The Atlanta Braves have an ex-Baltimore General Manager in Frank Wren, and now we have an ex-Baltimore Scouting Director in newly promoted Tony DeMacio. DeMacio replaces Roy Clark, who left Atlanta for Washington (which is becoming the new Atlanta). Wren and DeMacio both started with the Orioles in 1999. Of course, Wren was forced to leave after one season, but DeMacio stayed on until 2004. I was looking over some of his drafts in Baltimore and they don't look pretty, including the Orioles 2000 draft in which no one from that class until the 32nd round made it to the majors.
He's also worked in some other poor drafting frachises like the Cubs and the Pirates, but he's also worked in the Clevland scouting department, which generally does a good job of drafting players.
He comes from the scouting ranks, originally with the Braves, and his biggest claim to fame is that he was credited with signing Tom Glavine in 1984 and Chipper Jones in 1990. He has been affiliated with a Major League baseball organization for the last 26 years, and at the 2008 Winter Meetings he was honored with the Scout of the Year award, which is given to those who have devoted at least a quater century to the scouting profession.
This seems like a decent choice, but more than that it symbolizes the continuing new direction that this franchise is taking. This selection is Frank Wren's selection. Yes, DeMacio has a history with the Braves that dates back to 1983, but there's no denying his connection with Wren in Baltimore. Yes, the Orioles had other problems which prevented them from succeeding, so maybe we shouldn't hold that against Wren, but the success of a draft is used to judge the quality of a scouting director, and DeMacio's years as the Orioles' scouting director are not impressive. One has to hope that will not follow him to Atlanta. The draft is one of the key components that maintain the Atlanta franchise, and an integral part of the organization's success.
0 recs | 42 comments
super.
Scott Coleman - October 15, 2009 via mobile
Not worried
Wren didn’t do well in Baltimore but has done well in Atlanta. Maybe this guy will to.
jack dein - October 15, 2009
all I would say is that the draft is also dependent upon the scouts under the scouting director.. and if they suck…then the scouting director has nothing to work with… its the optimist in me shining through
Swo12bv - October 15, 2009
I agree with the big picture observation
and I think I like where it’s going, perhaps because I trust Wren.
VivaLosBravos - October 15, 2009
Get ’em, Frank.
Chief Noc-A-Homa - October 15, 2009
+1 Chief
Zeus12888 - October 15, 2009
we're fucked
StottsEra - October 15, 2009
" I was looking over some of his drafts in Baltimore and they don’t look pretty, including the Orioles 2000 draft in which no one from that class until the 32nd round made it to the majors."
This can be very misleading. The reason i say this is because look at this years draft for us. Most think it was pretty bad. So i mean some of his drafts could have been Angelos butting in medling around or he could have had other crappy scouts around him which wouldn’t make him near as good. Just like Roy Clark isn’t nothin without good scouts around him. There could be reasons that we dont know of why some of his drafts weren’t so good. You see what he did when he was with the Braves when he had good scouts around him.
rockybull - October 15, 2009
McCann's the Man - October 15, 2009
also that’s not so much a comment on wren as saying that we need to wait and see what this guy can do without an owner breathing down his neck
McCann's the Man - October 15, 2009
In this week's ESPN chat
Jim Callis made a reference to Angelos’ meddling tendencies, so although he’s had some rough drafts, it may not be indicative of his overall body of work.
Any and all judgment should probably be withheld until we see what happens next June.
hoboken_wood - October 15, 2009
Given the history of interference by Angelos into baseball operations, I’ll forgive a lack of success there.
DeMacio began with the Braves and worked extensively with Paul Snyder and Roy Clark in the past. His draft philosophy is line with what we have seen from the Braves in the past (excluding ’09) and he has an impressive record as a scout. He worked with Frank Wren for a year in Baltimore but has over 10 years of experience in the Braves organization. I view this as promoting a company guy and not necessarily Frank Wren bringing in an old friend from Baltimore.
jeg - October 15, 2009
Does this mean we can have Leo Mazzone back?
possum187 - October 15, 2009
im fine with Roger McDowell.
Scott Coleman - October 15, 2009
same.
esadb - October 15, 2009
he seems like he’s good at guiding the pitchers, but not forcing them to do something they dont wanna do.
Scott Coleman - October 15, 2009
coincidentally,
he was also an Oriole
esadb - October 15, 2009
This is great news, really top notch. Two key positions in the front office being staffed by the people who turned the O’s from contenders to perennial punching bags.
Lennox - October 15, 2009
eh
the Orioles will be a good team in 1-2 years. they have a nice nucleus in Markakis, Weiters and Jones, some soild veterans like Roberts and Scott, and some pretty decent pitching prospects on the way.
sucks theyre in the same division as the Skankees and Redcocks.
Scott Coleman - October 15, 2009
ya...
idk anything about what roles these guys played in assembling the organization, but Matusz, Arrieta &co. (not sold on Tillman) they could go places.
VivaLosBravos - October 15, 2009
Of those three, Tillman is head and shoulders the best. I didn’t see Matusz in person this year, but I watched most of his starts on TV and I saw all of Tillman and Arrieta’s home starts in AAA. Tillman is an ace in waiting and Arrieta is gonna be a great 2/3 guy.
cbwilk - October 16, 2009
It sucks, but its not the end of the world.
As long as we still have good scouts, i think we’ll be fine.
esadb - October 15, 2009
Meant to put this in the Roy Clark post
esadb - October 15, 2009
I just read that the O’s had the highest attendance in baseball in the 1990s. sort of surprising. And irrelevant.
VivaLosBravos - October 15, 2009
i literally lold i dont know if that was ur intention
Swo12bv - October 15, 2009
yeah, I started typing the comment and realized that it had no place in this thread, but I didn’t want to waste the calories I expended while typing it out.
VivaLosBravos - October 16, 2009
it’s not that surprising. they were a good team that competed (’roids aside) + Cal Ripken and his record chase + new ballpark.
Darin H - October 16, 2009
BA says
Tony DeMacio’s drafts with Baltimore were largely sabotaged by ownership interference.
PWHjort - October 16, 2009
probably wont be much different in Atlanta..
Scott Coleman - October 16, 2009
In a word, no. Our ownership group doesn’t do a damn thing with regards to baseball operations. All they do is control cash flow. They let the baseball people make baseball decisions.
PWHjort - October 16, 2009
Well it was rumored that Clark and Wren butted head last draft over the Minor selection last years because of money and signability, so ya, that’s why I said it wouldn’t be much different
Scott Coleman - October 16, 2009 via mobile
well wren has nothing to do with the ownership…
Hcgadawgs - October 16, 2009
but the difference...
in who you draft vs. how much you can spend overall on draft picks, is a significant difference in my eyes, if that is what people are trying to imply by Angelos meddling.
Mr. Sanchez - October 16, 2009
If anything, Wren’s success so far tells me that whatever happened in Baltimore should be disregarded as Angelos’s meddling. DiMacio gets a pass in my book, at least until we see a couple of draft from the guy.
FineHamAbounds - October 16, 2009
agreed
Hcgadawgs - October 16, 2009
That’s the only way to assess DiMacio in my opinion…just gonna have to wait for a few drafts.
Sparhawk - October 16, 2009
Looking back on the drafts
His history is actually pretty good.
Per the Braves press release:
Considering how many prospects fail, having Chipper, Glavine, and ManRam on your resume (that’s 3 HOF calibur players if you don’t count Manny as debatable due to roids), you can’t be that bad.
Andy Braves Fan - October 16, 2009
EWWW!!!!
Swo12bv - October 16, 2009
The Willie Harris pick trumps those bad ones.
:)
justincredubil02 - October 17, 2009
im not syaing this is dispostive of my hatred or wonderment of our new scouting director… just that i wouldnt want those names on my resume
Swo12bv - October 17, 2009
I was more making a joke about Willie Harris than contributing to the discussion…lol
justincredubil02 - October 18, 2009
Also, the 2005-2006 draft
with the pirates…
he drafted McCutchen. 2006 drafted Brad Lincoln. WE all know what Cutch has done, and Brad Lincoln was a scout favorite, but consistently injured in his MiLB career. Can’t always predict that…
Andy Braves Fan - October 16, 2009
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