In case you forgot, the Atlanta Braves have yet to officially name a general manager ever since the team dismissed Frank Wren last September. President of baseball operations John Hart finally decided on a candidate who had been one of the most sought-after executives in the MLB.
Assistant general manager and director of pro scouting John Coppolella will become the Braves' next general manager, Mark Bowman of MLB.com reported earlier today. The Braves announced the move on their Twitter account.
"After watching John Coppolella do most of the heavy lifting that encompassed the massive reconstruction process their organization has undergone over the past year, the Braves will reward him by naming him their general manager," Bowman wrote.
"A formal announcement will be made during a Thursday afternoon news conference at Turner Field. Braves president of baseball operations John Hart will continue to oversee the department, but Coppolella will now have the title for the role he has essentially filled for the past year."
The reconstruction of the Braves' roster began once Hart took over the front office. The team executed trades that sent Jason Heyward, Justin Upton, Evan Gattis, Craig Kimbrel, Jordan Walden, Jonny Gomes, Alex Wood, Jose Peraza and others to other MLB clubs within the past year. Coppolella was an instrumental figure in getting those deals done, as Bowman reports the 37-year-old has been "performing many of the same duties as a GM."
Rumors linked Coppolella to the GM vacancies in Milwaukee and Seattle, but those two MLB clubs have already filled their vacancies with David Stearns and Jerry Dipoto.
Coppolella has helped the Braves build beyond 2015, so it was only fitting he remained in Atlanta.
"I think we're building for the future and all the trades we made will help us for the future," he told David O'Brien of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution earlier this month.
"We think we'll be a team that will play meaningful baseball late into the season next year. We think we'll be a really good team in 2017, and maybe start that window to where you feel like you can battle every year in that time between 2017 and 2018."