Atlanta Braves Clippings Friday, December 4, 2015 Braves.Com
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Atlanta Braves Clippings Friday, December 4, 2015 Braves.com Braves to retain Cox as consultant through 2017 By Mark Bowman / MLB.com | @mlbbowman | December 3rd, 2015 ATLANTA -- As he served as Atlanta's general manager during the late 1980s, Bobby Cox engineered the massive reconstruction process that provided the Braves the talent and depth needed to experience an unprecedented stretch of success. After filling the Minor League system with talented prospects and altering the organization's mindset as the GM, Cox earned his place in Cooperstown while spending each of the next 20 years as Atlanta's manager. Now, the Hall of Fame skipper is once again enjoying the opportunity to fill a front-office role while helping the Braves move toward another era. It can be easily argued that Cox has been as influential to the Braves' success as any man in the organization's history. Thus, there was no reason to be surprised late Thursday morning when the Braves announced Cox will continue his role as a consultant through at least the end of the 2017 season. "I'm excited," Cox said. "I really like what is going on with our front office. I stand behind them. They've got a plan and they're sticking to it." Cox has served as a consultant for the Braves since he ended his managerial career at the end of the 2010 season. Along with maintaining contact with manager Fredi Gonzalez and the coaching staff, he has remained in regular contact with team president John Schuerholz, president of baseball operations John Hart and general manager John Coppolella. "Our front office, the three Johns have done an unbelievable job," Cox said. "It's amazing to look at some of the kids that we've gotten over the past year with the Draft and in trades. We wouldn't have gotten [Austin] Riley if Coppy hadn't gotten the Draft pick in the trade. This kid is legit. He can hit and field. He does everything." Like most other members of the Braves' organization, Cox has gained an instant appreciation for Riley, who was selected with the 41st overall pick in the 2015 Draft and stands as the club's No. 18 prospect, according to MLB.com. Atlanta received the pick as part of the package it gained when it sent Craig Kimbrel and Melvin Upton Jr. to the Padres on April 5. When Cox served as Atlanta's general manager from the conclusion of the 1985 season through '90, he stockpiled pitching prospects, much like Hart and Coppolella have done over the past year. Cox made some shrewd moves, like acquiring a Double-A pitcher named John Smoltz from the Tigers and taking a high school shortstop named Chipper Jones instead of the more popular Todd Van Poppel with the first pick in the '90 Draft. But while Cox can relate to what the Braves are doing while stockpiling prospects, many of whom are pitchers, he said he was nowhere near as creative as Coppolella has been. The young general manager has gathered some of his talent via his insistence to have Draft picks and international bonus pool slots included in many of the trades he has made. "The way Coppy has been able to manipulate and get Draft picks and the international bonus money, we never heard about that a few years ago," Cox said. "We've signed so many [international] kids that they're just raving about. They're years away of course, but they're top guys. "Coppy and [Hart] are trying as best they can to put a good team on the field right now. They've got to wear a vest once in a while to shed off the complaints, but they're doing a great job doing the right thing." Cox will attend Braves Fantasy Camp, which will be held Jan. 19-24 at the club's Spring Training complex. In addition, he said he plans to spend more time this year evaluating top amateur players leading up to the Draft. "This has been a lot of fun, and I intend to do even more this year," Cox said. "We have a lot to look forward to next year and beyond." Atlanta Journal-Constitution Braves keep Bobby Cox as consultant for two more years The Braves have agreed to terms with former manager Bobby Cox on a two-year extension of Cox’s consulting agreement, the team announced Thursday. Cox retired from the Braves in 2010 after more than three decades with the franchise. In 2011, Cox signed a five-year consulting agreement. The new deal runs through the 2017 season, which will be the club’s first at SunTrust Park. Cox will continue to advise and consult in all areas of baseball operations, including the major league club, spring training, minor league operations and scouting. In addition, Cox will continue to work club president John Schuerholz. The 74-year-old Cox ranks as the winningest manager in Braves franchise history. He was inducted into baseball's Hall of Fame in 2014. Braves interested in re-signing Minor By Michael Cunningham - The Atlanta Journal-Constitution The Braves are interested in re-signing left-hander Mike Minor and utility players Pedro Ciriaco and Eury Perez after not tendering them a contract, general manager John Coppolella said. The three players became non-tendered free agents when the Braves didn’t offer a contract by the Wednesday midnight deadline. They are free to negotiate with the Braves and other teams. “The collective decisions we made to non-tender all three players were difficult, and we do have an interest in re-signing all three,” Coppolella wrote in a message. The Braves would have owed Minor at least $4.5 million if they’d offered him arbitration. They weren’t willing to do so with Minor’s health still in question. Minor, 25, was developing into a front-line starter for the Braves until his career was derailed by shoulder issues. He has yet to throw off a mound after undergoing surgery to repair a torn labrum in May and suffering a setback last month that forced him to shut down his throwing program. In 2013 Minor was 13-9 with a 3.21 ERA, 1.090 walks and hits allowed per inning pitched and 181 strikeouts over 204 2/3 innings. Shoulder pain contributed to a poor 2014 season for Minor and he experienced pain soon after increasing his throwing during last spring training. Ciriaco, 30, signed the Braves after last season and he made starts at all of the infield positions while appearing in a total of 84 games. Ciriaco hit .261 with a .275 on-base percentage in 151 plate appearances. The Braves selected Perez, 25, off of waivers from the Yankees in January. He appeared in 47 games, including 30 starts in the outfield, and hit .269 with a .331 on-base percentage in 133 plate appearances. Braves extend Bobby Cox The Braves announced Thursday that they signed former manager Bobby Cox to a two-year extension of his consulting contract. Cox retired from the Braves in 2010 after more than three decades with the franchise and signed a five-year consulting agreement in 2011. The new deal runs through the 2017 season, which will be the club’s first at SunTrust Park. The Minor fall: From Braves pillar to non-tendered By Mark Bradley On Oct. 4, 2013, Mike Minor started Game 2 of the NLDS against the Dodgers. The Atlanta Braves had lost Game 1 to Clayton Kershaw and now got the huge break of facing — pause to allow sarcasm to seep through — Zach Greinke. Had the Braves lost Game 2, they’d have faced elimination. Had they lost Game 2, the 96-game-winning National League East champs would essentially have been done. Mike Minor beat Zack Greinke that night. The Braves won 4-3 to square the series and, albeit briefly, keep hope alive. (Hope was quashed in Game 4 when Fredi Gonzalez allowed Juan Uribe to face David Carpenter with the great Craig Kimbrel ready in the bullpen.) Greinke left after six innings, his team trailing 2-1. He’d yielded four hits and no walks. He was very good. Minor was better. It started badly. Minor walked Mark Ellis, the game’s second batter, and then Hanley Ramirez, who hit everything thrown his way that year, doubled to right to make it 1-nil. Sitting in the press box, a guy — OK, this guy — thought, “Here we go.” (And not in a good way.) But Minor induced groundouts from Adrian Gonzalez and Yasiel Puig. That early run would be the only one yielded by Minor, who lasted 6 1/3 pressurized innings. The Dodgers led off with singles in the second, third and fourth and managed a one-out double in the sixth. Minor kept dancing away. Double-play grounder in the second. Double-play grounder in the third. Strikeout of Puig in the fourth. Strikeouts of Gonzalez and Uribe in the sixth. This was tenacious October pitching from a man who, until that night, hadn’t been known for his tenacity. The Braves liked Minor enough to make him the seventh pick of the 2009 draft. He was a college pitcher (Vanderbilt), and the book says you shouldn’t draft college pitchers because they’ve burned through too many amateur innings, but the Braves under Frank Wren didn’t always read the book. (We note that Roger Clemens went to college. Stephen Strasburg, too. But he mightn’t be the best example.) Minor was a polished left-hander who projected as maybe a No.