Atlanta Braves (Re)Organization: Who should stay and who should go?

The Atlanta Braves are about to go through a number of changes. The first happened earlier in the week when the Braves announced the general manager Frank Wren had been relieved of his duties.

Live Feed

House That Hank Built

Now it’s time for the shake-up. With a new GM will more than likely come plenty of other changes (or at least it should in the Braves’ case).

John Hart, who had been acting as a senior advisor for the Braves for the past couple of years, has taken over as interim GM, and has reportedly been offered the post on a permanent basis. Whether or not he’ll accept that offer has yet to be made clear by Hart.

While some sources are reporting that Hart is “considering the offer”, former Braves GM and current team president John Schuerholz stated that Hart isn’t interested beyond the interim role.

”If it should ever develop along the way that he feels differently about it, I’m sure he will let me know that,” Schuerholz said via Fox Sports. ”But he and I have a clear understanding about what he’s doing and what the expectations are.”

The club now has a three-man transition team — Schuerholz, Hart, and former manager Bobby Cox — who have been charged with finding the next GM.

Make no mistake, a major overhaul is needed to get this club back to a true contender. The once heralded farm system has become a shadow of its former self, now ranked 24th out of thirty teams according to Baseball Prospectus, and 29th by ScoutingBook.com.

Rebuilding the farm system and returning to the formula of building from within the organization has to be the mantra of the new Atlanta Braves regime.

So whoever is chosen to become the Braves new GM will have to make some hard and fast decisions regarding not only the front office, but personnel as well. We thought we’d lend a helping hand and offer a few suggestions for retention and dismissal.

FRONT OFFICE/MANAGEMENT

Should be Gone:

John Schuerholz, President – It was the short-sightedness of Schuerholz that began the collapse of the Braves farm system years ago. Wren’s unwise moves only exasperated an already problematic minor league group of teams. The shadiness of the Braves move to Cobb County also falls squarely on Schuerholz’s lap. The problem is, a GM can’t fire a president. Here’s to a retirement party.

Fredi Gonzalez, Manager – Gonzalez could (and should) probably hang on to his job, but a new GM will more than likely want to install his own manager. Gonzalez also seems to have lost the clubhouse to a degree, although from reports making their way around Atlanta, a lot of the disgruntledness may have had to do with Wren.

Greg Walker, Hitting Coach – This is a no-brainer. The Braves haven’t had a batting coach who has produced a lineup worth even a small tremble since Don Baylor was there in 1999. It’s time this team learned how to hit again, especially with runners on base.

Terry Pendleton, First Base Coach – Terry has bounced from job to job with the Braves, and hasn’t had any real success at any of them. Perhaps the organization felt some sort of debt to T.P. for his part in the 1991 resurgence and beyond. Debt paid, as far as we can tell.

Pitching coach Roger McDowell may be a risk to keep aboard, but to date, pitching hasn’t been the big issue with the Braves. Players seem to genuinely like McDowell, and when an organization goes through an upheaval, its important to have at least one familiar, friendly face.

It’s clear there are also some issues in the scouting organization, but seeing where they take root is not as simple. Completely dumping an entire scouting team isn’t practical, so the new GM will probably want to keep close tabs on the scouts and see who has been lagging in terms of finding productive players outside of Latin America (one area where the Braves actually do excel).

CURRENT PLAYERS

While it’s never fun to cut ties with players who fans feel an emotional attachment to, sometimes it’s the best thing for an organization to do. There’s far too much high-priced talent on this Braves club, and not enough young blood and home-grown hungry kids.

There is a nucleus of player who should be retained, and used to build a new club with a renewed energy and spirit. This “Braves Way” nonsense needs to end. It’s time for some fire in the guts of these players.

Who to Keep: RP Craig Kimbrel, SP Alex Wood, SS Andrelton Simmons, 1B Freddie Freeman, C Christian Bethancourt, 2b Tommy La Stella

That’s it. That’s your group of current Braves this team needs to hang on to and pay a fair contract price.

Is that drastic? Is it extreme? Absolutely, but this is a case where drastic measures are needed.

This team isn’t going to improve with its current roster and current direction, it’s just going to slowly decline further into the depths of lethargy. Enough of this namby-pamby attitude and polishing of coat buttons while the rest of the league is out there scuffling in the dirt and getting national attention for hustle.

Kimbrel and Freeman are the two faces of the franchise, and are both young enough that they can stick around through some lean years to be able to reap the rewards down the road. Simmons and La Stella provide a solid defensive middle infield and just enough pop at the plate. Bethancourt is the next long-term solution at catcher. It never was Evan Gattis nor should he have been looked at that way. Alex Wood has pitched like an ace, and has had zero support from the Braves offense.

All the other players with recognizable names — the Uptons, Jason Heyward, Evan Gattis, Julio Teheran, etc — the Braves should trade, for draft picks and/or prospects. Put together a huge package deal and send all this contract money out of town and begin the restocking of the Braves farm system.

Any other players can begin the re-auditioning process in spring training, but the Braves should make no effort to pay them more than minimum contract prices. These are decent but unspectacular players who the Braves shouldn’t pin any hopes upon.

Braves fans will have to come to grips with the fact that a few losing seasons are on the way, regardless of whether moves like this are made or not. Why not go ahead and nuke the site from orbit, and start fresh?

More from FanSided.com

NFL Power Rankings Week 3: Seahawks, Broncos flip-flop; Cardinals crack top 5
College Basketball: Preseason AAC  power rankings
NBA: 7 players with the most to lose in 2014-15
College Football Player Rankings: Week 4
All 30 NHL franchises ranked by all-time greatness