Braves try to find their way after first GM firing since 1985

The Atlanta Braves were more stable. They were more patient and calculated. Often, they were smarter.

But, mostly, they won. Not in the end, perhaps. But, for the better part of a generation, they won.

So when it became official Sunday with their 79th loss they would not play in October, these Braves undone by a pitiful offense, past personnel decisions and the maturation of the Washington Nationals, there came a fair question: Who are the Braves now? And another: What are the Braves becoming?

While that may not be presently clear, the Braves on Monday morning decided what they are not: They fired general manager Frank Wren and his director of player development, Bruce Manno.

John Hart, the former major league general manager and for the past year a senior adviser to Wren and team president John Schuerholz, is interim GM. Schuerholz, Hart and former manager Bobby Cox will choose Wren's permanent replacement. (As for Hart's candidacy, Hart himself talked around the possibility and Schuerholz said, "It is not a completely closed or open door.")

Manager Fredi Gonzalez, finishing his fourth season in place of the legendary Cox, was not fired. His fate is expected to be determined by Wren's successor. (Cox's opinion: "I think Fredi's done a remarkable job." So, there's that.)

To the question of whether these Braves were a decent team undone by underperforming players and on-field leadership or a poor team whose record reflected its roster makeup, Schuerholz answered in part with the first firing of a Braves GM since 1985. Indeed, the organization had not fired a general manager or field manager since the summer of 1990, when Cox replaced Russ Nixon in the dugout. Wren had been on the job for seven years, during which the Braves won one NL East title, went to the postseason three times and did not win a series.

Schuerholz clearly believes there has been an erosion of what he calls "the Braves way," in spite of 94 wins in 2012, 96 wins in 2013, and the fact the Braves led the NL East as recently as July. Perhaps the slide began in 2010, with the trade for Dan Uggla and subsequent five-year, $62 million contract extension. Or, in 2012, the signing of free agent B.J. Upton to a five-year, $75.25 million contract. Chipper Jones retired. Brian McCann departed by free agency. Maddux, Glavine and Smoltz were not walking through the clubhouse door anytime soon.

Schuerholz, who as GM had presided over the most prosperous era in Braves history, said Monday he'd recently recommended to team chairman Terry McGuirk that Wren be terminated so the overhaul could begin, and so it will.

"It is our goal and our emphasis to find the Braves way again and to reinvigorate it and make it better than it has ever been before," Schuerholz said.

He later added, "I wouldn't say it's missing. I'd say it needs to be reinforced, reinvigorated. …That's what we intend to do."

The three – Schuerholz, Hart and Cox – sat Monday shoulder to shoulder in a news conference in Atlanta, hours after the season had all but officially ended, a week before today's Braves would clear out their lockers. Change does not come often to the franchise. Almost certainly, more – beyond a new GM – is coming. Schuerholz harped on scouting and player development. He said it was "appropriate" the next general manager sign off on the field manager. The roster is specked with one-dimensional players, some of them carrying hefty contracts. A losing season – they are 76-79 with a week to play – would be just their third since 1990.

So Schuerholz wasted little time praising Wren, a loyal employee for 15 years. Hours after a phone call ended the stability of more than a generation, Schuerholz moved on to the process of fixing the franchise. Perhaps that begins with John Coppolella, the well-regarded assistant general manager to Wren. Already Monday there were rumors of the club reuniting with Dayton Moore. Given recent GM searches in San Diego and Arizona, the Braves will have no trouble identifying candidates – Billy Eppler of the New York Yankees, Thad Levine of the Texas Rangers, Mike Hazen of the Boston Red Sox, DeJon Watson of the Los Angeles Dodgers, David Forst of the Oakland A's, and even the recently deposed – Kevin Towers and Josh Byrnes – are considered bright and worthy.

This will be left to Schuerholz, Hart and Cox, and this is what it feels like when change comes, and change seeks stability, and it's never as easy as it looks.

"It was time," Schuerholz said, "for the organization's well-being."