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Fredi Gonzalez: Do Braves Fans Deserve Another Year?

By John Buhler

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Fredi Gonzalez has been the manager of the Atlanta Braves since the start of the 2011 season, taking over for his mentor and National Baseball Hall of Famer Bobby Cox.

I never expected Fredi Gonzalez to fill the shoes of Bobby Cox when he took the job.  To me, that wasn’t fair to put that kind of pressure on an average Major League manager.  I knew that Fredi wasn’t going to lead us to 14 straight Division Titles, 10 straight NLCS’s, and 5 World Series berths like Bobby had down for us between 1991-2005.

-= Related: Jonny Gomes Pitches, Braves Lose 15-4 To Yankees =-

I hoped that one of the strongest branches of the Bobby Cox Coaching Tree would find success in Atlanta like Bobby had.  In five seasons under Fredi Gonzalez, we’ve seen the Atlanta Braves make the playoffs twice (2012-13), completely collapse and give up twice (2011 and 2014), and whatever you want to classify this season as.  The Braves weren’t going to contend this year and that’s fine, but I don’t think Braves Country needs to suffer through another season of perpetual game mismanagement from Fredi Gonzalez.

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    • The Braves organization is a very loyal bunch, but I think it’s time to sever the ties with the Bobby Cox Coaching Tree.  The managerial style is a bit antiquated, failing to fully grasp the finer nuances of sabermetrics so crucial in the modern age of baseball.  Bobby Cox wasn’t the best tactician in the Braves dugout, but he would put himself on the line for his players.  His MLB record of ejections is a testament to how much he stood up for his players.  His team respected him and played their tails off for a fiery leader like Bobby Cox.

    Fredi has never gotten me fired up as a fan and I haven’t seen his players play all that much inspired baseball for him.  I mean the team basically quit on him twice in the middle of playoff pushes.  Bobby Cox essentially forced the 2005 Baby Braves into the team’s 14th straight Division Title when they honestly had no business doing so.  You want your manager to bring out the best in your players, not settle into complacency and the Atlanta Braves have certainly gotten there with Fredi Gonzalez.

    Do I agree with what President of Baseball Operations John Hart is doing to try to fix this ball club?  I have to because whatever former GM Frank Wren assembled had a finite ceiling of a 95-win Division Championship team and that’s it.

    While I understand why Hart and Team President John Schuerholz extended the contracts of the entire coaching staff through next season, the team has completely fallen off the rails since its announcement in early July.

    The Braves have lost 10 of 11, their last 9 road games, have gone 2-17 away from Turner Field since the All-Star Break, and are 2-22 on the road since blowing a massive lead on get away day in Milwaukee back in July.  The contract extensions became public knowledge during the road series in Denver when the Colorado Rockies swept the Braves into the All-Star Break.

    So where does Fredi deserve the blame in all of this?  In-game managerial decisions, especially with regards to the pitching staff.  I’ve seen Fredi Gonzalez for too long make costly judgement errors late in ball games using our roster.  He’s pulled a hot hitter out of the game in favor of defensive replacement when the team struggles consistently to score runs.  Fredi will either leave a starting pitcher in too long or pull the starter too early and burn through his bullpen.  I know hindsight is always 20/20, but I get the feeling that Fredi will make the wrong call just about every time.

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    I told myself that I was not going to write a “Fire The Coach” piece, because I respect how difficult it is to coach at high level.  The stress that the coach and their families are constantly under are borderline unfathomable.  But after watching Jonny Gomes pitch the ninth inning for the Atlanta Braves last night in an absolute laugher at home against the Yankees, I’ve had enough of the madness in the Atlanta Braves dugout.

    Correct me if I’m wrong, but I felt that Jonny Gomes’ inning of relief work last night was the best moment the Atlanta Braves have had in the second half.  When the team’s 5th or 6th outfielder has to come in and pitch to make me smile watching Atlanta Braves baseball, that should tell you something.  Atlanta had not used a position player on the mound since 1989, my lifetime.

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    Attendance is down, morale is down, expectations are WAY down.  You can’t fire the team (well, unless your John Hart and you love talking on the phone with the other 29 GMs), but you can certainly let the manager go.  It’s not our call, but I really don’t want to see Fredi Gonzalez managing our club past the first week of October.

    To bring it all back home, do Braves’ fans deserve this?  Maybe we do.  We expected a championship team every year for twenty years and perhaps we’ve not fully grasped that rebuilding is part of the game of baseball.  It was never part of the Braves Way, until now…

    Next: Manny Banuelos: Poised For a September Return?

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