Frank Wren signed Derek Lowe for $60 million, Kenshin Kawakami for $23 million, Dan Uggla for $62 million and B.J. Upton for $75 million. Those four faces — and the $220 million lavished by the cost-conscious Braves — comprise a Mount Rushmore of failure. We all agree on that.
But, if you listen to some who follow the Braves — and a few folks who draw a salary from the club — this general manager hasn’t just spent unwisely. This GM is absolutely destroying (or has already destroyed, depending on the voice) a proud organization! Those on the periphery point to Mount Rushmore. Those on the inside decry Wren’s micromanaging and general bullheadedness — and then then they point to Mount Rushmore. This might make a compelling case, if not for one contradictory piece of evidence.
Over the past 4 1/2 seasons, Wren’s team leads the majors with 419 regular-season victories. That’s better than the Yankees, better than the Cardinals, better than everybody.
The knee-jerk comeback — I’ve heard it from insiders, who for obvious reasons don’t speak on the record — is, “We’re winning in spite of him!” Really, though: Does any poorly run business ever succeed for so long? (I know the rebuttal to this, too: “Success? The Braves haven’t won a playoff series in six seasons under Wren!” To which we say: The Oakland A’s have won one playoff series in 16 seasons under Billy Beane. Is he a lousy GM?)
We cannot pretend that Wren’s Rushmore doesn’t exist. Those were bad investments, though Lowe pushed the Braves into the 2010 playoffs and Uggla led the National League in walks in 2012 and Upton has had mildly encouraging moments as a leadoff man. (He’s still hitting .211, though.) They belong, debit-style, on Wren’s resume in bright red ink. But can we, in fairness, afford Wren all of the blame and none of the credit? Do we remember Mickey Mantle only for his 1,710 strikeouts?
Somebody had to rebuild this starting rotation after Kris Medlen and Brandon Beachy were lost in the span of 24 hours. Somebody has had to keep stocking a bullpen that ranked third, first, second, third and first in the bigs over the past four seasons and ranks sixth now. Somebody had to sign Anthony Varvaro and Eric O’Flaherty off waivers and Aaron Harang off the street and Ben Sheets out of his backyard. Somebody had to see something in Troy Glaus, whose one good month in 2010 changed the course of this franchise.
Somebody had to preside over the acquisitions of Craig Kimbrel, Andrelton Simmons, Evan Gattis, Mike Minor, Alex Wood, Tommy La Stella and Christian Bethancourt. (All were drafted/signed on Wren’s watch, which commenced in October 2007, just after the prospect-hemorrhaging trade for Mark Teixeira.) Somebody had to oversee the development of Freddie Freeman, Julio Teheran and Jason Heyward. (All were drafted under John Schuerholz but made their big-league debuts under Wren.)
Somebody had to pursue the trade for Justin Upton and Chris Johnson, and how must last-place Arizona feel about that one today? Somebody had to convince Dave Dombrowski to part with young Jair Jurrjens, who won 50 games for the Braves, for the aging and costly Edgar Renteria, who lasted one year in Detroit.
Somebody had to have the foresight and the nerve to re-up Kimbrel, Freeman, Teheran and Simmons last winter for $267.4 million over 25 seasons. Those four extensions cost more than Wren’s previous Rushmore and carried no small risk. So far, though, so good. Three of thee four were just named to the National League’s All-Star roster.
Believe it or not, there’s a rebuttal regarding those apparently sagacious extensions. They were, Wren’s critics insist, the work of John Hart, who pioneered pre-emptive re-upping with Cleveland and who just became a Braves consultant. This is where the Wren-ripping jumps the shark. Are we really to believe that locking up four of baseball’s best young players never occurred to the GM who cultivated all four?
I don’t agree with everything Wren has done. My ideal lineup wouldn’t be so strikeout-prone and homer-dependent. I never liked the Uggla contract. I wasn’t crazy about the blurry-fast hire of Fredi Gonzalez to replace Bobby Cox, but I was wrong. I’ve developed the utmost respect for this manager, who has been just different enough from his illustrious predecessor to put his stamp on a winning club.
And there, at least in my mind, is where the debate ends. The Braves awoke Monday in first place, this despite losing three starting pitchers and having the second-youngest roster (behind Houston) in the majors. Over 4 1/2 seasons, the Braves have been the best in their business at winning regular-season games. This couldn’t have happened by accident. Somebody upstairs has done something right, and by “somebody,” I mean Frank Wren.
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