John Schuerholz has been a member of the Atlanta Braves organization since 1990 and helped to usher in one of the longest strings of success in the major leagues during the 1990's and early 2000's. After leaving the Royals to become the GM of the Atlanta Braves, he would remain in that position until 2007 when he resigned to take the position as team president which he has served since...
...until now as it would seem.
John Schuerholz is stepping aside as #Braves President according Tim Tucker of the @ajc. More: https://t.co/RkvDrQpy9g
— Grant McAuley (@grantmcauley) March 31, 2016
In an interview with the AJC, Braves' CEO Terry McGuirk indicated that Schuerholz would be stepping down as team president and in to a vice-chairman role which would have advisory responsibilities. His shoes will be filled with a different organizational structure as there will now be a president of business (Derek Schiller) and president of development (Mike Plant). Schuerholz will help advise these two men, but the move is certainly one away from the day-to-day operations of the team.
The changes should be announced sometime Thursday morning and will be effective immediately. In the interview, McGuirk indicated that Schuerholz was in favor of the move and subsequent restructuring and that Schuerholz was definitely not retiring.
There will certainly be tons of speculation about whether this move represents some sort of schism in the front office or any number of unrelated conspiracy theories. One thing to consider: Schuerholz is 75 years old and has been a member of baseball front offices for 50 years. His move to team president was described to him as a way of stepping back a little bit. It appears as though he is taking a bigger step today.