Fall of the Atlanta Braves Part 3

Updated August 16 22, 2024.   

Alex Anthropoulos is his name.

When I went looking for this one little article this popped up:

Jan 12, 2024 — The Atlanta Braves extended the contract of president of baseball operations and general manager Alex Anthopoulos through the 2031 season on ...

 

That explains even more.   The fall of this great team is not nearly as complicated as that of Michigan.  Nor is it fun, in the long term, to watch.  Sherrone Moore will be tested; Oh, will he be tested.  Harbaugh, in his life of football, figured-out how to rig or at least control the system.  Even in abstentia--missing half the regular-season games--he built a team so strong that only made them better.

Now, with the predictions for the 12-team playoffs all over the place, Michigan is not in them.  From 4-team two years in a row to nothing.  Of course they are just predictions.

 

But I digress.  I want to get this out of the way.  AA as he is called on the Braves' blogs, knows the business.  There are many sources of income.  They'll survive and he'll get paid regardless.

 

The Braves are stuck with long-term contracts to underperforming players and a neglected farm system.  The product on the field is below expectations in terms of the customers.  Management does not have humility or where-with-all to fix it.  There was only one way to fix the problems when they arose.  If Spencer Strider goes down for the season you need to replace him with another 20-game winner.  Ronald Acuna', Jr. out for the season means you need a different .300/40-homer leadoff man.  The season has been nauseating watching the line-up of fill-ins and also-rans AA has put together.  He is a failure as long as he fails to listen to his customers.  Overall, they tend to compete every other day and that is not a championship team and it won't be any different next year.

 

 

With all those extra games at the end of the year Michigan fans have been spoiled.  The above, Joel Klatt, he has been supportive of Michigan and I agree.  There is a lot there.  

But what happens when you stop going over that line--the one of rules, ethics, and long-term good will?  Or, worse yet, you get caught again.

It will be something to watch, the coming of age of Sherrone Moore.  

 

This season is going to depend on the eye test.  How close the games are, i.e., the discipline.  Still, 15-0 to anything less than 8-4 will not look good.

 

I'll be looking for the integrity.

P.S.  The Braves won tonight, two out of three against the Phillies.  There is something about these teams that know how to win.  Michigan and Sherrone Moore know how to win. 

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Who the F is Zack Short?

Uh oh, This Event is in Weather Delay.  Wait, it is 10:13 AM here in Colorado.  I'm watching a replay of the game.  It is about the 5th inning and I didn't even notice they aren't playing.

In the back of my head I'm thinking there is going to be this conversation sometime somewhere in college football:

Player:  "Coach, where's my NIL money?"

Coach:  "How many touchdowns did you have last year?"

As communication goes, it is brief.  What does it mean?  Perhaps the guy is a placekicker.  Or he was injured.  Maybe the coach just doesn't give a damn.

Zack Short is the third baseman for the 100-time NL East Champion Atlanta Braves.  They're the same team that got off to a start this season as the best team in baseball with their customary place atop the division.  Last time I looked they were 7 games back to the Phils.

They are getting ready to start the game again.  It is tough to fast-forward on the MLB Replays site.  Thirty-minute rain delay.  3-1 PGH (I don't like the hats either) and the 5th inning has ended.

Like Michigan sports for some of us, it is difficult to turn away.  It is a nice distraction from more important things.  While the news about Michigan football never goes away, it is completely dependent in these times on immediate gratification.  I'm actually grateful for the moribund announcers on the Pirates channel.  I don't really want to watch it anyway.  I'll catch the gist, file it away, blends into the background.

The mighty Braves, with their flawless, fail-safe everyday lineup suck.  Acuna and Albies at the top are now just average; Ozuna, moved up in the order, is still hitting .300 and plays 4-5 times a game (DH) with an edge because he is in a contract year.  Jeez, Zack Short just got HBP.  Steady, RBI machine Olsen is nothing but; Harris, Arcia, and Kelenic are nowhere close to the hype, the flashes, and the their million dollar contracts.  Who is left.  Tromp?  

Sean Murphy doesn't play for the team anymore--yesterday, today, tomorrow, that is.  And this is not the first time he has sat out with first injury when the team needed him.  Right now, Short plays instead of Austin Riley, who normally is dependable.  Right, best lineup in baseball--Short is hitting .140.

The formerly-genius general manager has no answers.  Strider and all kind of pitchers are out too.  Wo why not replace Strider?  Or how about Murphy.  Why not just cut him and find someone to play?  I mean, go to the damn portal?

Now in the (taped) game Johnson, the reliever, is back from the disabled list and the Pirates are treating the bases like turnstyles.  Why not give him another $14.25 million contact? 

I'm so glad Murphy is hitting home runs and saying he is feeling great in the minors.  

The roster changes virtually every day.  Players, especially pitchers, are called up and go down just to make an appearance.  Occasionally someone performs for a while if it is just the right role.  The Braves signed someone with no (recent) history starting for $30 million (3 years) and another (known only as) 40-year old Charlie Morton for $20 million and one year.  

Motivation can only go so far with players like Tromp and Short.  The free agent market is no help because the good ones are signed and in a trade you have to give something up.  Who is going to be traded from the fragile everyday lineup?  For instance, it certainly isn't going to be Ronald Acuna, who is still under an 8-year $100 million contract.

Maybe there is some kind of training or motivation or "science" issue and/or the players should be more responsible.  (RE sports science, that was one of Sherrone Moore's first hires.  While I'm on that subject, this year still there will be players who become stars and those who step up as future stars.)

Perhaps the Braves can still make a wildcard or play-in game.  They are not going to make up seven games to the Phillies because that team has the edge the Braves once had.  Bryce Harper is their Ronald Acuna and they have got a few Spencer Striders.  The wow value in watching the Braves this year is gone and all the free agent relief and utility players on the market are not going to save it.

Nimari Burnett.  Rod Moore?  Shea Patterson.  Cade McNamara!  Amorion Walker, WTF.  Jett Howard.

Rod Moore doesn't belong on the list, he is 20 years old and all Big Ten last year.  The rest isn't a serious or proper list either.  But somewhere, somehow, it is going to happen.  Coaches--head football and basketball coaches--have always had 99% control of the roster, in ways that are explicit or not.

Why not just cut them.  Issue the proverbial handshake.  But now, it is 'We are going to replace you with a free agent.'

Four-year scholarship issue?  You may remain as a student.

Bad rep in recruiting?  They are free agent players, not students or high school recruits.

UPDATE.  Memorial Day.  Ronald Acuna is out for the season.  The Braves edge comes from Acuna and Albies at the top of the order and in the infield and outfield.  They want to play.  They play all the time--how can Acuna lead the league in everything if he doesn't play?  He was heating up, but even he could not do it by himself.