Braves general manager Frank Wren spoke at length Sunday about the club's thinking as the baseball trade deadline approached.
Q: Did injuries to center fielders the past week change your focus before trade deadline?
A: Not really. As we analyzed our club — and this is from a strategy standpoint; we didn't want to be transparent as for what we were really looking for – but as we looked at our club, we felt that the most glaring need was center field. Even before the injuries [to Jordan Schafer and Nate McClouth], we felt that was an area where we could really improve our club. And so we were involved in everything, but getting a guy like Michael Bourn [from Houston] was a priority. Like I said, we were involved in everything, but we weren't really into everything.
Q: How open are you to signing him long-term?
A: Sure. We think he's a perfect fit for us. We've talked about this for years, since I've been general manager and even when John [Schuerholz] was. This is the kind of club we aspire to be, which is a speed-and-defense team that takes extra bases, that runs the bases aggressively, steals bases. But you have to have the right personnel. We've been drafting with that kind of focus, with speed as a priority, and I think Michael Bourn will give us a head start in getting our club in that position.
Q: How important is it to the lineup to have a leadoff hitter who can give you things you haven't had since Rafael Furcal?
A: They're really hard to find. I talked to scouts this spring and getting a prototypical leadoff hitter who plays a premium position and plays it well – Michael is a two-time Gold Glover – and can lead off, get on base, steal bases at a high rate ... they're hard to find. There's very few of those guys in the major leagues. We're thrilled to get the guy who has the most stolen bases the last three years and is a Gold Glover in center field and is really growing as a leadoff hitter.
Q: Did Bourn's left-handedness become less of a drawback because he has hit lefties pretty well?
A: What became less of an issue for us was our second baseman starting to be our second baseman, once Dan Uggla started swinging the bat and giving us that right-handed presence. We don't worry about [Brian] McCann and we don't worry about [Freddie] Freeman. They're left-handed but left-handers really don't bother them. And the same thing with Michael. Michael's numbers have been trending better over his career and are very good this year, so we didn't feel like that was as big of an impediment in making a deal as was being reported. To me, trend lines are important, the way guys are going in their career and how they're approaching – as teams make adjustments to them, do they make adjustments back? Do they get better? Do they stay the same? Or do they get worse? So it's really important that you watch how guys develop throughout their career.
Q: Did Uggla’s resurgence also take some of the focus off getting an RBI guy?
A: Yeah, I think so. And also, who are you going to displace on our team? Martin Prado and we get Chipper back — and hopefully that will very soon — and we get McCann back very soon, all of a sudden you've got Jason Heyward, who we think is making strides and starting to feel comfortable again. And then Martin Prado in left. So who does it really displace? And that was important to us, that we add to our team and not move pieces around too much.
Q: How did the moves by the Phillies and Giants affect your thinking?
A: We have the fourth-best record in baseball, so we know we have a good team. We're not an eighth- or 10th-place team trying to get into the wild-card [race]. We know we have a good team, that we can pitch with anyone, so I think it was imperative that we do whatever we could to increase our chances. We had a team last year that took the [eventual] world champions right to the brink and that was with a crippled team. I think if we get healthy and with the way our guys have come along and the additions, we think we've got a strong chance to go all the way. [Bourn] was the one thing that we were lacking. We really haven't had a prototypical leadoff hitter in five or six years. And getting Michael really adds to our club in a different way. It may not be the offensive punch, but it's run creation, which is important.
Q: How important was it to get a quality player without giving up on your highest-rated prospects?
A: With our big four [prospects], or whatever the number is, our key is for long-term sustainable winning. To do that, you've got to keep those special players. Those special players are the ones that help you win for a long time. We've got some spots that are getting older. We've got some spots where guys are going to be retiring in the next couple of years. And these are the key guys that will take those positions and help us, we think, win for a long time. And it's very difficult to trade them. There's nobody untouchable. We don't have anybody untouchable in that clubhouse. But the fact of the matter is, there's guys that are less tradeable than others for your long-term future.
Q: How many more moves are coming?
A: We've got some other conversations going on. I'm not sure how far they'll go. We'll see how it all works out. The types of moves we need to make, or I should say we could make, are moves that could be done anytime in August up until the deadline [for adding players to roster for postseason eligibility].
