Braves Report

It is the end of an era. The end of the John Schuerholz era. Today Braves General Manager John Schuerholz is stepping down. But he will not leave the organization. He will become President of the Atlanta Braves. His assistant Frank Wren will replace him as the GM. His tenure as the GM of the Braves was 17 years. He replaced Bobby Cox as the team’s GM in 1991.

He was hired on October 10^th 1990. He had been the Kansas City Royals General Manager since 1982 when he decided to leave. This was a move that shocked many. In his 9 years as GM with Royals, the team went 754-702. The Royals won the World Series in 1985.

Since October 10^th1991 when he took over the Braves went 1595 and 1092 with a post-season record of 62-62. 13 of the 36 Braves on the roster when the season ended, he signed as an undrafted free agent or drafted. Only 3 members of the Braves organization have been with the team longer than him: Bobby Cox, John Smotlz, and Chipper Jones. He was arguably the most important figure in the Braves streak of 14 straight division titles. The Braves won the World Series in 1995.

His signature move was when he was able to acquire Fred McGriff in 1993 from the Padres for the stretch run. Thanks to McGriff the Braves were able to win their 3^rd of what would be 14 straight division titles. McGriff the Braves were able to win the World Series in 1995. Schuerholz seemingly tried to duplicate that move in 2007 when he traded 5 of the organization’s best prospects for Mark Teixeira.

Schuerholz deserves a spot in Cooperstown. While Schuerholz was GM his teams went 2348-1794 (.567) in the regular season. His teams went 70-71 in the post-season. He won 2 World Series titles in 1985 with Kansas City and another one in 1995 with Atlanta. He is the only general manger in history to capture a World Series title in the American League and the National League.