# Freddi Gonzalez fired



## Arrow3 (May 17, 2016)

I never was a big fan but I don't know what they expected him to do with the players they gave him. Should have fired him years ago.


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## flattop (May 17, 2016)

Took one for the team.


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## DSGB (May 17, 2016)

Didn't expect much this year or even next, but also didn't see him being the manager when they move in to the new stadium next year, either. 

Maybe they'll convince Yost and Glenn Hubbard to come back.


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## Paymaster (May 17, 2016)

I have no confidence that the current ownership can or will hire anyone any better.


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## livetohunt (May 17, 2016)

More like Freddi wanted out...He probably see's what the future holds with current ownership and didn't want years of being a bottom dweller..It is no surprise the braves were going to be horrible this year. The team was gutted.


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## Coenen (May 17, 2016)

flattop said:


> Took one for the team.


This.

Someone had to go after the performance they've turned in this year. Fredi was the only one available.

The only way he'd have stayed was if management though, for some reason, he was better for the young guys than whomever the alternatives might've been. Clearly he was not.

They're conducting a top to bottom rebuild of the whole organization, realistically there was no way he was going to see game 1 in that new ball park. He had to go sooner or later. They'll name their "Guy" soon enough, and he'll be the one to see them through the end of their current rebuilding phase.


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## Browning Slayer (May 17, 2016)

Paymaster said:


> I have no confidence that the current ownership can or will hire anyone any better.




Totally agree David!


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## Coenen (May 17, 2016)

Atlanta Dawg said:


> I'm not a serious baseball fan-and to that effect I looked up what little I could find on the contract he was given in February 2014 for 8 years-which is purported to have been $135,000,000 !!  Wonder what his buyout will be ?  I doubt he will be sitting outside Turner Field with a cardboard box collecting spare change !!


I think you're thinking of Freddy Freeman, the 1st baseman.

Fredi Gonzales' deal was set to expire at the end of this year, as were many of the staff members.


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## Atlanta Dawg (May 17, 2016)

*Yep  !!!*



Coenen said:


> I think you're thinking of Freddy Freeman, the 1st baseman.
> 
> Fredi Gonzales' deal was set to expire at the end of this year, as were many of the staff members.



You are correct sir !!  My Apologies !!


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## NE GA Pappy (May 17, 2016)

If you answer 3 simple questions, you will have an understanding of both why they can't hire any big guns, and why the new stadium is being built.

Question #1, Who owned the Braves prior to this ownership?

Question #2, Who owned WTBS television station?

Question #3, Who still get all the $$$ for the Braves television rights?

the money isn't there to pay the big salaries, because of this situation.  That is why they are building a whole shopping community around the new stadium, .... revenue enhancement


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## BornToHuntAndFish (May 17, 2016)

Hope it's interesting to see what the future holds for the Braves in the short & long term, but it will probably take a long time for any new manager to help change the losing direction into a winning direction, especially with what they have now.


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## NugeForPres (May 17, 2016)

Paymaster said:


> I have no confidence that the current ownership can or will hire anyone any better.



This...sadly.  I think we all knew that the Braves were in for a long season-they were set up for that.  I don't think the upper management of the Braves has taken much responsibility for all of this, though.  Typical.  Gonzales was the fall guy here-not that he was another Bobby Cox by any means-but he did have a mess to work with.  Kinda reminds me of the "Major League" movies.  All I know is, this new stadium must have pixie dust for a playing surface-all I hear about is how great they will be when they are in the end all be all of major league parks.


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## Coenen (May 18, 2016)

NE GA Pappy said:


> the money isn't there to pay the big salaries, because of this situation.  That is why they are building a whole shopping community around the new stadium, .... revenue enhancement


Does Ted really still get the check for having them on TV? In any event, they paid out big bucks several years ago in free agency, and most of those players failed to deliver. In fact, "failed to deliver" is probably the understatement of the century. Those bad contracts will be off the books in the near future, and they'll have some resources to spend. They still won't be The Dodgers or The Yankees, but they'll have some money. 

The "sign everybody" approach has consistently failed to produce championships for the teams that have tried it(Including the Braves). It gives the fans something to talk about but that's about it. The real meat and potatoes of the rebuild are the prospects they've been piling up in the minors.


BornToHuntAndFish said:


> Hope it's interesting to see what the future holds for the Braves in the short & long term, but it will probably take a long time for any new manager to help change the losing direction into a winning direction, especially with what they have now.


Not too long. The Cubs did a complete cut and gut, rebuilt with a bunch of young guys, and were competitive within 4 years. This year is the 5th year of that project under Theo Epstein, and the results have pretty much spoken for themselves thusfar. Will they win it all? Who knows, but they're off to a pretty solid start.

That's at least where Braves management is trying to go. We'll just have to see if they get there.


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## biggdogg (May 18, 2016)

Coenen said:


> Does Ted really still get the check for having them on TV? In any event, they paid out big bucks several years ago in free agency, and most of those players failed to deliver. In fact, "failed to deliver" is probably the understatement of the century. Those bad contracts will be off the books in the near future, and they'll have some resources to spend. They still won't be The Dodgers or The Yankees, but they'll have some money.
> 
> The "sign everybody" approach has consistently failed to produce championships for the teams that have tried it(Including the Braves). It gives the fans something to talk about but that's about it. The real meat and potatoes of the rebuild are the prospects they've been piling up in the minors.
> Not too long. The Cubs did a complete cut and gut, rebuilt with a bunch of young guys, and were competitive within 4 years. This year is the 5th year of that project under Theo Epstein, and the results have pretty much spoken for themselves thusfar. Will they win it all? Who knows, but they're off to a pretty solid start.
> ...



Not much more to be added to this. I don't see the Braves being players for any big ticket free agents any time soon. They spent a kings ranson on players like B.J. Upton, Dan Uggla, Derek Lowe etc. The results just never met expectations. You're going to see a lot of home grown talent with some reliable vets added to the equation, but it will be done more like the way of the Royals than the Cubs.


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## Patriot44 (May 18, 2016)

I am beginning to believe more and more that the Braves brought him back this year just to be a fall guy.


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## alphachief (May 18, 2016)

Arrow3 said:


> I never was a big fan but I don't know what they expected him to do with the players they gave him. Should have fired him years ago.



Yep...3 years or so too late!


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## Coenen (May 18, 2016)

Patriot44 said:


> I am beginning to believe more and more that the Braves brought him back this year just to be a fall guy.


His contract was set to expire at the end of the season, with a club option for '17. Don't begin to believe it, believe it. There was no way he was making it past this season without a miracle.

He was pretty much the only part of the "Frank Wren" Braves that was left. They gave him a chance, now they're going to go get whomever they think is "The Man".


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## 7Mag Hunter (May 18, 2016)

arrow3 said:


> i never was a big fan but i don't know what they expected him to do with the players they gave him. Should have fired him years ago.




x-2


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## biggdogg (May 18, 2016)

Coenen said:


> Does Ted really still get the check for having them on TV?



Ted was "let go" after the Time Warner/TBS merger. Pretty sure he doesn't get much of anything outside of his buyout.

Not that he's looking for handouts...


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## Coenen (May 18, 2016)

biggdogg said:


> Ted was "let go" after the Time Warner/TBS merger. Pretty sure he doesn't get much of anything outside of his buyout.


Yeah, I don't know why I interpreted that post to say that they were still paying Ted. Upon rereading, the thrust of it is that Liberty is more interested in pocketing the money than spending on the team. Whereas Ted was known to break open the vault.

Hard to blame them, I remember reading that The Astros were the most profitable team in baseball the year that they lost 111 games.


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## DSGB (May 18, 2016)

The Braves are simply a tax write off for Liberty Media.


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## Patriot44 (May 18, 2016)

Coenen said:


> His contract was set to expire at the end of the season, with a club option for '17. Don't begin to believe it, believe it. There was no way he was making it past this season without a miracle.
> 
> He was pretty much the only part of the "Frank Wren" Braves that was left. They gave him a chance, now they're going to go get whomever they think is "The Man".



I do believe it, and it all started when they let Simmons go.  I knew they were cleaning meat to the bone then and Freddie was going to be the red meat left hanging in the tree.

I actually did think that they would be better than this tho, last year they were playing good AAA ball up until mid-late season.  

They need on field leadership ASAP, Freeman aint the man either.


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## KyDawg (May 18, 2016)

Coenen said:


> Yeah, I don't know why I interpreted that post to say that they were still paying Ted. Upon rereading, the thrust of it is that Liberty is more interested in pocketing the money than spending on the team. Whereas Ted was known to break open the vault.
> 
> Hard to blame them, I remember reading that The Astros were the most profitable team in baseball the year that they lost 111 games.



That record is in jeopardy. Without the big profits.


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## SpotandStalk (May 18, 2016)

Great, now we can get back to winning championships.


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## Barry Duggan (May 18, 2016)

Coenen said:


> Upon rereading, the thrust of it is that Liberty is more interested in pocketing the money than spending on the team. Whereas Ted was known to break open the vault.



If my memory is still somewhat intact, Ted didn't break open the vault until MLB was about to come down on him hard for basically putting a team on the field for TBS purposes. The Braves wallowed in the mud, under Ted's ownership, for a while too.


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## MudDucker (May 18, 2016)

Coenen said:


> Yeah, I don't know why I interpreted that post to say that they were still paying Ted. Upon rereading, the thrust of it is that Liberty is more interested in pocketing the money than spending on the team. Whereas Ted was known to break open the vault.
> 
> Hard to blame them, I remember reading that The Astros were the most profitable team in baseball the year that they lost 111 games.



Ted liked baseball.  Ted had more money than he could spend and he made the bravos his right off at TBS. Liberty likes money.


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## elfiii (May 18, 2016)

Coenen said:


> This.
> 
> Someone had to go after the performance they've turned in this year. Fredi was the only one available.



Braves management fielded a crappy team. *Hey, look over there everybody! Freddie Gonzalez got fired!*

(See how that works?)


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## Coenen (May 18, 2016)

elfiii said:


> Braves management fielded a crappy team. *Hey, look over there everybody! Freddie Gonzalez got fired!*
> 
> (See how that works?)


Absolutely. I hope I haven't given the impression that I didn't understand why they axed him.

They're rebuilding, they've fielded a team that will be historically bad(at best), he's in the final year of his contract, and he's the last, most visible, part of the previous regime. They've got to do something to appease an angry fan base, and firing him was just about all they could do.

Obama has a better chance of getting a 3rd term than Fredi Gonzales had of seeing the Braves through 162 games this year.


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## KyDawg (May 18, 2016)

Something tells me we will be looking back on the good old days for a long long time.


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## BornToHuntAndFish (May 18, 2016)

elfiii said:


> Braves management fielded a crappy team. *Hey, look over there everybody! Freddie Gonzalez got fired!*
> 
> (See how that works?)



x3, Mis-direction & head fake, but quit looking at Braves Mgmt. results so far.  

Wonder how long that will last???  Probably not long enough.


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## Patriot44 (May 18, 2016)

BornToHuntAndFish said:


> x3, Mis-direction & head fake, but quit looking at Braves Mgmt. results so far.
> 
> Wonder how long that will last???  Probably not long enough.



Agreed.  I think it was too early. Fans will be looking for more blood come end of August.


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## biggdogg (May 19, 2016)

Barry Duggan said:


> If my memory is still somewhat intact, Ted didn't break open the vault until MLB was about to come down on him hard for basically putting a team on the field for TBS purposes. The Braves wallowed in the mud, under Ted's ownership, for a while too.



You would be correct. And there is some rumblings among the MLB owners that some teams, including the Braves, are intentionally tanking to secure higher draft picks and more international pool money. We'll see.


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## Coenen (May 19, 2016)

biggdogg said:


> You would be correct. And there is some rumblings among the MLB owners that some teams, including the Braves, are intentionally tanking to secure higher draft picks and more international pool money. We'll see.


Rumors nothing. I feel like Hart and Coppolella have pretty much said that straight out. How else does one interpret what they've done?

I'm very much pro-rebuild, and think they're going in the right direction, but 'rumblings' and 'rumors'? The team traded off all of its assets for prospects, dumped toxic contracts and has made plain their intention to expand their influence in the Latin American player pool.

If there was a "Franchise Rebuilding" checklist, that'd pretty much tick all of the boxes. Salary dump? Check. Stockpile prospects? Check. Field subpar team that ensures high draft picks? Check. Use newly freed resources to expand influence in previously underutilized player pool? Check. Make tons of money due to low payroll and league revenue sharing? Check.

It's worked for other teams, and clearly Atlanta means to make it work for themselves as well. The NFL isn't the only "Copycat League" in pro sports!


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## elfiii (May 19, 2016)

Patriot44 said:


> Agreed.  I think it was too early. Fans will be looking for more blood come the *All Star break*.



Fixed it for you.


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## Patriot44 (May 19, 2016)

elfiii said:


> Fixed it for you.



I understand that the Bravo's are rebuilding and now have the biggest pocket book in baseball, and I know they are doing it right. 

Having said this, I just can't watch.  I am going to cover my eyes and say lalalalalalalala until they spend some moolah in Nov and Dec.  

When they do though, it should be nice. If that kid from Venezuela doesn't work out at short though, I am going to pray to baby Jesus that a meteorite hits the new stadium.


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## elfiii (May 23, 2016)

Patriot44 said:


> I understand that the Bravo's are rebuilding and now have the biggest pocket book in baseball, and I know they are doing it right.
> 
> Having said this, I just can't watch.  I am going to cover my eyes and say lalalalalalalala until they spend some moolah in Nov and Dec.
> 
> When they do though, it should be nice. If that kid from Venezuela doesn't work out at short though, I am going to pray to baby Jesus that a meteorite hits the new stadium.



The main reason the Braves were successful in the 90's and early 2000's was they had a real farm club system with a deep pool of talent that got developed with quality coaching.

Today, either they have no talent or lousy minor league coaches. Take your pick.


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## biggdogg (May 23, 2016)

elfiii said:


> The main reason the Braves were successful in the 90's and early 2000's was they had a real farm club system with a deep pool of talent that got developed with quality coaching.
> 
> Today, either they have no talent or lousy minor league coaches. Take your pick.



Oh they have the talent now. Wren sold the farm to buy overpriced free agents and the product on the field showed. Now we'll see if the coaching is there to develop all the talent Copolella and co. has stock piled.


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## KyDawg (May 23, 2016)

They on a winning streak. Well they are 3 and 3 since Freddie got fired.


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## elfiii (May 23, 2016)

biggdogg said:


> Oh they have the talent now. Wren sold the farm to buy overpriced free agents and the product on the field showed. Now we'll see if the coaching is there to develop all the talent Copolella and co. has stock piled.



I do not share your sanguinity.


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## KyDawg (May 23, 2016)

You didn't have to talk him like that elfiii


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## elfiii (May 23, 2016)

KyDawg said:


> You didn't have to talk him like that elfiii


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