I honestly think Managers are way overrated and should not be paid like they are. Mostly they make things up. Not sure why a bench coach couldn't fill out a line up and pick hit run/steal. Not sure why the pitching coach can't do the bullpen by himself.
The season is a grind. So a big part of the manger is managing ppl. Freddie does seem to do a good job managing ppl and the locker room. He does ok with the media. He seems willing to learn/try new things.......he's just stubborn to do so.
Putting Heyward at 1, followed by JUp and FF has been suggested on the scout board for at least 2 years (and those posters are here now). I can't give Freddie credit for that. Simmons as leadoff was stupid, and you can pull up archived threads where at least half the posters said so. He still over uses the bullpen. He is still a slave to the save statistic. You do not see us doing much with shifts or thinking outside the box in any way.
I honestly think that the Braves have a really good team. They have flawed players but they have a lot of talent. If you have 3 of Hey, JUp, FF, BJ, Uggla, and Mac hot then you have a good team. CJ has bought into the team and is moving the line up along. Anything Simmons does with his bat is a bonus, which is another reason why he fits at 8 so well.
If we are crediting ppl I'd go Wren 1, Scouting director 2, and McDowell 3. The reason we are where we are is b/c of pitching and it is amazing given the number of injuries to the staff this year.