1:03pm: The Braves have announced the promotion, adding that Coppolella signed a four-year contract that runs through the completion of the 2019 season.
12:02pm: The Braves will promote assistant general manager John Coppolella to the role of general manager later today, reports MLB.com’s Mark Bowman. Coppolella has been serving as the second-in-command to president of baseball operations John Hart while holding the title of AGM, as the Braves did not formally name a GM last offseason after firing Frank Wren and bringing Hart on board on a permanent basis. Hart will remain in his role as president of baseball ops, per Bowman.
As Bowman writes, while Hart had final say over a number of key trades in the past year, it was Coppolella who did much of the legwork in structuring those franchise-altering transactions. Among the deals architected by Copplella were the trades of Jason Heyward, Evan Gattis, Justin Upton and Craig Kimbrel as well as the swap that brought Hector Olivera over from the Dodgers.
Coppolella has served as the Braves’ assistant GM since 2012, and it’s been widely believed that he was being groomed to become the next Atlanta GM, though many reports indicated that he’d rise to the post when the team’s new stadium opened in 2017. Coppolella has been with Atlanta since 2006 and has previously held the titles of director of baseball operations and director of pro scouting.
Bowman reports that both the Brewers and Mariners had interest in Coppolella to fill their GM vacancies last month, however, and interest in the rising 37-year-old executive led the Braves to promote him now as a means of ensuring that he would remain in the team’s baseball operations hierarchy for the foreseeable future.
Nothing will change. I really wish Liberty would sell us, but I know they wont. Especially with the new stadium
Wren had the highest budget of any ATL team ever and they didn’t make the playoffs. He did well by extending Freeman, Teheran, Simmons, Kimbrel, but couldn’t overcome bad extensions to Uggla and bad signings of Lowe, Kawakami, BJ Upton and more. More money wouldn’t have helped Wren in those decisions. Braves have got to be more efficient with their FA signings, especially by not outbidding teams by $20 million (BJ Upton – PHI). Everything will change, especially with the new stadium. Higher attendance means more budget per Liberty’s long-standing agreement. They reworked the TV deal and the new stadium will drastically increase revenue streams, including creating many new ones. Combine that with getting rid of dead contracts (i.e. Uggla in 2015, Swisher/Bourn in 2016) and trading bad contracts (i.e. BJ Upton, Chris Johnson), and restocking the farm system, including more top draft picks to come and the rumors of ATL being one of the busiest teams in the international signing period, and you have the makings of a lot of change. Also consider that we’ll have some money freed up to spend some in the offseason. I could imagine ATL going after a few, but ultimately landing someone like Jeff Samarzdija-type on a shorter-term deal that has a lot to prove to being an ace.
Braves did make the playoffs in 2013 under wren. They really took a page from major league by decimating the roster in order to undersell turner field and justify a new stadium. I hope the braves dont sign samarzdja, hes no ace.
I was referencing 2014, when their budget was a franchise-record $110.8 million. The deal for SunTrust was signed before the decimation of the team, which was more of a reaction of how poorly they did in the previous years combined with the probability of losing Justin Upton and Jason Heyward. I named Samarzdija because I believe his performance means that he’ll most likely only get shorter deals than aces (Cueto, Greinke, Zimmerman, Price) where he might need to prove himself for a more substantial deal. He definitely has the makings, and ATL is still looking for someone that could be an ace and wouldn’t want to do a long-term contract unless it was for the right person at the right time.
Guess he’s getting rewarded for that awesome Wood/Peraza deal.
Rather early to be judging a trade of that magnitude, particularly when Wood’s success has been marginal and Peraza has 25 plate appearances. That’s not to say it won’t turn out working well for L.A., just that writing it off for either side makes little sense. No one involved has delivered a particularly great performance, and it’s a trade made with long-term improvement in mind for both sides.
I think in the long run the Braves get the better end of that deal. Wood has been horrid since moving over to LA
As I said, there’s really no way of assessing it for either side right now. Nearly every key asset involved in that trade is controlled for three to five more years. Judging it at the two month mark tells us nothing.
I guess that’s why I led with “I think…” It’s fun to speculate
Agreed.. Every author on this site speculates all of the time.. “It’s fun to speculate” should be the motto around here..
He has been groomed well to be the perfect puppet for the rest of the front office. I don’t foresee the Braves making any real moves this offseason but after Uggla, Swisher and Bourn fall off the books they’re going to be in a great spot. The only thing I’d like to see more of is consistency in the development of all these pitching prospects they’ve dealt for. That is key to building a contender once again
This guys first order of business should be to pay out Fredi and find an elite manager
Be careful of “elite”. That’s such a subjective term. I think and hope ATL will go the way of STL for their next manager (when the time comes), like when they replaced LaRussa with former player Mike Matheny. Matheny was a perfect choice as he knew the franchise well, keen sense of baseball knowledge, respect for LaRussa and those in the front office, knowledge of the farm and development, and an astute awareness of in-game calling. I don’t think it was advisable to replace a legend (Cox) with a carbon-copy in Fredi, though I understand the comfort and reason in the choice. I’ve long heard Eddie Perez mentioned being a future manager, and Chipper seems to keep a close eye on the team and has the makings of skipper, plus he would be a fan favorite obviously.
Many of the great managers seem to typically be former catchers. I think Perez would make a wonderful manager. Catchers see the entire field, they know how to handle pitchers and the rigors of playing in the field and batting. Perez certainly knows the Braves well and would seem to be a great fit.
Here’s a short list off the top of my head: Joe Torre, Joe Girardi, Ned Yost, Bruce Bochy, Joe Maddon, Brad Ausmus, John Gibbons, Bob Melvin, Mike Matheny, Mike Scioscia, and (ahem) Fredi Gonzalez.
I am pretty sure you can add Lloyd McClendon to the list.. I seem to recall him catching a couple of games for the Cubs in 1989.. That was a fun team to watch.. Don Zimmer was managing.. 3 Hall of Famers (Maddux, Sandberg, Dawson) ROY (Walton) and the earthquake hit San Francisco during the World Series (sadly the Cubs were eliminated by then though)..
Wow, he caught only 5 games in 1989. You, sir, have an excellent memory!
First move as GM: Fire Fredi.
Second move: Hire Chipper Jones in whatever capacity he will accept.
Third move: Bring back $1 Hot Dog Tuesdays.
Trading Heyward was hard to see but understandable. Trading Kimbrel was difficult to watch also but getting rid of BJ made the trade acceptable. Trading Gattis was also hard to see, but once again very understandable. The Wood/Peraza deal for a 30 year old rookie is a headscratcher though. I didn’t like the deal at the time and still don’t. I guess time will tell if not liking the deal is justified.
I understand the deal for Olivera. Take a look at the market for 3B over the next 2-4 years. Not many options. It’s a very shallow market and we don’t have anyone that should be ready for the next few years. Even then, let’s say Austin Riley/Rio Ruiz does keep maturing and is ready in 2-3 years, and Olivera continues what he’s done at every level, which is hit, you move him to a corner OF spot – another need. We are in need of a lot of offense and Olivera, by all accounts, provides that. When you consider that after LAD paid his $30 million signing bonus, ATL gets a presumed starting 3B or OF for 5 years at about $6 million per season. That’s a great deal if he continues to hit. Yes, we traded a good arm in Wood and our top prospect in Peraza, but we have Albies to replace Peraza and more than a few names who could be better than Wood – and most without already having TJ surgery (as Wood did years ago at UGA).