Heading into the Human GM Era
The Atlanta Braves ended the AI GM era in a strong position. They had gone 99-63 in 1968 and 97-65 in 1969; making the playoffs both years. Their offense was led by 2B Scott Blohm (8.3 WAR in 1969) and C Alex Salcido (8.1 WAR in 1969; won the 1969 NL MVP). With both of these players in their mid 20s it seemed likely that the team would be able to immediately compete once human GMs took over.
The Beginning of the Human GM Era: The Early 1970s The first human GM of the Atlanta Braves was Drew Wise. The team achieved a record of 90-72 and missed the playoffs (which were more limited at the time - only two teams from each league qualified). In January of 1971 Drew traded C Alex Salcido (who had won his second straight NL MVP award in 1970) to the Cincinnati Reds for four players, only two of which, OF Phil Morris and C Elijah White, had any measure of success in the majors. Salcido never won another MVP but he did go on to enjoy a successful career in Cincinnati. After beginning the 1971 season 11-13, Drew left the Braves. The AI took over for the team the remainder of the season. The Braves finished 93-69 behind star Scott Blohm who put up 8.2 WAR. 1972: Surprise Success Shawn Smith took over the Braves for the 1972 season. He did not make any major changes to the team, however the rise of star CF Justin Burchfield (7 WAR in 1972) propelled the Braves into the playoffs for the first time in the human GM era. Atlanta defeated the Phillies 3-1 in the NLCS and then won the World Series 4-2. Scott Blohm won the WS MVP. 1973 - 1976: Doldrums Shawn, fresh off of his freshman season WS victory, made a shocking move: after a middling start to the 1973 1season he traded CF Justin Burchfield to the Cincinnati Reds for CF Shane Brown, SP Tim McDonough, and 2B Joe Perez. Burchfield never achieved superstardom with the Reds, but he did have a fine few seasons before being traded to the Mets in 1977. Brown, McDonough, and Perez, however, did not have much success in Atlanta and were never able to make the trade seem worth moving on from Burchfield. The Braves finished the 1973 season in third place and Shawn departed the team. In 1974 manager Colin O'Shea took over the team but again only finished third before he too departed. The team was without a manager in 1975 and had GM Adam Lynch for part of 1976; he went 60-61 in his short tenure. Adam's most lasting contribution to the franchise was trading Scott Blohm to the San Francisco Giants for 2B Ryan Fiala, C Salvatore Gomez, and SP Justin DiRaffaele.
1977 - 1980: Rebirth GM Mike Quigley took over the team in the 1976-1977 offseason. At once he began trading - making 7 deals before his first game. None of these trades had a significant future impact (though they involved some memorable players: Adam McGahee, Jacob Zeitz, Ruben Mendez, Mark Garcia). Quigley's biggest move was drafting 2B Matt Singer in the supplemental round of the 1977 amateur draft. Singer went on to win the 1979 NL Rookie of the Year Award and the 1979 NL MVP Award, setting the single season record for hits in the process. It was this 1979 Braves team that notched 100 wins and returned Atlanta to the postseason for their first time since their 1972 WS. The team was led by MVP Matt Singer along with sluggers 1B Ricky Robles and RF Ricky Palacio. The success was ended quickly when the Braves lost the NLDS to the Expos three games to two. The 1980 season was a step down in terms of wins, only 91, but the Braves again made the playoffs before being eliminated again in the NLDS.
1981: Firesale
1979 and 1980 were solid seasons for the Braves with two first place finishes. But this success was tainted by two early playoff exits. After a slow start to the 1981 season the Braves started a surprising and epic teardown: clearing most of the major league roster off the team in a matter of days. These 14 trades saw 54 players exchanged and turned Atlanta's ML roster from a 90+ win unit to a team that finished the 1981 season 77-85. What the firesale had achieved, however, was clearing the Braves books of long-term contracts and building up an extensive farm system that could be used to rebuild the team.
1982 - 1985: Building Back The Braves immediately used their acquired farm talent to begin to put together a roster that would find future success. In the 1981-1982 offseason they acquired SP Danny Cervantes and SP Rich Esparza - two players that would anchor Atlanta's rotation for several years. The 1982 season was disastrous in terms of wins, the Braves only won 45, but it allowed them to acquire 2B Billy Becker with the first pick of the 1983 amateur draft. Further trades across 1982 and 1983 netted the braves 3B Robbie Ekdar, SP Ryan Blair, and CF Dave Salazar. In 1984 and 1985 the Braves returned to the playoffs after dual 86 win seasons. 1984 saw the Braves advance all the way to the NLCS before being eliminated by the Pittsburgh Pirates 4 games to 3. The 1985 playoffs were a disappointment in comparison - the Braves were eliminated in the NLDS. 1986: Success and the Beginning of the Mike Hastings Era
Following the 1981 firesale the Braves had acquired a strong, young core of players through (mostly) trading but also (some) quality drafting. What they lacked was a superstar to take them the last 10 yards. On January 5th, 1986 a trade happened that would be felt throughout the league for many years to come: the Braves traded 3B Bobby Valenti, RP Billy Cook, SP Joel Lyons, 1B Matt Collins, and 3B Aaron Schierbaum to the Detroit Tigers in return for 1B Mike Hastings. Hastings was, at the time of the trade, one of the most talented prospects in baseball. His future already looked bright b,ut he quickly went supernova. In 1986 he found himself at home in Atlanta's homer friendly park hitting 66 home runs and putting up 6.1 WAR. He won the NL Rookie of the Year Award and, along with fellow home run basher Brian Arnaut, led the Braves to the 1986 playoffs and, eventually, the 1986 World Series. This WS pitted The Braves against a California Angels team that had enjoyed dominant success for several seasons but had not yet won a ring. The series came down to the final moments of game 7 when the Braves came from behind and emerged victorious after a walk-off grand slam from none other than Mike Hastings.
1987 - 1991: Dynasty In 1987 the Braves won another World Series, Mike Hastings won his first MVP Award, and the Braves solidified a core of talent that would see them win over 100 games for six straight seasons (1986-1991). A major bump in the road was felt in 1990 when the Braves finished 2nd in their division to the Florida Marlins, who would go on to win the World Series that year. The end of the 1990 season also saw the end of GM Mike Quigley's tenure in Atlanta. He was replaced by GM Joseph Boomhower who quickly led the 1991 Braves to their 3rd World Series win in 6 years.
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