With no concrete news to share, Braves fans are forced to rely on a drip feed of partial tidbits and information. The current morsel comes from the Atlanta Business Chronicle, which notes that Liberty Media had no overall comment on MLB’s investigation of the Braves (link; warning: paywall)
Liberty Media CEO Greg Maffei declined to provide comment during a call with financial analysts regarding the investigation, per the Chronicle. However, he did note that the club is “working through the process of hiring a new general manager,” which the report notes may be significant because it refers to the general manager position as opposed to a President of Baseball Operations position.
The articles goes on to note that this may indicate that the Braves are leaning towards hiring a GM and retaining John Hart in his current role, as opposed to gearing up a search for a new President of Baseball Operations (and/or a new general manager). John Hart’s contract expires this year, but there have not been any indications as to whether he is leaving or staying on through 2018 and beyond.
While perhaps a fait accompli with no other representation available in the current Front Office structure, the report also notes that Hart will be representing the Atlanta Braves at the GM Meetings, which begin next week in Orlando.
Various candidate names (Doug Harris, Dan Jennings, Alex Anthopolous, Ben Cherington) have been floated for the general manager position, but there have been no official developments as of yet. Stay tuned.