If I were named Braves manager, I'd ...

[rico43]

1) Insist on Swanson and Albies on the roster, now. Keep Castro but send KJ out with my thanks and Aybar out in a package with Grilli for whatever the heck prospects we can scrounge.

2) Make sure Johnson is off the roster and out of my locker room that day

3) Make Flowers my starting catcher; release AJ if he doesn't like it

4) Rehire Glenn Hubbard to be first base coach, make TP hitting coach and send Seitzer packing

5) Make Eddie Perez my bench coach, knowing Chipper would turn it down

6) Return Norris to the rotation, release Chacin and bring up Burnett to be co-LOOOGY with EOF. Add Barker to be a long guy.

7) Use Cervenka as my eighth inning guy. He has been a revelation

8) Ask Fredi if he would stay to be bullpen coach. When he tells me to take a flying leap, I hope the Braves make him envoy to Cuba.

9) Third base? Whoever the consensus best defensive third baseman in the system is, gets first crack at the job. Maybe it's Beckham, maybe it's d'Arnaud, but it shore ain't Adonis. Heck, maybe it's Camargo.

Not all of these thing would work out, of course. At this point, we're just trying to stop the bleeding.

[Russ2dollas]

Mostly stay the course bc we don't want to win.

To help the young arms flowers starts 4/5. Aj can catch chacin. I keep chacin and see if I can flip him.

I'd play kJohnson more. Potential flip

And I'd do a lot more hit and run to try and get things going.

To win games we need another blockbuster trade and a fa signing

If I was the braves I'd use this yr to experiment with multi inning relievers or something

[nsacpi]

We need to be focused on the future and be ruthless about service time management.

[rico43]

We need to be focused on the future and be ruthless about service time management.

That's important, but we can't start everyone's clock at the same time. That would be disaster on the back end. Stagger them up front, stagger the paydays later.

[striker42]

I think there are a couple of clear changes that I can't understand why Fredi isn't making them. First, I agree that Flowers has to be the every day catcher. Flowers isn't a huge offensive threat but he's better than AJ. However, more important is the fact that the pitching staff is better throwing to Flowers than to AJ. His handling of Folty was awesome.

I agree that you have to send Jim Johnson packing. He's done.

I'd send Bud Norris packing as well. He's got nothing these days. Let Perez be the long reliever and emergency spot starter in the pen.

I'd have Aybar released. He has zero tools left at this point.

I'd leave Swanson and Albies in the minors for now but I'd insist they be called up as soon as they show they're ready.

Let Castro hold down short until Albies and/or Swason are ready. Beckham will be back soon and he could hold down second.

I'd also move Markakis to left, put Inciarte in right, and leave Mallex in center (against both lefties and righties). I think this gives us our best defensive outfield. Inciarte has a cannon that plays well in right. Between him and Mallex you wouldn't see much falling in. Markakis is below average defensively in right but above average defensively in left.

[bravesfanMatt]

great post Rico..

Not sure about insisting Swanson and Ozzie are on my roster. let them learn more in minors.. not about a clock thing.. just not sure they are ready..

I wouldn't insist JJ off the team. I wouldn't pitch him in high leverage right now. I think others have shown more effectiveness.

completely agree with Flowers..

I would also make TP my hitting coach for this season. see how it went in the off season. I would hire a prolific base stealer as my 1st base coach.. we have no one on our staff that was known for stealing.. insane..

I like Eddie..

wouldn't cut chacin.. he had one bad outing.. Norris might get more of JJ roles.

I would stop with this 9 different lineup crap. I would pick a team and go with it. Let guys hit against lefty and righties. Frenchy would be my outfield day off guy.. KJ would be my 3rd.. Aybar still at short but let him know he is on a very short lease.. and when Boni comes up, he is my 2nd.. Castro is my infield day off guy. I might have to look at this and make sure my bench is not too right handed..if so, I would change it up. But we need a consistent lineup so guys get comfortable. Aybar again would be benched if he can't pick up his level of play. he would be deep on the bench too..

I would keep Roger for the rest of the season, but probably see who else is out there in the off season.

[UNCBlue012]

Yeah, I'm leaving Albies and Swanson in the minors. I think they'll both be fantastic guys down the stretch, but let the bats continue to come along. Albies (who is heating up) is still only at .200 in AAA and Swanson has cooled off tremendously. (aside from the walks)

[zbhargrove]

1) Insist on Swanson and Albies on the roster, now. Keep Castro but send KJ out with my thanks and Aybar out in a package with Grilli for whatever the heck prospects we can scrounge.

2) Make sure Johnson is off the roster and out of my locker room that day

3) Make Flowers my starting catcher; release AJ if he doesn't like it

4) Rehire Glenn Hubbard to be first base coach, make TP hitting coach and send Seitzer packing

5) Make Eddie Perez my bench coach, knowing Chipper would turn it down

6) Return Norris to the rotation, release Chacin and bring up Burnett to be co-LOOOGY with EOF. Add Barker to be a long guy.

7) Use Cervenka as my eighth inning guy. He has been a revelation

8) Ask Fredi if he would stay to be bullpen coach. When he tells me to take a flying leap, I hope the Braves make him envoy to Cuba.

9) Third base? Whoever the consensus best defensive third baseman in the system is, gets first crack at the job. Maybe it's Beckham, maybe it's d'Arnaud, but it shore ain't Adonis. Heck, maybe it's Camargo.

Not all of these thing would work out, of course. At this point, we're just trying to stop the bleeding.

Chacin has only had one bad start... he's been very good the rest of the year. Norris has been an awful starter... he needs to be gone.

[Horsehide Harry]

I wouldn't want to be the manager. But, I would want to be the GM, if my decisions were not being second guessed and countered by the Johns and Bobby.

The first decision I would make is to not fire Freddi. Not that he's a good manager (he's not). But, he is a sunk cost in a sunk season. You might as well let it play out for the rest of the year and make a good move for a guy in the offseason. But, I would have to really keep a thumb on Freddi about personnel, playing time and pitcher use. The first thing I would say is that I want all the veterans playing as much as possible until after the trade deadline. Once that happens, we will consider bringing up some of the young talent if they are ready. I want Flowers catching the young guys, Wisler, Folty and Blair. AJ can catch Teheran, Norris and Chacin. I would have a word with Freddie and the pitching coach that the veterans need to be prepared to push back on AJ if he's calling what they don't want.

[Russ2dollas]

The only thing that really matters is that these guys are healthy and playing well: FF, Tehran, Wisler, Blair, Folty, Mallex, Inciarte, and Viz. If guys like Markakis, KJ, Grilli etc play well then we have a flip chance.

This team is not winning. So I'm not starting the clock of swanson/albies.

That said, I agree you don't want half of your team to have FA at the same time.

We should have a lot of promotions this year, even more next year, and still a lot the following year. So we are bad, high pick this year, get number one pick next year. And in 2017 try to be 500. I think with a move we could do that, but you'll all laugh at me for saying that.

[Preacher]

Not all of these thing would work out, of course. At this point, we're just trying to stop the bleeding.

I see this sentiment a lot; I'm curious why do we have to stop the bleeding? This season is a lost cause, winning an extra dozen games or so doesn't do anything but hurt our draft picks.

That being said we want the young guys to be successful, so if we are winning games because Blair/Wisler/Folty are pitching well and Mallex is swiping bases -- GREAT -- but I'm not pulling up guys from the minors who might not be ready just to try and jumpstart a season that is pointless from a W/L standpoint anyway.

For me, the service time matters, but more importantly I don't want to rush prospects. Swanson is still only in AA and Albies isn't lighting AAA on fire - I want them to excel in their current situations for awhile before bumping them up.

[UNCBlue012]

The only thing that really matters is that these guys are healthy and playing well: FF, Tehran, Wisler, Blair, Folty, Mallex, Inciarte, and Viz. If guys like Markakis, KJ, Grilli etc play well then we have a flip chance.

This team is not winning. So I'm not starting the clock of swanson/albies.

That said, I agree you don't want half of your team to have FA at the same time.

We should have a lot of promotions this year, even more next year, and still a lot the following year. So we are bad, high pick this year, get number one pick next year. And in 2017 try to be 500. I think with a move we could do that, but you'll all laugh at me for saying that.

Nah, I agree. I think we have the opportunity to be decent next year. If the FO will make the needed trades to fill holes and our SP comes along decently, we'll be a hard out.

[nsacpi]

I see this sentiment a lot; I'm curious why do we have to stop the bleeding? This season is a lost cause, winning an extra dozen games or so doesn't do anything but hurt our draft picks.

That being said we want the young guys to be successful, so if we are winning games because Blair/Wisler/Folty are pitching well and Mallex is swiping bases -- GREAT -- but I'm not pulling up guys from the minors who might not be ready just to try and jumpstart a season that is pointless from a W/L standpoint anyway.

For me, the service time matters, but more importantly I don't want to rush prospects. Swanson is still only in AA and Albies isn't lighting AAA on fire - I want them to excel in their current situations for awhile before bumping them up.

Yup. The one with a tricky service time issue is Mallex. We need to send him down a couple weeks at some point this season.

Populating the major league roster the first few weeks of 2017 is also going to be tricky. But we should not be starting 2017 with Albies, Swanson, Ruiz and Sims on the roster.

[Preacher]

I understand why casual fans might be upset, but the reality is 'if you're going to be bad in team sports, be REALLY bad' and get the best picks - put yourself in a position to select franchise cornerstones.

Sure there's something to developing a winning culture, but there's a helluva lot more to being in a position to draft guys like Bryce Harper, Justin Upton, Strasburg and Swanson.

The last 15 #1 overall picks
Dansby Swanson
Brady Aiken
Mark Appel
Carlos Correa
Gerrit Cole
Bryce Harper
Stephen Strasburg
Tim Beckham
David Price
Luke Hochever
Justin Upton
Matt Bush
Delmon Young
Brian Bullington
Adrian Gonzalez
Josh Hamilton

Sure there's a complete busts in there, but lots of studs/very good players; eyes on the prize guys. Eyes on the prize.

[nsacpi]

There is no doubt that being really bad has its benefits. What separates a good front office from a bad one is years in the wilderness.

[Enscheff]

Yup. The one with a tricky service time issue is Mallex. We need to send him down a couple weeks at some point this season.

Populating the major league roster the first few weeks of 2017 is also going to be tricky. But we should not be starting 2017 with Albies, Swanson, Ruiz and Sims on the roster.

Agreed with all but Mallex and Ruiz. I don't think they are the type of players you worry about service time with since they aren't likely to be impact players. If a cheap player is needed, use them. Chances are they are going to be non-tender candidates in 4-5 years anyways.

It would be pure stupidity to bring Albies or Swanson up until a few weeks into 2017. Anyone that suggests otherwise has clearly shown the inability to make organizational decisions for an MLB team. In fact, such a suggestion proves their opinions on anything roster related should be ignored completely.

Sims might also fall into that category. The reason it might be OK to bring up Sims earlier than Swanson and Albies is that it's common for pitchers to make spot starts here and there while being shuttled between AAA and MLB. Sims could debut this season and still have his clock controlled enough to gain the extra year of control.

[nsacpi]

Agreed with all but Mallex and Ruiz. I don't think they are the type of players you worry about service time with since they aren't likely to be impact players. If a cheap player is needed, use them.

Probably not. But whey take the chance. Who expected Josh Donaldson to turn into Josh Donaldson.

[KB21]

If I were manager, I'd go back to Leo's throwing program for the pitchers. I'm not sure what they do on their off days now under Roger, but it seems that ever since the Braves abandoned Leo's throwing program, injuries have gone up. I know that the injuries coincide with too much competitive pitching when they are younger, but I think the way Leo structured his program allowed for better arm health overall. I would immediately make Leo the director of minor league pitching and install his throwing program system wide.

[VirginiaBrave]

Couple things, first off why re-hire TP as hitting coach? Been down that road and as I remember it the end of it wasn't pretty as a matter of fact it was a lot of this same crowd calling for his head over on the Scout board at the time. If the FO is determined to bring in new blood then do it!!! Fire everybody!!! No holdovers whatsoever. Bye Eddie and TP as well. Secondly, I agree that service time is important but not as concerned as most. I do think staggering the contracts of the core guys is vital, but isn't that the underlying point of Suntrust Park? To allow the Braves to operate more independently of Liberty and have the ability to have a winning payroll as they see fit? One last point, Chipper Jones will be the manager of this club at some point in the future so whoever is brought in there is not going to be a lot of time for failure I know I would want that ax hanging over my head.

[bravesfanMatt]

Couple things, first off why re-hire TP as hitting coach? Been down that road and as I remember it the end of it wasn't pretty as a matter of fact it was a lot of this same crowd calling for his head over on the Scout board at the time. If the FO is determined to bring in new blood then do it!!! Fire everybody!!! No holdovers whatsoever. Bye Eddie and TP as well. Secondly, I agree that service time is important but not as concerned as most. I do think staggering the contracts of the core guys is vital, but isn't that the underlying point of Suntrust Park? To allow the Braves to operate more independently of Liberty and have the ability to have a winning payroll as they see fit? One last point, Chipper Jones will be the manager of this club at some point in the future so whoever is brought in there is not going to be a lot of time for failure I know I would want that ax hanging over my head.

TP was not a bad hitting coach.. in fact he was the last hitting coach to get a team to score over 700 runs in a season.

here is a pretty good article on his tenure. http://www.talkingchop.com/2010/4/27...n-is-not-a-bad