The Schuerholz Effect

Winston-Salem, NC -- Some surprising news occurred yesterday when the Atlanta Braves GM John Schuerholz stepped down from his post after 17 years. During this past summer, I read Schuerholz's autobiography, Built To Win, a neat book that outlines all of the mundane tasks of a baseball general manager. The chapter that I took away from the book featured a segment on how to deal with player agents. Players add their talents and skills to the game and deserve to get paid for them, the front office's job is to place the best product on the field and create the ultimate fan experience and thereby deserve to get paid; what do agents do in order to take from baseball's money pot?

As a Braves' fan, this is a huge loss to the organization. However, while being promoted to "President of Baseball Operations, Schuerholz will still have his fingerprints all over this operation. Prior to Schuerholz's arrival, the Braves were the laughingstock of baseball. Following his departure and 14 division championships later, the Braves are still the class act of the National League.

Here's some evidence showing why Schuerholz was the best GM since (Hank Peters or) Branch Rickey. During his 17 year reign as GM, the Braves won 170 more games than the next best team, the Cardinals. So, if the Braves didn't win a game next year and the Cardinals went undefeated, the Braves would still have a better record than the Cardinals over 18 years!

Schuerholz's successor, Frank Wren, is a familiar name to Mid-Atlantic baseball fans. During the 1999 season, Wren was the GM of the Orioles, only to be fired after the season for clashing with Mr. Angelos. Throughout his book, Schuerholz credits and praises the negotiating skills and talent evaluating ability of Wren (the Assistant GM). I wonder where the O's would be if Wren continued on as their GM?

Schuerholz's reign as GM of the Braves illustrates an important point in all front offices. When you have stability and little turnover from season-to-season, a team is able to foster the principles displayed by its leader. Schuerholz has demonstrated impeccable leadership skills by listening and trusting his scouts, not budging on salary negotiations (it should be a privilege to play for the Braves), by giving up talent to acquire a big talent (see the Salty-Teixeira and Hudson-Meyer trades) and by filling a "need" through the draft and farm system (compared to signing an aging veteran -- see the O's). The Braves and MLB have lost a class act.