12:25pm: The Braves will not change Coppolella’s title and have no plans to hire a new GM, reports David O’Brien of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution (Twitter links). Coppolella will have some of the duties of a normal GM, however. Atlanta is essentially grooming Coppolella to take over as the next GM in 2017 without directly saying as much, he adds.
9:58am: The Braves have officially announced the move, adding that Hart signed a three-year contract which will run through the 2017 season — the first in their new stadium, SunTrust Park.
“I’m delighted that John Hart has agreed to accept the position of President, Baseball Operations,” team president John Schuerholz said in a press release. “Our organization is now poised to move forward in the best possible manner to do the important work that lies ahead. John’s credentials speak for themselves. He has had great success as a baseball executive and demonstrated remarkable ability to construct championship teams. We are excited by John’s dynamic and positive leadership style and look forward to him leading our baseball operations.”
9:44am: Rosenthal tweets that the Braves are indeed likely to hire a GM to work with Hart.
9:32am: Interim Braves GM John Hart has now accepted an offer to take a permanent role with the club and will be soon be named as the new president of baseball operations, reports Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports (Twitter link).
The Braves have been on the hunt for a new leader of their baseball ops department since firing longtime GM Frank Wren a month ago. Hart, who joined the team as a senior adviser last offseason, will now be tasked with that role. The former Indians GM had an immediate impact on the Braves, as he was said to have played a key role in working out long-term extensions for Freddie Freeman, Andrelton Simmons, Craig Kimbrel and Julio Teheran last winter. The 66-year-old Hart was one of the pioneers of pre-arbitration extensions in his days with Cleveland. Hart has also served as GM of the Rangers and an analyst for the MLB Network.
It remains to be seen whether or not Atlanta will name a GM to work underneath Hart, but there has been wide speculation that assistant GM John Coppolella is being groomed to take over as the next GM. It seems possible that he could rise to the GM role underneath Hart, with Hart serving as a veteran mentor to Coppolella as he acclimates himself to a larger role. Another widely speculated candidate for the GM position has been Royals GM Dayton Moore — a former AGM with the Braves. Of course, Moore has larger things on his mind with his current club just three games away from a World Series championship.
I suppose congratulations are in order for John Coppolella soon
I certainly hope so.
They better hire Coppolella!!!
Hope the Braves don’t lose Coppolella to a job where he won’t have to get approval on all his deals.
If you can find a MLB club willing to give an AGM with no GM exp the keys to the kingdom, go right ahead. Everyone has to answer to someone.
How many Presidents do the Atlanta Braves need?
Plus, they are getting a new stadium as well.
The Braves have too much going on in their little world down there!
¡Ay, caramba!
It’s the same setup that they have with the White Sox. Pres of the team and Pres of Baseball Ops. It gives Hart the power to be a mentor to the GM, outranking them, thus setting the stage for Coppolella. Maybe if we had that checks-and-balances system with Wren, someone would have spoken up against BJ Upton.
Y’know, I could be wrong here, but doesn’t Dan Duquette also have some insanely long title name that really just means “de facto GM” as well?
Executive Vice President – Baseball Operations.
Honestly, the whole thing is nothing but a hierarchy. You see it in business all the time. Assistant Vice President, Vice President, Senior Vice President, Executive Vice President, probably more I’m forgetting. It means almost nothing other than how the organization is constructed and who they needed to give a promotion and probably a little more money to keep happy. Brian Cashman is a Senior Vice President, for example, while doing the same job as Duquette, and Dan Jennings in Florida has no VP title that I’m aware of.
In the same vein, having a number of presidents isn’t unusual either.
What has Hart done, since his days in CLEV, to warrant a job like this???
Spent five years as GM of the Rangers and another eight as a senior adviser there.
If memory serves me correct, Hart’s Rangers team’s (4 seasons) were below .500, and he stepped down as the GM to avoid being fired/replaced.
What exactly does a senior adviser do??? Since Daniels took over the team, I have heard of credit being given to Lavine, Boyd, Fagg, Preller, Service, Ryan, Blake, and other front office personel. Never in 8 years, I have not heard of John Hart’s name being linked to anything positve, when it comes to the Texas Rangers…
I understand he an “advisor” but I really question how much (if anything) he was really involved.
311-337 W/L Record
No Playoff Birth
Horrible drafts
Bankruptcy
A-Rod’s 252M
Chan Ho Park
Often found at a local golf course…
Well, when you put it like that…it does seem rather an odd hire shall we say.
I knew his tenure in Texas was hardly golden but not quite that bad.
The world of baseball never ceases to amaze.
Hart was bad as the Rangers GM. To be honest, Tom Hicks was just as much at fault. As a “senior adviser” I just really question how much Hart was involved. Over the last 8 years or so, credit has been given to Daniels, Lavine, Boyd, Fagg, Preller, Service, Ryan, Blake, Greenberg, and others. Never once have I heard John Harts name (other than on the MLB Network).
Sour grapes? The Braves helped replenish your farm, now let us have this moment.
True and thank you. But that was Jon Daniels not John Hart.
Best of luck with your hire.
Yeah, those drafts stunk.
Teixeira
Kinsler
C.J. Wilson
John Danks
Feldman
In reality, he had two great drafts and three pretty terrible drafts. But to say it was horrible is a gross overstatement.
-C
Actually, Hart was hired in November of 2001, five months after Wilson and Teixeira were drafted in 2001.
So if 3 notable big leaguers (Kinsler, Danks, and Feldman) equate great drafts, I stand corrected.
Nope, I stand corrected. 1 great draft, three bad ones.
-C
In my mind, one 4 time all-star, and two mid rotation starters would not qualify as a great draft. Did Hart have great picks Danks (9th), Kinsler (496th) and Feldman (886th) in 2003? Yes, he did. But like I said in the thread above, Hart’s overall drafts were very weak. 9 of 191 drafted players wore a big league uniform at some point or another.
2002 – Kam Loe & Jesse Chavez
2003 – Danks, Kinsler, & Feldman
2004 – Brandon Boggs
2005 – John Mayberry, Taylor Teagarden, and Mike Kirkman
“Hart you wanna be a GM?”
“Don’t think so”
“How about PRESIDENT of Baseball OPS?”
“Give me 3 years eleventy billion and I’ll do it”
His signature phrase when doing those top ten shows was “That’s what they look like.” I don’t know how many times he said that when referring to the likes of Giancarlo Stanton.
He thought about having to do another ‘prospect’ show on MLB network (well he’s a got a good arm, good makeup, needs to improve yada yada) and just couldn’t do it again.
Looks like Hart played his hand well in turning down the GM role.
John mentored Josh Byrnes, Mark Shapiro and Dan O’Dowd.
They’ve been going to the WS almost every year. On their teams tickets.