Braves hire Dave Wallace as Minor League pitching coordinator
by gondeee on Oct 27, 2009 10:51 AM EDT
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PrintFrom the Seattle Times we get this news of another hiring in the Atlanta Braves front office.
Dave Wallace was known as one of the better pitching coaches of his generation, helping to develop the arms of Orel Hersheiser, Pedro Martinez and John Wetteland, to name a few. The past two seasons, since leaving the Boston Red Sox in 2006 and spending a year with the Houston Astros, he'd been with the Mariners. His first job here was as a special assistant to GM Bill Bavasi, and then this past year as the team's minor league pitching co-ordinator. He worked closely with a number of young arms -- Mark Lowe, Brandon Morrow, Ryan Rowland-Smith, Phillippe Aumont, to name a few -- being groomed by the M's for better things.
But Wallace is moving on, having accepted a job with the Atlanta Braves.
Mariners general manager Jack Zduriencik told me earlier tonight that he'd recevied a call from the Braves asking for permission to interview Wallace for a similar position. Wallace was told he could interview if he wanted and did, then informed the Mariners he was taking the job.
The Braves have spring training in Florida, where Wallace lives, and also have their minor league affiliates much closer to his home than did the Mariners.
He seems to be very well thought of around baseball, and he's more of a marquee name than some of the folks we've recently hired or promoted. I believe this is the position formerly held by Bruce Dal Canton, but I'm not sure who was in this position last season (my media guide is not with me). The position was formerly held by Kent Willis.
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Looks like a solid move
I wonder how much effect this will have in our confidence in Logan, Lyman, Kimbrel, Gearrin, Valdez, Marek and other young pen arms in taking major roles behind maybe just one late inning reliever signing.
I think the day Kimbrel cuts his walks down
He’ll have a spot on the team. I’m not familiar enough with those other to speculate, but Kimbrel’s lights-out ability and sky-high K-rate will get him to the Majors sooner rather than later. When it comes down to it, I’m not sure how much or little a personnel move like this affects how the guys at the top view individual players.
Kent Willis has been the Braves’ Minor League Pitching Coordinator for the last few years, and before that the position was held by Bill Fischer.
Wallace played parts of three seasons in the Major Leagues for the Phillies and Blue Jays, compiling a 0-1 record and 7.84 ERA in 20.2 innings spanning 13 games. In a 12 year Minor League career, he had a 48-37 record along with a 4.11 ERA. In addition to having the Pitching Coordinator role with the Mariners, he held the same role with the Indians. He also has experience as a Major League coach, most recently, and most notably. with the Red Sox, where he was the pitching coach for the 2004 World Series winning team.
"At least he didn’t nail the bitchy fat girl from Hell's Kitchen."
www.dropoutproductions.com
Fischer was responsible for the Braves arms through the 80’s & 90"s. One of Stan Kastins first moves was to hire him away to the Nats. Kastin offered him a ML coaches salary and the Braves refused to match. Interesting that Kastin could have had Leo too but didn’t have any interest. He seemed to think that Fischer was the force behind the Brave’s pitching.
Actually, Fischer never worked for the Nats. He was with the Braves for a long while as their AAA pitching coach, then left to be the Major League pitching coach for the Royals. After that he became a special assistant for the Rays (I think he ended up being their Pitching Coach for a short stint) before returning to the Braves for a few years as the Pitching Coordinator. After that, Dayton Moore hired him away from Atlanta to be the Royals’ Pitching Coordinator, a position he still holds.
Prior to Fischer, the Braves’ Pitching Coordinator was Mike Alvarez, who held the position for about 4 years.
"At least he didn’t nail the bitchy fat girl from Hell's Kitchen."
www.dropoutproductions.com
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