Talking Chop was the first Braves site to report that the team had hired Dave Trembley as their new Minor League Field Coordinator early this week, and today we get news that the team has added a couple more veteran baseball men to their front office:
[...] Lee Elia has been tabbed as Special Assistant to the General Manager/Major and Minor League Instructor, and Bob Johnson has been named Special Assistant to the General Manager/Major League Advance Scout.
Here's what the team press release says about these two:
Elia, 73, has spent more than 50 years in professional baseball since being signed by the Philadelphia Phillies as an infielder in 1958. He most recently served as a special assistant to the general manager for the Los Angeles Dodgers. Elia was manager of the Chicago Cubs (1982-83) and the Phillies (1987-88) and has also served as a coach for the Phillies, New York Yankees, Toronto Blue Jays, Tampa Bay Devil Rays, Baltimore Orioles and Seattle Mariners.
"Lee is a veteran baseball man who really enjoys teaching the game," Wren said. "His knowledge will be invaluable, not only to our players, but to all of our managers and coaches as well."
Johnson, 63, spent the last four seasons (2007-10) with the New York Mets and has been a professional scout for 35 seasons. Prior to joining the Mets he served as an advance scout for the Texas Rangers (2005-06) and Oakland Athletics (1997-2004). Johnson has also scouted for the Montreal Expos and Pittsburgh Pirates organizations.
"Bob is one of the most respected advance scouts in all of baseball," Wren said. "We are excited to add him to our staff."
I don't have too much of an opinion on these hires other than the thought that while many baseball clubs are going with a younger breed of front office hires (many of whom come from the new world of statistical analysis), the Braves seem to be going with a litany of "old dogs" to fill out their front office positions. Maybe that was a bit harsh, really it should probably read "veteran baseball men," guys that have been around the block a few times.
That's not necessarily the wrong way to go, I just find it interesting that they certainly are bringing in a more veteran staff, when it seems that most other teams are going younger. We'll see how this affects decisions in the coming years, like trades and free agents and draft picks.
0 recs | 6 comments
Personally, I'd love to see the Braves bring in some young, innovative thinkers...
but I don’t think that’s their style.
Besides, there’s something to be said about going against the current trend to find people and skills that are currently undervalued. (That’s the whole point of Moneyball, really; the stats and such are just window dressing.) It could be that now, “veteran baseball men” are undervalued. Why compete with 20+ other teams for the hot young Ivy League grads—some of whom won’t pan out—when you can pick up quality people without the fight?
Jacob Peterson - November 12, 2010
i think you’re in denial. the past year of supposedly win-now trades in lieu of spending in the draft doesn’t bode well for the future of an an 80 MM payroll org
but let’s see what the FO does this offseason
kbertling353 - November 12, 2010
win now trades? the braves have kept all of their top prospects, something schuerholz never had the patience for.
telemakhos - November 13, 2010
Personally, I’d like some proof that the young, innovative thinkers have actually had any success. I mean, the Moneyball theories kind of blew up in Oakland’s face. Most of the guys they drafted with that philosophy washed out, and once the big three, who were picked up well before the Moneyball strategy, left, they couldn’t replace them.
Of the top of my head the only winning team with a young, innovative thinker was the Red Sox, and they won their World Serieses with a huge dose of steroids.
cbwilk - November 12, 2010
Balance is everything, to me at least
Moneyball was at its greatest success, mostly when the A’s were the only one playing it. But ever since the word has got out, a lot of teams have picked up on the value of some degree of statistical analysis. The Red Sox became obsessed with stats, hired Bill James and Voros McCracken to stat-up their drafting while they won one World Series with a little money and improved defense, and then practically buying another in 2007. Organizations paid out the wazoo to break up the Oakland guys, and guys like Paul DePodesta and J.P. Riccardi were scooped up by other teams hoping to get that fresh outlook, to no avail.
What I’m getting at is that there needs to be a balance between the young innovative thinkers, and the baseball lifers when it comes to constructing a team, because sometimes, the old guys aren’t going to see the value of putting a Nick Johnson, Kevin Youkilis or other high OBP guys in front or between some proven sluggers, and sometimes, the stat-inclined young guys might not realize scenarios of like when no matter how badly Andruw Jones was struggling, he would still eat Jason Marquis’ lunch to the tune of like .750, and pinch-hit him in, even if it meant removing the speedy UZR guy from the game to capitalize on a pivotal scenario.
It’s kind of like dogs and cats; often times they dislike one another, but it is possible for them to co-exist.
royhobbs - November 13, 2010
Lee Elia had the greatest meltdown of all time when he managed the Cubs. Glad he’s coming here.
John Holton - November 13, 2010
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