to firesale two CFers it certainly made since to reach a little bit ( maybe not 5/75, but a little bit).
Factor in the requisite contract extension, and the Uggla deal was bad for the Braves then and now.
Again its easy to say that now, but Uggla was coming off the best year of his career, and was already established as a top 3-4 second baseman. Even if you let him play out the 2011 season as bad as he was to start he was amazing to finish that season. He would’ve still gotten what a 4yr/50M deal on the open market. I hate the strain it puts on us now too, but the facts are this was a reasonable deal when it was signed. Again a little bit of a reach but definitely reasonable.
In all fairness, Uggla has brought the pop to the lineup, for the most part. It’s the rest of his game that’s looked bad.
-C
Slugged under .400 the past two years. His pop is all he has, and there’s not much of it.
I’d place him second behind Beane.
Busiest off season for the Braves in a while it seems. I must confess, I really like every move they’ve made so far!
Don’t forget kawakami, mcclouth, Lowe to those bad signing/trades. I’m surprised.he got an extension as he doesn’t really seem all that great…mediocre if you will. And I am extremely shocked Gonzalez got an extension…..not a fan there
People love to hate on the McLouth trade, but at the time it looked like a steal for the Braves. They traded 3 spare parts for a former All Star, Gold Glove CF. McLouth just didn’t have it here, nobody could foresee his bad performance in a Braves uniform.
Spare parts as in Charlie Morton and Jeff Locke, the #3 and #4 starters on the Pirates?
As in Charlie Morton and Jeff Locke, neither of which have put up even an average season as a major league starter.
Morton was close to average once, and would have been average had he started all year last year.
But yeah, those two pitchers that would have been rotation depth in Gwinnett or minor league free agents by now had they stayed in Atlanta.
-C
So they panned out for Pit. Congrats to them. Morton was a so-so, struggling and inconsistent fringe player and Locke was a middling low level prospect who had a career 17-20 record and a 5.52 ERA at the time he was traded. Yes, they were spare parts.
more like Charlie Morton and Jeff Locke, two pitchers who wouldn’t be in the front 5 of the Braves rotation this year, much less the last six years.
But we can also look the the great trades he made. Bourne for Schafer (Whom they cut), and no name prospects, getting the Yankees to throw in a top prospect in the Vasquez deal, getting Vasquez from WhiteSox, Walden from Angels. Not to mention small pick ups like Oflarhety
I get the extension for Wren. He has made some questionable moves in the past, but he’s also made some good moves too. I think all the offseason spending extending a lot of the young talent in Freeman, Teheran, and Kimbrell really helped him (although most of us would be lying if we thought Jon Hart didn’t play a huge roll in those signings either).
As far as Gonzalez goes…….giving him an extension, regardless of how long it is, a week before Spring Training even starts was an extremely premature move by the Braves. Gonzalez seems to be a step or 2 behind and usually has that “dear in the headlights” look like he doesn’t know what to do next frequently. His in game managing is pretty awful most of the time and really leaves a lot to be desired. I personally thought the only way he should have been given an extension is if the Braves got to the NLCS or the World Series this year. This team has had too much talent over the years to be a late season flop or a one and done in the playoffs.
Like the Wren part, not so much on Fredi
Wren, deservedly takes A LOT of flak from fans for his “major” free agency failures (which are numerous and ugly). However, moving forward Atlanta, especially after certain extensions, has very little money to spend big on free agents due to ownership reluctance, tv contract being terrible, and uncertainty of future revenue due to new stadium. Thus Wrens ability to make a good, high profile free agency signing really doesn’t matter. What does Wren do phenomenally well? The “minor” moves….getting Johnson in the Upton trade….picking up Carpenter, bringing in Ben Sheets to provide an essentially free starter around the trade deadline, strong farm system building, etc….These types of things are exactly what the Braves need moving forward as other teams continue to get bigger tv contracts, free agents get more and more AAV, and the Braves become one of the bottom 10 team in payroll.
Yes to the Wren extension but Fredi’s extension could’ve been discussed after this season putting pressure on him to win now and win big!!! However, I like what the Braves are doing and I really have nothing to complain about.
If they would have waited on Fredi, would he sit Uggla and BJ for other to make himself look better? Does his extension give Uggla and BJ a longer leash?
BJ’s immediate future is out of his hands, anyway. The starting outfield depends on Bethancourt. If he proves he can hit, your opening day lineup will feature Gattis/Heyward/JUpton as your outfield with Bethancourt behind the plate.
BJ will have to truly impress to work his way back into good graces.
Bethancourt is not going to make the OD roster.
if he hits in ST, he’ll not only make the opening day roster, he’ll be the starting catcher. Gattis is a DH. They’ll hide him in LF.
The only way Bethancourt makes the roster is if Gattis or Laird get hurt. Bethancourt will most likely play a full season at AAA with a September call-up. No reason to rush him to the majors with the other guys the Braves already have.
And I’d be surprised if Gattis played any outfield at all this year.
Good move, the Braves are under looked as a great team. Leadership deserves compliments.
Really loving all of this. I wonder when they are going to stop? I feel like there’s no one else after Medlen, Minor and Simmons. I have a funny and depressing feeling that JUp is going to walk.
Upton just needs a consistent year. Hopefully, this year the monkey, sort to speak, is off his back and BJs. And we can finally see true potential out of that OF.
Thats the same thing everyone says every single year about Justin Upton.
I don’t imagine many people said that after his 2009 and 2011 seasons.
I’d rather bank on Justin Upton putting together a full season than Ryan Howard.
-C
His two extremely hot streaks alone last year gave him a solid year. But yes, his problem is consistency and shortening the cold steaks in between hot streaks.
As a Braves fan, I know every other team in the NL East is jumping for joy that Fredi got extended..sigh
As a Braves fan my only problem with him has been not pitching Kimbrel in the 8th inning in game 4. That will sting for awhile though.
That was a hugh mistake and you have to question why he played it by the book.
You get an extension. And you get an extension! /Oprah
Be happy you have a winning manager. Look at what we in Cleveland had to go through until Francona came on board. How would you like to have to put up with the likes of Eric Wedge and Manny Acta, among others? Having Bobby, and then Fredi, you just don’t understand what true suffering really feels like. Go Tribe!
Oh, Braves fans know what suffering feels like. It was called the 70s and 80s.
Braves have been good or great since 1991. Many Braves fans have come along since then. Most of us haven’t suffered much. I’m 34 and remember the bad years in the mid-to-late 1980s, but that’s all the regular season suffering I’ve done.
Or October.
No more players to extend? We will just extend the manger and GM then. Seriously though, good extensions for the Braves