Atlanta Braves prove importance of organizational plan in baseball

Players are important, obviously.  Teams, too.  But success in any sports franchise, collegiate or professional, starts with the organization.

The organization encompasses everything from coaching, personnel and culture. It is HOW things are done.  WHY they’re done that way.  And everyone understands the mission.

There is no better example that the Atlanta Braves in major league baseball.

They lost their best player – Freddie Freeman – two years ago.  They lost their All-Star shortstop – Dansby Swanson – last year.

No problem.  Their replacements Matt Olson at first base and Orlando Arcia at short have been more than adequate.  Olson, in fact, leads the majors in RBIs with 113 and the National League in home runs with 44.  He was signed almost immediately after Freeman departed to Los Angeles as a free agent.  Arcia is hitting .282 with 17 homers, pretty much numbers Swanson had put up before he signed with the Cubs.

Another example would be the St. Louis Cardinals.

They are among the most disappointing teams in 2023, languishing in last place in the National League Central with a record of 59-78.  The Mets, Padres, Angels and Yankees are the other disappointments, but if you ask any knowledgeable baseball fan which franchise is most likely to rebound the quickest, the answer would be the Cardinals – because of the organization.

St. Louis has been in the playoffs the past four seasons, 9 of the last 12 and 16 of the last 23.

That’s consistent excellence which can only be attributed to the organization.

*****

It’s hard to single out the MOST disappointing team of the season what with the Mets and Padres having loaded up with big payrolls and falling right on their wallets, but don’t discount the Angels.  My goodness what a disaster.  Their inability to handle a roster is stunning.  They buy shiny new players and then sell them in a few weeks.  Whoever is making personnel decisions must be doing it with an eraser equipped pencil.  Try this, no try that.  Buy, sell.

Yes, they’ve had injuries.  But so have the first-place Dodgers, who have lost four front line players for the season (Gavin Lux, Walker Buehler, Dustin May, Tony Gonsolin).

Anthony Rendon makes $38 million this year from the Angels and has missed 94 games.  Mike Trout makes 37 million and has missed 55 games.  Those two make up 32% of the team payroll and have not played since July!

*****

Then the hammer fell on the Dodgers season Monday when the news came out that Julio Urias, counted on to be a playoff mainstay in the pitching rotation, was arrested for domestic violence.  This is the second time he’s been involved with this issue and a suspension could be on the horizon.

Pete Donovan is a Palm Desert resident and former Los Angeles Times sports reporter. He can be reached at pwdonovan22@yahoo.com

This article originally appeared on Palm Springs Desert Sun: Atlanta Braves prove importance of organizational plan in baseball