From The Desk Of Frank Wren: 2013 Season

[TomahawkChop]

Introduction

My name is Frank Wren, and I am the former Executive Vice-President and General Manager of the Atlanta Braves. If you’re reading this journal, that means I have retired. Hopefully it was by choice, and not because nobody wanted to give me a job.

The 2013 season was one of the most exciting seasons in Braves history. I had decided going into that year that I was going to chronicle everything that happened that season in this journal, and that once I retired I would release this journal for anyone to read, and see what a year in the life of a Braves GM was like.

I will give my thoughts on players, teams, games and everything else in the coming pages. While discussing the season as it goes, I will also let you in on what I was thinking while it was going on. From the first pitch of spring training, until the last out of the season, I hope to make you feel like you were there.

I hope you enjoy this tale of the 2013 Atlanta Braves. And hopefully we were able to win a championship to make this just that extra bit special.

Yours,

Frank Wren

[TomahawkChop]

Re: From The Desk Of Frank Wren: 2013 Season

Feb. 1, 2013

The winter of 2012 was about as exciting as it could be for an Atlanta Braves fan. While Braves legend Chipper Jones retired following the previous season, we set the ball rolling in making sure this team was ready to contend in 2013. So we started things off by signing free agent B.J. Upton, an athletic outfielder from the Tampa Bay Rays. While he had the tendency to strikeout a little too much, we liked his skill set and his work rate. He’s a natural center fielder and a great defensive player. Following that move, we picked up relief pitcher Jordan Walden in a trade with the Angels. We had to give up Tommy Hanson to get Walden, but I felt it was the right move. Hanson had a lot of potential when we brought him up, but he’s had some tough injuries, and we just felt that he was never going to be the pitcher we hoped he would be. Walden is a fire-balling reliever, and a guy that I thought would help solidify our outstanding bullpen. Finally, we made the big move, acquiring outfielder Justin Upton from the Arizona Diamondbacks in a package deal, the biggest piece from our side being team leader Martin Prado. While I knew we would miss Prado’s clubhouse presence, his versatility on the field, and his ability to put the bat on the ball, I knew that the opportunity of getting a player with the skill set of a Justin Upton does not come along on a regular basis, so I pulled the trigger. So we now had the Upton brothers patrolling our outfield. With Jason Heyward in right field, we had what I felt was the best outfield in baseball.

Overall, I feel we had a very exciting offseason. We have a deep team, particularly in the lineup and in the bullpen. Our rotation has some question marks, but it has a lot of potential as well. We received a lot of attention for our moves, but all I’m hearing is that the Washington Nationals are the best team in baseball, which is kind of a bummer since they play in our division. But anything can happen over 162 games. I like our team and our coaching staff. I like the talent in the minor leagues, we have guys that I think can come up and help, or be packaged in a trade in July. We had a great season last year, and I feel that this year’s team is even better. As we head down to Disney for some spring training, I am happy with our offseason. Now we just need to do the work on the field.


Yours,

Frank Wren

[TomahawkChop]

Re: From The Desk Of Frank Wren: 2013 Season

Notes

• This franchise is using MLB 13: The Show on ps3
• I will be playing all 162 games, using the OSFM rosters
• I will start on all-star difficulty, and will change it accordingly as the season goes along
• I plan on keeping it as realistic as possible. I'm not going to make every move the Braves make, but I won't be doing any trades that would be considered ridiculous or unfair.
• I will update as much as I can for the next month or so, but I'm a teacher, so the updates will be more frequent around June 1st.

[TomahawkChop]

Re: From The Desk Of Frank Wren: 2013 Season

Hudson To Start Opening Day

Here's a clip from an article in the March 22nd edition of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, followed by my thoughts on it.



The Atlanta Braves have named Tim Hudson their Opening Day starter against the Philadelphia Phillies, Manager Fredi Gonzalez confirmed today. There was a question as to whether the Braves would give the start to Hudson, or to Kris Medlen.

“We feel that Timmy deserves the start, with all he’s done for this team over the years, Gonzalez told reporters. “Kris had a fantastic year last year, but he’s still young and needs to prove it over a longer period of time first. We have a ton of faith in him, but we also don’t want to put any unnecessary pressure on him.”

Medlen had a run as arguably baseball’s best starter last year, finishing the season with a 10-1 record and a 1.57 ERA in 12 starts. Medlen’s 30 career starts don’t compare to Hudson’s 405, which seemed to make the difference in the team’s decision.


My Take

I’m glad that Fredi is giving the start to Hudson. Medlen is going to have a great year, but Hud totally deserves our respect after all the great years he’s had in our rotation. I can definitely see Medlen starting Opening Day in 2014, but this was the right call. Either way, there’s going to be some great pitching matchups when we open the season against Philadelphia. Hudson is going to go up against Hamels, then Paul Maholm will face Cliff Lee, and Medlen will go against Roy Halladay in the series finale. Hopefully our new look offense gives us the advantage, cause there’s going to be some great pitching in this series.

Yours,

Frank Wren

[TomahawkChop]

Re: From The Desk Of Frank Wren: 2013 Season

April 1, 2013

Opening Day Is Here!

I can't believe that Opening Day is already here. The first day of the season is also my favorite day of the season. The ballparks are packed, every team's fans are full of optimism. The players all have a clean slate and are ready to perform. It's a great day for everyone involved. Of course I'm more excited about this year's Opening Day than I have been for any of the other ones since I've become the GM. I really feel like we have a legitimate chance to have a big impact in the league this year. We need to avoid injuries and work hard all 162 games. If we play to our potential, we're going to be good.

It's going to be a big test going up against the big 3 of the Phillies rotation. Hamels, Halladay and Lee; 3 of the most dominant pitchers in the sport. Not that our rotation is anything to sneer at. But our hitters need to be at their best if we're going to win this series. Both teams are going to be going out to make a statement. Philly had a rough year last year and will want to prove that they're not done as a contender yet. And we're out to prove that the hype is justified.

It's a new season, let's go Braves!

Yours,

Frank Wren

[TomahawkChop]

Re: From The Desk Of Frank Wren: 2013 Season

April 1, 2013

Starting The Season On The Right Track

What a way to start the season! I was a little nervous at times, but we pulled it off, beating the Phillies 7-4. We took a 5-0 lead early off Hamels, thanks to some timely hitting, including RBI doubles from Freddie Freeman and Dan Uggla. But although Tim Hudson retired his first 10 batters, home runs from Ryan Howard and Domonic Brown made it 5-4 going into the bottom of the 8th. But Freeman hit a super important 2-run home run in the bottom of the inning (pictured above) to give us some breathing room. Kimbrel was nasty in the 9th, pitching a 1-2-3 inning and earning the save.

It doesn't let up for us the next two days, as we face Halladay and Lee. Hopefully we can carry the momentum into those games.

Yours,

Frank Wren

*Author's Note: I'm going to play all 162 games, but I'm not going to do recaps for each one, as I don't have the time and would rather make sure I actually play all 162 games. I will do something like weekly recaps, and specific important games, like Opening Day, as well as other random articles.

[MikeKolb]

Re: From The Desk Of Frank Wren: 2013 Season

*Author's Note: I'm going to play all 162 games, but I'm not going to do recaps for each one, as I don't have the time and would rather make sure I actually play all 162 games. I will do something like weekly recaps, and specific important games, like Opening Day, as well as other random articles.
[/LEFT]
[/CENTER]

Please keep us posted how this works for you and if you like doing it that way. I'm planning on starting a Cubs dynasty and would love to hear additional thoughts, advice, opinions, and insights from other Dynasty runners. Other than that, keep up the good work in this, I will be following!

[TexanFan92]

Re: From The Desk Of Frank Wren: 2013 Season

Love the idea of the journal and good first win

[TomahawkChop]

Re: From The Desk Of Frank Wren: 2013 Season

April 4, 2013

Good Pitching Beats Good Hitting

Well so much for that good feeling we started the season with. I guess that's what happens when you face Roy Halladay and Cliff Lee. Our hitters struggled with both guys, losing to Halladay in game 2, 10-5, and then getting dominated by Lee, dropping the finale 6-2. We scored 5 runs off Halladay in the first inning, but it was all downhill from there. And boy, Paul Maholm is going to have to pick it up, as that was one of the worst starts I've ever seen. He went 3.2 innings, and gave up 7 runs on 14 hits! How do you give up two home runs to Michael Young? Yikes.

And Lee was his usual filthy self. 11 strikeouts and one run in 8 innings. Medlen pitched pretty well for us (4 runs in 6 innings, 3 of them coming in the 6th), but there's no competing with Cliff when he's on his game. The one bright spot was Freddie Freeman, who homered again. He has 2 home runs and 6 RBIs so far. Hopefully he can keep up that sort of hitting and our other guys can join him.

Oh well, that was always going to be a tough series for us to win. The Cubs are coming to town now. Hopefully they'll be just what we need to get the bats going.

Yours,

Frank Wren

[KHarmo88]

Re: From The Desk Of Frank Wren: 2013 Season

Very interesting take on the franchise scene but I like what I see! Following