Firing Fredi Gonzalez won’t fix all of the Braves’ problems

Fire Fredi Gonzalez? Yeah, that will solve all the Atlanta Braves’ problems.

Firing the manager will cure the inept offense that ranks last in the major leagues in batting average (.226), slugging percentage (.289), runs (85) and home runs (six).

Firing Fredi will address the defensive issues that have produced a .977 fielding percentage, worst in all of baseball, and 24 errors, second only to the St. Louis Cardinals. The only reason the Braves don’t lead the big leagues in errors is that they’re only 24^th out of 30 teams in total chances. They can’t boot what they can’t get to, and some of their players have the range of an oak tree.

Firing Fredi will improve the pitching staff that has the fifth-worst earned run average (4.81) and ranks sixth in walks with 114 and second in wild pitches with 19.

The Braves were 7-21 going into Saturday night’s game against Arizona. Their magic number is 116. That’s the number of days until the first Thursday night college football games. By the time August gets here, Turner Field could resemble old Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium in the ’80s.

It’s easy to blame all of that on Gonzalez, which is like blaming Secretary of Treasury Jack Lew for the national debt.

No, Gonzalez is not Bobby Cox or Tony LaRussa. As a strategist, he’s neither a genius nor a dunce. Like most managers today, Gonzalez lets pitch counts and matchups determine his decisions rather than gut instincts and performance. But that’s the way the game is run today. Front office people want field managers to embrace their Sabermetrics.

But the manager’s impact on the bottom line is vastly overrated. There are three current managers in a class by themselves — Bruce Bochy of the San Francisco Giants, Buck Showalter of the Baltimore Orioles and Joe Maddon of the Chicago Cubs.

Bochy has won three World Series titles. But he’s also had 10 losing seasons out of 21.

Maddon’s Cubs were swept last season in the National League Championship Series by the New York Mets, managed by Terry Collins, widely considered no better than a mediocre manager.

Showalter has never reached the World Series as a manager.

Mike Matheny is in his fifth season with the St. Louis Cardinals and has a 390-288 record and one National League pennant. But Matheny’s Cardinals, as noted above, lead the majors in errors with 25.

A manager’s primary function is the same today as it was 20, 30 and 50 years ago — manage the clubhouse. That’s harder than it’s ever been because of contracts, agents and egos.

Throw in a front office that puts together a roster that would struggle to win the International League and it’s an impossible task.

But it’s really not a question of if Gonzalez will be fired, but simply when. Braves general manager John Coppolella has been cryptic in his assessment of Gonzalez’s job security.

“I’m not into vote of confidence for anybody,” Coppolella told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “Whether it’s Fredi, whether it’s our scouting director, our director of player development, anybody. Every day is a vote of confidence. Every day that he fills out that lineup card and leads that clubhouse, it’s a vote of confidence.”

Coppolella is right in one aspect. The proverbial vote of confidence ultimately means absolutely nothing.

But Coppolella and his boss, John Hart, have been very disingenuous about their intentions ever since they began this organizational overhaul with the trade of Jason Heyward to St. Louis.

They claim they are trying to remain competitive while waiting on their prize prospects to develop. But that’s hard to believe given the patch-work makeup of the roster.

The trades have angered and alienated many fans. But as bad as things are now, imagine what it would be like if they would have done nothing. Consider the combined statistics of Heyward, Justin Upton, Melvin Upton Jr., Andrelton Simmons, Evan Gattis and Chris Johnson. They are hitting a collective .226 with six home runs and 46 RBI.

The departed pitchers aren’t doing any better — Alex Wood and Kris Medlen, earned run averages of 5.18 and 6.85, respectively. Aaron Harang is out of baseball. Brandon Beachy and Mike Minor are injured. Luis Avilan was sent to the minor leagues was ineffective in two of his three appearances since being recalled. Ervin Santana has been decent for the Minnesota Twins, but hardly worth $54 million over the next four seasons.

Yeah, Craig Kimbrel is still one of the best closers in baseball. But what good would it do have a closer if there are so few games to close?

So without all of the trades made by Hart and Coppolella, the Braves likely would still have the worst record in baseball and would have a barren farm system to boot.

Gonzalez has been the utmost professional throughout the process.

“You see the young talent coming and how good they can be for the long-term,” Gonzalez said. “I was part of all those trades. I was in the room when all that stuff happened.”

Gonzalez is like the reliever who is getting pounded but has to finish the game to save the bullpen. He deserves better treatment from the bosses who put him in this mess.

This story was originally published May 7, 2016 at 1:48 PM with the headline "Firing Fredi Gonzalez won’t fix all of the Braves’ problems."