Braves dismiss Clark and Bridges

50PoundHead said:
I suppose one could pass negative judgment on Bridges and Clark for drafting Stewart in the first place after failing to do due diligence on his injury status, but the final decision here has to rest with Anthopolous. I've been a big fan of Roy Clark over the years and he won't be out of work that long. Curious to see what direction they go. If the scouts in the field aren't shuffled around, it probably won't have too big of an effect in the short term because there are so many showcases these days that there is a veritable mountain of data on and observation of most draft-eligible players. Interesting angle will be who will be pulling the trigger on the decisions.
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Will be interesting to see which team values him most. If it’s one of the dumber FOs we will know all we need to know about the situation.
 
50PoundHead said:
I suppose one could pass negative judgment on Bridges and Clark for drafting Stewart in the first place after failing to do due diligence on his injury status, but the final decision here has to rest with Anthopolous. I've been a big fan of Roy Clark over the years and he won't be out of work that long. Curious to see what direction they go. If the scouts in the field aren't shuffled around, it probably won't have too big of an effect in the short term because there are so many showcases these days that there is a veritable mountain of data on and observation of most draft-eligible players. Interesting angle will be who will be pulling the trigger on the decisions.
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To me the only justification for firing Bridges over the injury itself is if he was completely negligent in discovering it or actively concealed it. I find either scenario somewhat hard to believe.

If the injury situation was presented, holding Bridges strictly accountable for the ligament damage they could not have known about seems unreasonable because the GM would have been a part of that decision and would have been up to speed on the risk.

To me, it makes much more sense that AA wants to change the way the Braves conduct their draft scouting and that he was not sure that Bridges/Clark were the right people. DOB says it was rumored they were gone before they signed extensions.

My guess is that Bridges/Clark were not as receptive as AA wanted them to be.

It's al little like Snitker. Not AA's choice and I'm sure he was skeptical, but he's been retained largely based on his willingness to accept input from front office. (and he won of course).
 
Southcack77 said:
To me the only justification for firing Bridges over the injury itself is if he was completely negligent in discovering it or actively concealed it. I find either scenario somewhat hard to believe.

If the injury situation was presented, holding Bridges strictly accountable for the ligament damage they could not have known about seems unreasonable because the GM would have been a part of that decision and would have been up to speed on the risk.

To me, it makes much more sense that AA wants to change the way the Braves conduct their draft scouting and that he was not sure that Bridges/Clark were the right people. DOB says it was rumored they were gone before they signed extensions.

My guess is that Bridges/Clark were not as receptive as AA wanted them to be.

It's al little like Snitker. Not AA's choice and I'm sure he was skeptical, but he's been retained largely based on his willingness to accept input from front office. (and he won of course).
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At first blush, I agree, but that makes the contract extensions a bit odd. Of course, there needs to be a transition and if there's one area where the transition is likely the slowest it is in the scouting department. I haven't followed the hiring patterns in the scouting department that closely, but if there is a move to newer methods of scouting, that will likely be seen with the area scouts as well. Curious to see if a trend--and what trend--develops.
 
maybe this means we won't go strictly high school pitching in the first round.
those #8 and 9 picks look amazing. can't wait.
 
50PoundHead said:
At first blush, I agree, but that makes the contract extensions a bit odd. Of course, there needs to be a transition and if there's one area where the transition is likely the slowest it is in the scouting department. I haven't followed the hiring patterns in the scouting department that closely, but if there is a move to newer methods of scouting, that will likely be seen with the area scouts as well. Curious to see if a trend--and what trend--develops.
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You can never tell with Braves beat reporters, but if DOB is correct that AA was leaning towards firing them before the extension it starts to make a little more sense.

Suggests uneasiness that they were making the changes he wanted them to make. If those changes continued not to be implemented you can understand the later move, particularly if there was some sort of interpersonal issue accompanying things.

No question that the Braves have a bit of internal hard headedness about how the 90s was a reflection of their organizational superiority and approach. We know that there had been relatively little implementation of more modern approaches before AA from Snitker's comments.

My guess is that the employee's receptiveness and good naturedness about the requested changes plays a big part in their retention.

Something about both Clark and Bridges getting fired and Clark's past issues with front office makes me think it was an old vs new dynamic.

But that's a total guess.
 
50PoundHead said:
At first blush, I agree, but that makes the contract extensions a bit odd. Of course, there needs to be a transition and if there's one area where the transition is likely the slowest it is in the scouting department. I haven't followed the hiring patterns in the scouting department that closely, but if there is a move to newer methods of scouting, that will likely be seen with the area scouts as well. Curious to see if a trend--and what trend--develops.
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I don't know... AA may have been "told" they should be retained... but if there was even part of the the whole Stewart fiasco on these guys, it likely gave him enough ammunition to actually get rid of them
 
Enscheff said:
I’m sure it was a combination of things, and something about the Stewart fiasco was the final straw.

The Braves have been weeding out the dinosaurs pretty consistently now that AA is making the Braves the Dodgers of the South. It may have taken some time to get the analytics at the amateur level to a place where they could fully shift gears to modern day scouting.
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The odd thing here is that AA apparently has always raved about Bridges. I don't think he was viewed as a dinosaur by AA. That makes me think the Stewart debacle coming to a head led to the change.
 
Can’t wait to read the articles being written right now by the beat writers explaining how terrible those guys were.
 
Hearing that #BlueJays special assistant Dana Brown will be leaving Jays front office to join #Braves, where he'll be reunited with Alex Anthopoulos
 
One thing I will say is that it looks like AA has complete control which is something you couldn't really say for awhile. Coppygate is the best thing to happen to this franchise.
 
thewupk said:
One thing I will say is that it looks like AA has complete control which is something you couldn't really say for awhile. Coppygate is the best thing to happen to this franchise.
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It certainly does look like it.

He's been pretty sensitive to in place folks so far but guys are on the move now.
 
clvclv said:
Not sure why this is a surprise - there's absolutely no need for an eye test, just send us the data.
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Yeah, who cares if a guy can actually play or not. As long as he grades out. Too smart for their own good eggheads are ruining the game. I absolutely love it when Moneyball theory fails.
 
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