Fredi Gonzalez will remain the Braves manager – at least for now – following the firing of general manager Frank Wren Monday.
Gonzalez will have the support of Hall of Fame manager Bobby Cox, his predecessor, when a new general manager is hired.
“I think Fredi has done a remarkable job since he’s taken over from me in 2011,” Cox said. “I think he’s just been outstanding. There were difficult times, even last year to win 96 games with things that were taking place.”
When asked specifically if Gonzalez would receive his vote of confidence with the next general manager, Cox said “Yes, absolutely.”
Cox was joined by President John Schuerholz and interim general manager John Hart at a press conference following the announcement of Wren’s dismissal. The three will lead the search for a new general manager. According to Schuerholz, the team will do a complete evaluation of the organization and the next general manager will a major voice as to who will manage the team in 2015.
“I love Atlanta,” Gonzalez said. “I love our organization. I would love to get another shot at it, like anyone else would. We’ll see what happens over the course of this winter. For me looking forward, I would like to be here. I want to be here. I think we have a lot of work to do. I have a lot of evaluation that I have to do on myself and go from there.”
Gonzalez said he reached out to Wren and the two spoke for about 10 minutes Monday morning. He said they plan to speak again in several days. Gonzalez admitted to a sense of responsibility in the firing of Wren as the team’s woeful play the final weeks of the season resulted in playoff elimination.
The Braves are 355-286 (.554) in four seasons under Gonzalez. That includes the 76-79 record as the head into the final week of this season. Last season the Braves finished 96-66 and were eliminated by the Los Angeles Dodgers, 3-1, in the National League Division Series. In 2012, the Braves finished 94-68 and lost the one-game wild card playoff to the St. Louis Cardinals. In 2011, Gonzalez’s first season after taking over for Cox, the Braves failed to make the playoffs with an 89-73 record.
Gonzalez said he has yet to have a conversation with management about his future.
“Nothing is guaranteed,” Gonzalez said. “As coaches in sports, we are day-to-day let alone year-to-year. I didn’t expect anything. I expect to do my job the next seven days like I’ve been doing and we’ll talk about it during the winter.”
Gonzalez got the support of several of his players.
“He has been our leader since 2011,” Freddie Freeman said. “He has taken us to the playoffs multiple times. He has a very keen eye for baseball. He has always been there, is always positive and always has our back.”
Other players said management would make the off-the-field decisions and they would concentrate finishing the season.
“For me, it doesn’t matter what I agree with on those terms,” Jason Heyward said. “Again, the front office makes their decisions. They have their standards. For me, for what I’ve understood, is a winning standard. That is what I’ve tried to bring every day myself personally. That’s all I can control. John Schuerholz, Bobby Cox and John Hart are three very intelligent people, three very well respected people across the game of baseball, so their decision will be how the organization moves forward. Again, my job every day is to play right field.”
Gonzalez said the organization-wide evaluation is not a reason for trepidation. He is used to being evaluated on a daily basis – by wins and losses and even at times pitch by pitch.
“What we will do as our transition team is to take our time and evaluate this organization from top to bottom and when we get to the point where decisions are made and we need to communicate with people we will do that then,” Schuerholz said. “But we have not begun that process.”
