The Braves are one of the most well run organizations in Major League Baseball, and attrition is inevitable because of that success. Competing teams will have no problem poaching members of the organization by offering promotions, and up next could be the Braves VP of Scouting Dana Brown, who is reportedly a target of the Astros general manager search.
Interesting update on the GM search. The only one of these candidates that look interesting is Dana Brown from Atlanta. Drafting well is the real key to long term success. pic.twitter.com/Qt8Cs3o1v6
— 2XWS Champion AstrosFan86 (@AstrosFan86) January 16, 2023
Dana Brown has been critical to the Braves success in the draft recently. He was responsible for the team selecting Shea Langeliers #9 overall, who was eventually the centerpiece of the trade that landed Matt Olson in Atlanta. However, Brown’s most significant impact was realized this past season, as Spencer Strider and Michael Harris — two players Brown advocated for drafting — finished first and second in the NL Rookie of the Year race.
“I remember Dana telling me he was a top-five high-school bat in the draft — he wrote it in his report as well — and that we had to take him,” Alex Anthopoulos said. “He wasn’t highly touted at all and Dana wanted to take him in the third round. I remember asking him if he was sure we needed to take him that high and he was adamant. He did the same thing with Spencer Strider (the Braves’ fourth-round pick) in 2020. I’ve been with him a long time and when he’s that convicted I stay out of the way.”
Brown was also responsible for finding Tyler Matzek, who was in the Independent League before signing a deal with the Braves.
“One other time he pounded for us to sign a player was Tyler Matzek when he was in Indy ball. It was August (2019), minor league season was about to be over and he wouldn’t let it go so we signed him to a two-year minor-league contract. Dana doesn’t bat 1.000, no one does but when he’s passionate about something, I’ve learned the smart move is to listen.”
Losing Brown would be a brutal blow for the Braves, but if it doesn’t happen this time around, it will in the near future. He’s one of the best in the business at evaluating talent, and he’s learning from one of the best general managers on the planet in Alex Anthopoulos. The Astros would be lucky to make Dana Brown the next GM of their organization.
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Photo: Larry Radloff/Icon Sportswire
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