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John Hart Talks Braves Trades Of Past And Future

By | at July 16, 2015 11:38am CDT

Braves president of baseball operations John Hart discussed the upcoming trade deadline and a wide range of other topics in a fascinating Q&A with Jeff Schultz of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. A full read of this excellent interview is highly recommended, but here are some of the highlights:

With July 31 fast approaching, Hart said it’s still an open question: “Do we pick up the phone or answer the phone? I’m not sure yet.” Noting that he “never made any false promises that we were built to win this year,” Hart nevertheless said it’s still possible that the team will make some additions at the deadline. But he cautioned that “we’re not going to be big buyers.”

[RELATED: Braves To Sign Jason Frasor]

Of course, selling is also still a distinct possibility, but Hart made clear that he wouldn’t move veterans just to get something back. “We don’t have the big chip that will take somebody over the top,” said Hart. “If people want good pieces and they can offer us something, yeah. But we’re going to take great care. We’re playing short. There is a very real possibility we won’t do anything.”

Looking back, Hart said that his first order of business upon taking the reigns of baseball decisionmaking in Atlanta was “to rebuild the pitching staff” at the major league level and “grow” the farm system. It was not, apparently, a tough choice to move veteran assets to facilitate those efforts. As he put it: “At some point, you have to stop and ask, ‘How long are we going to chase this?'”

And the major challenge? Per Hart: “[W]e had some economic pieces out there that weren’t conducive to this club making moves. I had to think about moving some good players and I had to think: How do I attach good players to move money? I had some of the most unusual trade conversations I’ve had in my life.”

Hart also talked through the deals that were ultimately made. You’ll need to (and should) read the entire piece for his full breakdown, of course. Hart indicated that he was somewhat disappointed with being unable to add both a current major league starter and a future arm for Justin Upton (after achieving that with Jason Heyward).

“The Justin Upton deal we [discussed] so many pieces. The guys we wanted, [the Padres] didn’t put in — they got put into another [trade],” Hart said. “[Evan] Gattis, we looked at a lot of different names. There were some circumstances that didn’t work out.” (It’s not clear this is the deal he’s referring to, but it’s worth noting that San Diego shipped Jesse Hahn to the A’s, as part of the Derek Norris deal, the day before acquiring Upton.)

[RELATED: Braves Trade Justin Upton To Padres]

As for the deal that sent closer Craig Kimbrel to the Padres on the eve of Opening Day, Hart explaind that it took an exceptional set of circumstances. Questions via Schultz, of course:

Q: But was your only chance to get rid of B.J. Upton’s contract.

A: That was obviously the intent. We had 10 calls on Kimbrel in the winter but we just hung up because they wouldn’t take an off load. San Diego was one of the clubs that came up early.

Q: Did it shock you when they said they would take Upton?

A: Yeah, it did. They put all of their chips in.

Hart went on to address catcher Christian Bethancourt, saying that he believes the youngster needs to improve his “level of preparedness.” As to whether the team moved him to the big leagues too soon, Hart explained: “We talked about it in the winter. We called him up last year and he had a good first month and a not-so-good last month. That sort of left a bad taste. It’s fixable. But at some point the player has to assume some responsibility.”

Finally, Hart offered rather effusive praise for skipper Fredi Gonzalez. He indicated that he felt it would be an easy decision to decide whether to retain him for 2016, though stopped short of making any promises. “I don’t want to go there,” said Hart. “There’s timing. But Fredi’s been really good. He’s been good to work with and he’s done a good job with his staff. And this club may fall apart but I know if it happens it’s not going to be because Fredi forgot how to manage.”

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