The Braves Nearly Missed Out On Everything
Dayton Moore was the first choice to replace John Coppolella. Thankfully, an owner stepped in.
The shellshock Atlanta Braves, searching for clarity in the chaos left by the resignation of John Coppolella, sought some familiarity. In late October of 2017, they asked the Kansas City Royals for permission to interview Dayton Moore for president of baseball operations. Royals owner, David Glass, denied the Braves that interview. A couple of weeks later, the team announced Alex Anthopoulos as their next general manager. So, when you think of Glass, who passed away in 2020, always remember him with fondness. Because it was Glass that kept the Braves from making their "Classic Braves" mistake.
Yesterday, I went over in depth the aftermath of revelations involving Coppolella, but I focused on the prospect side. Today, just a day after Moore was fired by Kansas City, I think it's important to remember how close the Braves of today came to not even existing.
When Coppolella resigned, Moore was probably the top name many envisioned for the next general manager of the Braves. Not so much because it was the right or best move, but because it was the safe move. It was the Braves Way choice. Ever since the Braves emerged as a perennial contender in the 90's, the choices they made rarely shook up the status quo. Sure, they flirted with Barry Bonds in 1992 and added Gary Sheffield later, but the Braves rarely rocked the boat. In fact, when players like John Rocker rocked the hell out of the boat, the team found him a new boat.
The team was even more safe when it came to those that ran the show - the coaching staff and front office. Managers were groomed and front office figures learned on the job as the team prepared for the inevitable - replacing Bobby Cox and John Schuerholz.
See ya, Bobby
Fredi Gonzalez left, but he was never forgotten as Cox's hand-picked successor. His time with the Marlins seemed almost like he went away for training. He was always destined to return to Atlanta to take over for Cox when the latter hung up the stirrups for the final time. Fortunately for the Braves, he was already free to come aboard following the 2010 season. Was he the best man for the job? That didn't matter. He was Bobby's guy and that was that.
Gonzalez would manage the team to a historic collapse in 2011, the horrific outfield fly rule game of 2012, and would famously let Craig Kimbrel sit in the pen as he watched Juan Uribe homer off a guy with no chance of going to the Hall of Fame someday in the 2013 NLDS.
Even after a suboptimal 2014, Gonzalez was kept as the Braves went into a rebuild. He was safe for another year, but a 9-28 start finally did him in on May 17, 2015. His replacement, Brian Snitker, was also the safe pick. A Braves baseball lifer, the 60-year-old Snitker helmed a team down the stretch that showed some improvement, but still finished 59-65. A 72-win season followed before the Braves finally turned the corner. Sometimes, the safe pick does work out, okay?
John Leaves, But Also Stays
A similar approach happened in the front office. John Schuerholz took over the Braves in 1991 and stayed on as general manager until the end of 2007. When he did resign his position, he accepted a promotion to club president. He also, effectively, handed the keys over to Frank Wren. It was the most obvious pick in that it was the safest choice. Wren had been an assistant to Schuerholz for eight years following a horrendous one-year run as Baltimore Orioles' general manager. Was Wren the best for the job? That didn't matter. He was John's guy and that was that.
Until he wasn't John's guy anymore, that is. Over seven years as general manager of the Braves, Wren was known for two things: a master at trading resources for assets and some atrocious long-term deals. But what really led to his dismissal was less the Dan Uggla's and Melvin Upton's, but how Wren had led the team on a direction that Schuerholz and Cox didn't like. The two architects of the Braves of the 90's still maintained a lot of pull. It must have felt like déjà vu for Wren, who caught his owner's ire when he tried to sack Ray Miller in Baltimore. Wren wanted to axe Gonzalez, but couldn't get by Schuerholz and Cox. The latter already had a bad taste in his mouth when it came to Wren and had threatened to walk in the spring of 2008 before Schuerholz played peacemaker.
With Wren gone after 2014, do the Braves try something new? Well, sort of. John Hart, a long-time baseball executive, is promoted from the search team to be in charge of the team. Hart, who Schuerholz brought in a year before without Wren's involvement, wouldn't be alone as he'd be part of a two-man team with John Coppolella. "Coppy" was a hot-shot wunderkind on the rise. Coppy would handle the day-to-day while Hart would have final say on anything big. This shielded Coppy as the team was gutted over the next couple of years. It was Hart fielding the tough questions and looking like the guy who orchestrated the rebuild when Coppy had just as much, if not bigger, of a role in the way the organization went through its change.
When Hart stepped to the side after a year, Coppy slid into the general manager job officially and held it right up until things all went to hell.
The One That Got Away
That's when the search committee, which again features Schuerholz, try to find the new general manager for 2018 and beyond. Their first pick was as safe as safe gets - Dayton Moore.
For Schuerholz, it was a way to right a wrong that start everything down this unfortunate road. Wren wasn't the only long-time assistant under Schuerholz. There was the younger Moore, who joined the Braves in 1994 as a scout. He would wear many hats in the Braves' organization, but by August of 2005, his job title was Assistant General Manager. He was being groomed by Schuerholz to ultimately replace him. But Schuerholz wasn't ready to yield control less than a year later when the Kansas City Royals offered Moore the job. Reluctantly, he left Atlanta for the Midwest.
The Royals would remain bad for some time. From 2006-2012, they didn't win more than 75 games in any season. Buddy Bell and Trey Hillman were sacrificed, but Moore continued on. He even found a former Braves coach in Ned Yost to take over the Royals. The years of losing finally paid off for Kansas City, who amassed a collection of young talent due to always having top choices in each draft. In 2014, they went to the World Series. The following year, they won. It had all worked out like Moore had long promised.
But Moore couldn't continue the success. The team dropped to 81-81 in 2016 and 80-82 the following year. So, just two years after winning a World Championship, Royals fans were told to trust the process as another long stretch of losing years began. And so, it began. 104 losses in 2018 and another 103 the following season put the team on an extreme slide toward baseball’s worst. This year, progression has been minimal as the Royals are on pace for 97 losses. Finally, the Royals had to move on from Moore.
It Pays To Be Lucky
Let's flashback to October of 2017, though. Schuerholz was ready to again hand over the car keys to one of his boys. This time, though, it would be in the "better hands" of Moore. However, the Royals owner blocked his effort. If they were going to embrace another "rebuild," you can't blame the Royals for wanting to stay with the guy who eventually, after eight years, finally got the team back in the playoffs.
The Braves pivoted from their top choice, considering former executives like Jim Hendry, Ben Cherington, and others before settling on Alex Anthopoulos. They fell into the perfect choice. Anthopoulos, unlike so many others, had never been fired from his position. He simply left it. And now, he had spent a couple of seasons learning the way of the forward-thinking Dodgers. The Braves couldn't have made a better choice even if it wasn't the choice they initially wanted to make.
Five years later, as Anthopoulos's Braves are headed back to the postseason to try to defend their crown while the Royals try to avoid 100 losses, it's a great reminder that all of this could have gone a different way had David Glass allowed Moore to interview. Would the Braves had returned to the postseason? Probably. The amount of talent was ideal for any new GM. But would Moore trade for Joc Pederson? Eddie Rosario? Would his team draft Michael Harris II, Spencer Strider, and Vaughn Grissom?
So much could have changed and that's why, as Moore ponders his next opportunity, I am eternally grateful for David Glass. May he rest in peace and be remembered for all the good he brought the Atlanta Braves.