In Frank Wren We Trust: Part 1

Frank Wren replaced the legendary John Schuerholz as GM of the Braves on October 11th, 2007. Because there has been so much talk lately about making a move to upgrade our offense, especially in the outfield, I decided to take a look back at Wren's moves since becoming GM (also, I have nothing better to do). I will be using the Rick James Titty Scale, with "4 Thumbs Up" being an exceptional move and "4 Thumbs Down" being atrocious. We'll go in chronological order, looking at trades, players claimed off waivers, and free agents signed (not players resigned).

10/25/07 - Chris Resop claimed off waivers from Angels

In 16 relief appearances in 2008, Resop went 0-1 with a 5.89 ERA. Not a great pickup, but no major damage.

1 Thumb Down

10/27/07 - Edgar Renteria and Cash to Detroit for Jair Jurrjens and Gorkys Hernandez

Since leaving the Braves, Renteria's numbers have declined dramatically. In 2008 with the Tigers, he hit .270/.317.699, while thus far in 2009 with the Giants, he has hit .250/.333/.671.

On the other hand, Jurrjens has been superb in his 1 and 1/3 years with the Braves. Last year he went 13-10 with a 3.68 ERA over 188 IP. This year he has performed like an allstar, sporting a 2.59 ERA and a 5-2 record (which would be better if not for weak run support). Hernandez is also excelling in the minors. In 2007, he hit .293 and stole 54 bases in A ball. After a slight decline in 2008, he seems to have turned things around in AA Mississippi this year, hitting .316 with 9 steals. He is ranked as the 62nd best prospect in baseball by Baseball America. A simply brilliant move by Wren, getting a possible ace-to-be and an excellent prospect while making room for The Cuban Missile at short.

4 Thumbs Up

11/19/2007 - Signed Tom Glavine for 1 year, $8 million

Hard to argue with bringing back one of the faces of the franchise, but this move proved to be more sentimental than anything else. Glavine went 2-4 with a 5.54 ERA in 2008 before going down with an injury. On top of that, signing him gave the Mets a first round compensation pick.

2 Thumbs Down

12/4/2007 - Jose Ascanio to Cubs for Will Ohman and Omar Infante

Ascanio played awful for the Cubs in 2008 (7.94 ERA, 2.118 WHIP), but may have righted the ship this year, bringing his WHIP down to a respectable 1.286 with 10.3 K/9 and a 3.86 ERA.

Ohman did a great job in a Braves uniform, appearing in 83 games in 2008, going 4-1 with a 3.68 ERA. Super-utility man Omar Infante has proved to be a valuable pickup, playing any number of positions while wielding a solid bat. His 2008: .293/.338/.416. He was off to an even better start this year: .349/.389/.430. A solid deal by Wren.

2 Thumbs Up

1/14/08 - Joey Devine, Jamie Richmond and Cash to the A's for Mark Kotsay

A move made out of the need for a stopgap centerfielder before Schafer was (seemingly...) ready for the big leagues. After his memorable, grandslam-filled performance as a rookie, Devine proved to be an excellent reliever in 2008. He appeared in 42 games for the A's with great numbers: 6-1, 0.59 ERA, .832 WHIP (!), 9.7 K/9. Had a shot at the closer role this year before being forced to undergo Tommy John surgery. Richmond has a respectable ERA right around 3.80 in the minors.

Kotsay, in a typically injury-plagued year, played pretty average (.289/.340/.418). Hindsight being what it is, the Braves should have let Josh Anderson man centerfield and kept the two young arms, especially Devine.

The Milk's Gone Bad!

1/17/08 - Willy Aybar and Chase Fontaine to the Rays for Jeff Ridgway

Aybar worked out his issues enough to appear in 95 games for the Rays in 2008, hitting .253/.327/.410. SO far in '09, he's improved to .283/.376/.446. Fontaine has done nothing special in the minors, hitting .248 last year.

As for Ridgway, he had an ERA of 5.47 in 44 games last year for Richmond. The Braves released him on March 30th this year. Aybar clearly had some issues, and the Braves just needed to rid themselves of him, although it would have been nice to get something back in return.

1 Thumb Down

That's enough for today. Back with more tomorrow...