UPDATE: Jon Heyman of CBS Sports reported on Friday that Gonzalez is "said to be in no jeopardy."
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In early July the Atlanta Braves were very much alive in the NL East race. They were 42-42 and certainly exceeding expectations during a season where many ruled them out amongst the rest of the MLB. However, the team has fallen hard since then and most recently has lost 20 of their last 22 games.
The Braves are currently 55-84 are only one game better than the MLB-worst Philadelphia Phillies. In mid-July the club extended manager Fredi Gonzalez and his staff through the 2016 season, but the latest rumors suggest there's a chance he and his coaches won't be with the team after 2015.
"I've been hearing all season that players are frustrated with Gonzalez, that he essentially has lost the clubhouse," FOX Sports' Ken Rosnethal reports. "If that is the case, why should president of baseball operations John Hart wait to make a change? And why did he give Gonzalez an extension in the first place?
"The Braves had a minus-101 run differential during their 1-19 stretch entering Monday; the 1939 Athletics were the only other team since 1900 to be outscored by 100 or more runs over a 20-game span, according to research by Keith Costas of MLB Network.
"If the youngsters are not improving and the veterans are disenchanted, shouldn't the Braves at least examine whether Gonzalez is part of the problem?"
Those youngsters include pitchers Williams Perez (5.42 ERA), Matt Wisler (5.81 ERA) and Mike Foltynewicz (5.71 ERA). Additionally, second baseman Jace Peterson has fallen off after a hot start and is batting just .238/.310/.333 with 49 runs scored, 5 home runs and 50 RBIs. While they're all rookies, it's still concerning none of them have gotten better as the year has progressed.
However, Gonzalez wasn't exactly handed a favorable situation this year. The team was doing a decent job before the front office traded Juan Uribe, Kelly Johnson, Alex Wood, Jim Johnson, Luis Avilan and top prospect Jose Peraza. And let's not forget Justin Upton, Craig Kimbrel and Jason Heyward were traded in the offseason.
Nonetheless, the team is 13-42 since July 7, which is a problem, especially since 24 of those losses have come against teams under .500. And if the players are "frustrated" with Gonzalez, there's no point in him remaining with the team through 2016 because it's likely the Braves will hire a new manager when they begin playing in their new stadium come 2017. The logic at this point could be to bring in that new manager for 2016 to help orchestrate a smoother transition into 2017.
Over the weekend, David O'Brien of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution asked assistant general manager John Coppolella if Gonzalez's and pitching coach Roger McDowell's jobs are safe beyond this season and if they could be judged on this year's performance. His response wasn't exactly a vote of confidence beyond 2015 since he didn't answer the first question.
"I think it's unfair to judge them," Coppolella said. "We've decimated a bullpen through trades and injuries, so it's hard. I think we've got guys playing hard. Do we expect more out of some young players? Have we seen regression from young players? Yes, we have. But we see guys playing hard every night."
Gonzalez's fate could be decided by early October, so keep an eye on this potential development.
