AJC > Sports > Columnists > Archives > 2006 > May > 31 > Entry
DEL.ICIO.USMoore’s exit from Braves not a good sign
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Mark Bradley
The safest bet in professional sports has been that the Braves will finish first over 162 games, but suddenly an air of uncertainty hangs over this sure thing. Key people are leaving for jobs with lousy franchises. Both organizational linchpins are 65, and no succession plan exists. With ownership subject to change any minute, how could it?
Dayton Moore, the man atop the famous farm system, just became Kansas City’s general manager. This comes seven months after Leo Mazzone, the most celebrated pitching coach ever, bolted for Baltimore. Yes, there are mitigating circumstances galore — Mazzone doubled his salary to work for his longtime pal; Moore is a Kansas native — but the cold reality is that the men chiefly responsible for pitching and player development, the twin staples these past 15 years, are gone.
“He’ll be missed,” manager Bobby Cox said of Moore. “He’s just super. Everything runs smooth when he’s around.”
Nothing lasts forever: We on the periphery keep saying as much, and somehow the Braves keep finishing first and making us look silly. While the end of the run of consecutive division titles might not be at hand — the Mets have come back to the pack — the signals suggest they’re much closer to the end than the beginning.
Cox and John Schuerholz, the best in their business, are under contract only through next season. Nobody seriously believes that any manner of new owner would sweep either man aside, but it’s unclear how much longer these two will choose to stay employed.
Would Mazzone, who reveres Cox, have left for any amount of money had this manager been 10 years younger? Would Moore, who apparently had nosed ahead of Frank Wren in the in-house Schuerholz succession sweepstakes, have been open to offers if Time Warner wasn’t itself accepting bids?
Said Moore: “I know a lot’s been speculated, but this had nothing to do with the ownership change or how long John Schuerholz is going to be the GM.”
Maybe it didn’t. But when two fixtures of a franchise in conspicuous flux reach what is for many retirement age, those around them have to wonder what’s what. And nobody knows, not even the men themselves.
When someone suggested he and Schuerholz can’t go on forever, Cox scrunched up his face. “Why can’t we?” But all he’d say about his vocational plan was, “I honestly don’t know. … I’m good through next year.”
And the GM’s exit strategy? “I’d like to go out feet-first,” Schuerholz said. Then, seriously: “I keep having to remind myself that I’m 65 and I should be slowing down and should be growing weary. But I’m not, and I’m not.”
Schuerholz insisted Moore didn’t seek an assurance that he’d be the next general manager here if he stayed. “It’s dangerous to make those kind of promises,” Schuerholz said. It’s doubly dangerous when a team isn’t sure who (or what) will be paying the freight.
“The team’s being sold,” said Jeff Francoeur, who was drafted by Moore and has become a close friend. “Anything can happen. You hear that people are looking at us as an investment. … You’d hate to think what’s happening in Florida would happen to us.”
The good news: It won’t. The Marlins are a struggling team housed in a football stadium in an iffy market. The Braves are proven winners in a spiffy ballpark in a city that has proven it will support them. Even so, the question of ownership only deepens the intrigue. For 15 years, the Braves have worked under clear and inspired leadership. Beyond the horizon, who knows?
Sounding as if he were preparing the PowerPoint presentation for the Braves’ next executive retreat, Schuerholz shrugged off the loss of Moore and projected “a seamless transition from today’s Braves to tomorrow’s Braves.” Over the past 15 years, Schuerholz has seldom been wrong — OK, there was Albie Lopez — but he’s wrong about this.
Those seams? They’re showing.
Permalink | Comments (39) | Categories: Braves / MLB, Mark Bradley
Comments
Commenting is now closed for this entry.
By Chris
June 1, 2006 12:00 AM | Link to this
I am only worried about the direction new ownership will want to take with the team. I have no concerns over the changing of the guard as far as the GM and managerial positions go. I hope TP will step in after Bobby decides to pack it up, and I believe Frank Wren will probably be Schuerholz’s successor and will do well. As long as onwership doesn’t want to scrap the team and have a Marlins-style fire sale, we’ll be fine for years to come.
By PolarBear
June 1, 2006 02:29 AM | Link to this
It could not be worse than Time Warner. No way. Maybe Arthur could buy Liberty Media then…. never mind.
By gawd
June 1, 2006 03:29 AM | Link to this
dayton moore got offered a position as a GM. what did you expect him to do? wait around in atlanta and take a chance? i’m not sure it means much of anything, really.
By bitlittle
June 1, 2006 06:07 AM | Link to this
I agree with the above statements but if Liberty Media buys the team and then tries to gut it,braves fans should be able to file some type of lawsuit against them. Are there any laws left in the country to protect the little man from greedy Big company`s? I hope so
By bitlittle
June 1, 2006 06:08 AM | Link to this
I agree with the above statements but if Liberty Media buys the team and then tries to gut it,braves fans should be able to file some type of lawsuit against them. Are there any laws left in the country to protect the little man from greedy Big company`s? I hope so
By bitlittle
June 1, 2006 06:09 AM | Link to this
I agree with the above statements but if Liberty Media buys the team and then tries to gut it,braves fans should be able to file some type of lawsuit against them. Are there any laws left in the country to protect the little man from greedy Big company`s? I hope so
By Larry
June 1, 2006 07:10 AM | Link to this
This story is equivalent to explaining why you should use underpinning on a mobile home in Atlanta on the 6:00 o’clock news.
These two men took jobs with pay increases that dramatically altered their lifestyle. Nothing else!
Short on ideas, Mr. Bradley?
By Jim O
June 1, 2006 07:57 AM | Link to this
Larry hit the nail on the head - promotions and pay raises for both of these gentlemen (and speaking of which, for the naysayers out there, Baltimore’s ERA is 5.57 to the Brave’s 4.54.)
By Mart
June 1, 2006 08:03 AM | Link to this
Who’s Dayton Moore? Mr. Bradley, you’re apparently one of those guys who spends considerable time mulling over the various offensive coordinator positions in the SEC.
By doc
June 1, 2006 08:18 AM | Link to this
such negativity, seems the easy way to make a story rather than glorify his departure. the braves didnt cave when wren left to come back and i doubt they will cave when dayton leaves. young guys are meant to go on to higher positions, you dont get to keep everyone of them and they all dont become studs when they leave just because of pedigree. nothing stays the same; js and cox have somehow seemed to adjust to the flow of things which is the real darwin’s law, not survival of the fitttest but survival of the most adaptable. ownership and leadership is more critical than individuals on the ladder.
By Jim
June 1, 2006 08:20 AM | Link to this
Unfortunately many readers aren’t very adept at reading the handwriting on the wall. The fact that key personell are leaving have to do with 1. Salary-you think Arthur Blank wouldn’t have matched the salary to Leo? 2. Future opportunity and the uncertainty that even Schurholtz mentioned as to future ownership.
The shrinking budget of the Braves over the last five years despite a rise is salaries of players overall attests more to bean counters running the team than to an enthusiastic owner like Mark Cuban or the former version of Ted Turner…
So what is ahead….??? Malone and the Liberty scammers trading monopoly pieces with TW the scumbags to manipulate the tax code that bleeds the poor sucker wanting to bring his kids to the game?
Yep I believe it is called the rape of competitive sports by corporate America… I believe the Anti-trust provisions applied to baseball should be modified to encourage local ownership with the primary goal meaning winning and fielding a competitive team rather than some absentee owner trading tax write offs….
Screw TW and Liberty/Malone….give Arthur the ball and let him throw fast balls and hustle every day….
By Jeff
June 1, 2006 08:30 AM | Link to this
Mark, Abie Lopez and Dab Kolb. Guess you can’t bat a thousand.
Look, Cox and Schuerholz are Hall of Fame guys, but I’ve never bought into the theory of the “Indispensible Man.” No doubt, Dayton Moore is a talented baseball man and a comer, but is he the only talented younger executive around? Doubtful.
Certainly, the team sale puts a big question mark over the franchise in the interim, but a sale will be made, and once made, we can then see what Liberty Media (if, in fact, the deal holds) is willing to do with the franchise. Maybe it would loosen the purse strings—a little. Maybe it would be understood that, at some point, Liberty Media will se”flip” the team to local ownership, and, perhaps, that ownership with have staying power. All speculation. Let’s wait and see.
By Wes
June 1, 2006 08:37 AM | Link to this
Liberty Media has successfully ran both the Colorado Rockies and the Avalanche for years, infusing cash into both franchises and making them winners. Further, if their intent really is to sell the team on the short term (they have to hold onto it for 3 years for tax reasons) then they are going to do everything they can to build its value UP in that time. I hate it that a Colorado corporation is buying the team, but based on their history, its probably going to be better for the Braves than AOL ever was.
By Matt T
June 1, 2006 08:46 AM | Link to this
I don’t think him leaving now will block him from coming back. What better way to get experience being the GM than by being one. He gets a raise and gets to be the man, and if he does a good job, who is it to say he won’t come back
By Stuck in Kentucky
June 1, 2006 08:55 AM | Link to this
It must be a slow news day for Bradley.
By Dub
June 1, 2006 09:35 AM | Link to this
John and Bobby are doing what they always do, the best they can. For 14 years it has worked even though we only have one World Series ring. I agree it’s a shame that an Atlanta person or group won’t be the owner. There’s aways a little question mark about an absentee owner no matter how successful that person or group is somewhere else. The Braves may disappoint us when they lose games they should have won. Still, they are our team. We enjoy watching them play and win and feel bad for them when they lose. They’ll be there again when the season ends.
By Marty
June 1, 2006 09:40 AM | Link to this
It is sad to see Dayton Moore go — most people, Braves fans or not, clearly do not understand how much Moore has done for the Braves over the years he has been with the club. While it’s true the Braves have many other capable people in their player development department, it’s hard to replace a guy like Dayton Moore.
On another note, people have got to stop with this idiotic notion that the Braves’ ownership doesn’t support the Braves financially. Anyone who cares to be informed would know that the Braves’ payroll is still outpacing inflation. The fact that some teams are willing to be financially irresponsible doesn’t mean that the Braves should be. To the contrary, the Braves’ spending is MAINTAINABLE, so that they won’t have to sell the entire team and drop to a $50 million or less payroll after a disappointing season in terms of revenue. Not everyone has a bottomless pocket like Steinbrenner, and the rest of us have to live in the real world.
By Mets Stink
June 1, 2006 10:19 AM | Link to this
The Braves are going to have to find a new GM in a couple of years. Who’s to say Moore won’t come back? Plus he’d bring some GM experience with him.
By dawgsrulegatorsdrool
June 1, 2006 10:54 AM | Link to this
How about John Smoltz pitches two more years and moves into the Asst GM role under John S ? He is a lifetime Brave, has character and integrity and would be someone who could handle the pressure of the job.
By Ben
June 1, 2006 10:59 AM | Link to this
I don’t think anyone would turn down major pay increases plus a chance to go back home.When you hire good people, you have to expect them to move on when opportunity presents itself. Ben
By Gary
June 1, 2006 11:11 AM | Link to this
The Rockies are winners?! The NL pennant or the World Series? Oh yeah, NEITHER The Braves have missed out on some good free agents because Time Warner glued the purse shut.
By Mike of Alpharetta
June 1, 2006 11:15 AM | Link to this
Mark,
Not the most insightful editorial you’ve written! If Bobby was 10 years younger has nothing to do with Leo being close to retirement age himself and wanting to go out with a big contract near his hometown working with/for his best friend. No matter how much he reveres Bobby, the situation was too perfect.
Dayton, a native Kansan, grows up a Royals fan, and gets to return as the “favorite son” and rescue the hometown team. His kids get to grow up in his home state, in a city, I might add, that is a great place to raise a family based upon my personal experiences there.
You go on to add, “While the end of the run of consecutive division titles might not be at hand — the Mets have come back to the pack — the signals suggest they’re much closer to the end than the beginning.” After winning 14 consecutive titles, does anyone believe that we are closer to the end than the beginning? Do any of us fans actually think this will last forever? Do you believe that sometime in the next 14 years that we will come in somewhere other than first? Of course we’re closer to the end of this run. Even with a talented pool of youngsters let by McCann, Frenchie and others, we cannot expect to win another 14 titles consecutively, and thus, by definition, we are closer to the end.
C’mon Mark. I expect more from you. Whose to say that Mr. Moore cannot go to KC and do a good job and decide that after John S. retires, his heart is actually in Atlanta. Whose to say that it should even matter. Someday, Cox and Shuerholz will retire. There are qualified candidates to take their place. In the dugout alone we have Terry Pendleton who has “next Braves Manager” written all over him. We have Eddie Perez and Jeff Blauser in the Minor Leagues. And no doubt, we have some suitable replacements for Sir John.
I think we’ll be okay, and just as I did Leo, I wish Dayton all the best in his new job!
Mike of Alpharetta
By Michael M Beard
June 1, 2006 11:17 AM | Link to this
I but the blame on Ted Turner. Why in the the name of god that you sold TWX to a new kid on the block name AOL. Steve Case screwed that company up. The Braves should be sold to Arthur Blank. If not they should sell him an interest in team to someone local. Those TWX people in New York are Met and Yankee fans. Liberty Media could care less about the Braves or Atlanta. Michael M Beard
By Michael M Beard
June 1, 2006 11:18 AM | Link to this
I but the blame on Ted Turner. Why in the the name of god that you sold TWX to a new kid on the block name AOL. Steve Case screwed that company up. The Braves should be sold to Arthur Blank. If not they should sell him an interest in team to someone local. Those TWX people in New York are Met and Yankee fans. Liberty Media could care less about the Braves or Atlanta. Michael M Beard
By jj
June 1, 2006 11:25 AM | Link to this
Slow news day, huh? Look at it this way: The Braves are such a well-regarded MLB organization that it attracts top managerial talent who, after working there a while, are in big demand elsewhere in the NL or the AL. So there’s a good chance that the next ones in line at the Braves or elsewhere will be good replacements. It’s too early to be so pessimistic.
By Greg from Marietta
June 1, 2006 11:30 AM | Link to this
With all the doom and gloom of the nay-sayers one would think that the Braves organization was all but dead and buried. To paraphrase the words of Mark Twain “The news of their (The Braves) demise is greatly exaggerated”. This is an organization that has been the example of planning and efficiency. Unless the new ownership is totally stupid I have seen nothing that will drastically alter the way the organization is being run. Granted, Bobby, John & Dayton will be difficult to replace but they are not irreplaceable. The Braves are a business, a very successful business, and like any successful business good leadership begets good leadership. So let’s not bury the Braves until they have actually died.
By Chief
June 1, 2006 11:38 AM | Link to this
Dayton Moore is just doing the same thing that Schuerholz did when he moved to Atlanta — he saw an opportunity where others saw trouble, and he created what everyone now calls the best organization in professional sports. KC is a great baseball town that needs a savior — for those fans’ sake and Dayton Moore’s, I hope he fits the bill. He’s certainly worked magic here in Atlanta.
And about the doomsaying for Atlanta - one thing Team Schuerholz has always good at is identifying talent and nurturing their development. What makes us think that the Braves are any worse at this in their executive team than they are for players? We’ve actually lost a lot of folks who could be tied to the Braves’ success in the past — Ted Turner, Stan Kasten, Dave Pursley, Grady Little, Dean Taylor — and the success just keeps on coming. Let’s wait to see how Schuerholz plugs this whole before we start saying the sky is falling. No man is indispensible.
By TennesseePaul
June 1, 2006 12:05 PM | Link to this
There is no reason to think that when ever Schuerholtz retires, Moore isn’t a candidate. I have a sneaking suspecion that when he does finally step down, the owner will consult him about what to look for in a new GM. I’m not terribly worried. I wish Dayton Moore the best of luck and hope to see him back in a Braves office in the future.
By Kevin
June 1, 2006 12:34 PM | Link to this
I live in Kansas City, am a Royals fan and am glad the Royals have signed Moore as GM. If he turns this pathetic franchise of ours around while ATL declines, it will be payback to the Braves for picking up Schuerholz after he was GM in KC….I am somewhat (and pleasantly) surprised that Moore reportedly turned down the RedSox offer last winter. He seems to be a family man who didn’t see Boston as a prime location to raise his family. I’m sure he also saw the possible pitfalls of follow the Boy Wonder and the ‘04 World Series in a town where baseball is a religion….My fear is that KC’s idiot ownership will continue to screw things up and Dayton Moore will be one more casualty of a once-proud franchise gone seriously wrong.
By Ann
June 1, 2006 12:41 PM | Link to this
Yay! I grew up in Kansas City, and Schuerholz is a magician. Under his reign, the Royals were the most successful expansion franchise ever (until the Marlins came a long). Like the Braves, they were consistantly in the post season. Somehow, without a lot of money, he and the rest were able to build a championship team by developing a super farm system and making good deals (most of the time) for veterans. With Moore coming in as a student of Schuerholz’ (he picked out Francour!), may be the circle is complete and the salad days are back.
By Ann
June 1, 2006 12:42 PM | Link to this
Yay! I grew up in Kansas City, and Schuerholz is a magician. Under his reign, the Royals were the most successful expansion franchise ever (until the Marlins came a long). Like the Braves, they were consistantly in the post season. Somehow, without a lot of money, he and the rest were able to build a championship team by developing a super farm system and making good deals (most of the time) for veterans. With Moore coming in as a student of Schuerholz’ (he picked out Francour!), may be the circle is complete and the salad days are back.
By Laurence M.
June 1, 2006 01:51 PM | Link to this
For fifteen years, we’ve been hearing from various negative-minded sports writers about how this incredible Braves team is un-maintainable, how this run cannot go on, how next year (or perhaps this one) will finally bring our “demise.” Yet we have gone on, we have continued to win. Frankly I think the sports writers just can’t get used to the idea that the Braves are a winning team now. (They’re still stuck in the ’70s and ’80s I guess. Well, except for 1982.)
The Braves have reached legendary status! (14 in a row, for crying out loud!!) That alone will bring in the talent we need to replace that which we’ve lost. There are so many talented people out there who want to work for the Braves organization — not that I’m criticizing Mr. Mazzone or Mr. Dayton for taking advantage of the opportunities presented them. But with so many folks who want to work here, we can choose the best ones. Will all of our choices be correct? Of course not — but not all of our choices have been correct over the past 15 years, and we’re still going! Let’s stop worrying about whether or not this incredible run can be maintained and just enjoy it while we’ve got it! (And it’s always within the realm of possibilities that it will go on forever — highly improbable, but still possible! We can hope…)
By Joe Roman
June 1, 2006 02:01 PM | Link to this
Jeez, Mark. Put away your worry beads and Prophet of Doom robes. Do think Scheurholz is going to pass the torch to some guy on this blog or something? In much the same way the Baby Braves came in last year to save the day, I have absolute confidence the same thing will happen in the front office when the time comes. The way Scheurholz is performing, he may turn out to be the next Connie Mack and stay on the job forever.
By cooper
June 1, 2006 03:27 PM | Link to this
If Liberty Media does acquire the Braves and keeps handcuffing JS and braves financially, then they are going to get an enormous amount of negative publicity out of it. Out of the hundreds of thousands of braves fans accross the country, not one of them has good feelings towards those holes at Time Warner. On the other hand, adding another 15 to 20 million to the payroll would be the best money their marketing dept could ever spend on brand awareness. Another big, investor-serving machine who treats the braves organization like crap will be despised all over the country.
By braveboyfromblairsville
June 1, 2006 03:30 PM | Link to this
everytime you think this organization has run out of miracles…you look up and hey we are in 2nd place only 4 and one-half behind the muts…another miracle…it is possible…this franchise just seems to get in to division foes heads at crunch time…aug/sep…GO BRAVOS!!!!!!!!!!
By kelley
June 1, 2006 05:19 PM | Link to this
Every time someone leaves the Braves, the media starts screaming “The sky is falling” (Maddux, Glavine, Sheffield, Mazonne, etc). The Braves are fine for this season and next, that’s how long Bobby and Schuerholz are signed through. It cracks me up how many have been predicting the Braves to fall apart for the last five years, and they never do. Know why? Two words: Bobby Cox. When he hangs it up, the sky will fall. What a sad day that will be when it happens, no one can replace Bobby.
By Logic Man
June 1, 2006 06:19 PM | Link to this
Using your logic, we should have fallen apart years ago when people like Jimmie Williams, Ned Yost and Don Baylor left. BTW, professional baseball people with whom I have conversed almost laugh out loud at the mention of Leo’s name. They believe that Smoltz, Glavin and Maddux would have made any pitching coach look smart. Just look a Baltimore.
By gaaaryyy
June 1, 2006 06:29 PM | Link to this
Hey Chris, it will take more than toilet paper to succeed Bobby Cox. However, Terry Pendleton would be a great choice.
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