I think the thing about the Red Sox is that they are playing half their games in a band box and when you're building a team to play that often in a park like that, you can tolerate srikeouts to a greater degree.
sturg's point is right though. There is no magic formula. You can win a lot of different ways.
Put me in the camp that thought the Braves patched things together a season or two too long. I don't think we were bad, but I didn't see Wren as having a blueprint for the long term and that always bothered me (admittedly more than most). I thought the combination of tight pursestrings and a declining minor league system were bound to collide. I would have built the team around Heyward and Freeman and slowly brought in guys to surround them on a long term basis.
I think what is happening now is just a re-build one year ahead of when the re-build would have been inevitable. People can agree or disagree with the moves (personally I see a mixed bag), but I we were likely going to be patching things together post-2015. Although I don't have a major beef with the return on Heyward, I was hoping they could find a way to keep him. I was disappointed in the return on J. Upton. I think the Gattis deal will likely turn out best for us on balance of the three major deals.
Actually I think Wren had a blueprint and did an good job in his initial stages as GM. He held to his word and hung on to guys (Hanson, Heyward, Freeman, Kimbrel, Medlen, Simmons, etc) that the organization felt would make an impact. He was also able to acquire good talent for lesser known commodities that the organization developed. He won most trades that he participated it.
He also had some incredibly bad luck. Again, I really liked that 2010 team, but by the end of the year that was about as wounded of troops that one could ever imagine, and yet he still pieced it together. Throughout his tenure, we saw good to great pitching talent going by the wayside due to injuries, and once thought of top of the rotation pieces flamed out.
By 2011-2012, Wren started going away from his framework, though. He had his footprints engraved in the sand as far as player development, and once a strong suit of the organization was stripped and the consequences could not be overlooked. No longer did we have the capability to look to the minors to fill potential needs with good young talent as their just wasn't none. Combine that with, more money in hand than ever, and a willingness to take risks it backfired even more when he tried to out think himself and re-invent the wheel and spend so much on redundant needs. So there we we're, in the mess that he dug himself and this organization into, and the only way out was to completely strip the mantle and start over. No more patches we're big enough to stop the leaking, and no more resources to even come remotely close to solving those issues whether it be in the form of financial flexibility or young talent available to be able to acquire in an area of need.
