Do the Braves win in spite of Frank Wren?

The title of this blog post is taken directly from an article written by Mark Bradley.

It's blatant click-baiting to even ask the question (and I fully recognize using the same title puts me in the same boat).  I am working on a longer, midseason review following our World Cup-fueled hiatus (what a fun run that was), but Bradley's article prompted me to write today.  The question is quite frankly absurd.  I would say that Frank Wren is one of the ten best general managers in baseball.  He has made several questionable decisions, but all of them have been signings (mostly free agents but a few extensions).  Virtually every trade Frank Wren has made has turned into gold.  The real problem with the organization, which I have now written about frequently, is the manager.  The midseason review will cover Fredi's shortcomings in depth though, so I don't want to spoil that fun rant now.

Let's discuss a few of the major ones that stick out in everyone's mind:

• B.J. Upton signing (5/$75M) - This is a tire fire.  One of the worst signings in the history of baseball.  However, his shortcomings have been magnified because Fredi Gonzalez believes that Bossman should be given as many at-bats as possible.
• Dan Uggla trade and signing (5/$62.5M) - The Dan Uggla trade was incredible (Omar Infante and Mike Dunn went to the Fish).  The Dan Uggla extension was terrible. If the Braves had simply let Uggla hit the free agent market after his inaugural campaign in Atlanta, we would all look fondly upon that summer when Dan Uggla was terrible yet somehow also carried the offense with 36 homers.  The Braves would have offered Uggla and he would have signed a bigger deal elsewhere.  Win-win.  Instead Wren chose to give a five-year deal to a 31-year-old offense-only player, and the results have been predictably terrible.  At this point, it's shocking the Braves have not placed Uggla on irrevocable waivers or even sold him to Japan.  
• Derek Lowe signing (4/$60M) - I do not hate the Lowe signing, but I know that everyone else writing for this blog does.  He may not have lived up to the hype, and the A.J. Burnett alternative might have been preferable given the team's makeup, but Lowe made 101 starts for the Braves over three seasons and provided tons of innings.  Was he the second-coming of Maddux/Glavine/Smoltz? No.  But Lowe was also an extreme groundball pitcher who pitched in front of some below-average defenses.  Although Lowe was certainly not a great signing, I think we would look differently at his tenure if his shortstop had been Andrelton.
• Justin Upton (and Chris Johnson) trade - Hate to have traded away Martin Prado in this deal, but the Braves won this trade in a landslide.
• Michael Bourn trade - Another obvious heist by Wren.  Brett Oberholtzer may ultimately turn this into a deal where the Astros received close to an equal return judging by Wins Above Replacement, but there was no room in Atlanta for Oberholtzer and Bourn was a perfect fit in the lineup for his year and a half.  Getting Schafer back only adds a cherry on top.
• Jair Jurrjens trade - You probably forgot this one.  It was the first move in Wren's tenure as general manager.  And it was an excellent start.  The Braves got JJ and Gorkys Hernandez for a shortstop that they no longer wanted and who was at the end of his career.  JJ was a great starter in Atlanta before injuries caught up to him, but this is another in the list of great Wren deals.
• Nate McLouth trade - The only really bad trade that Wren has made.  Nate was a huge disappointment in Atlanta.  Locke and Morton have turned into good starting pitchers. 
• Javier Vazquez trade(s) - the trade to acquire Javy was excellent.  Tyler Flowers may be starting in Chicago, but Vazquez was simply brilliant in his year in Atlanta.  Wren then flipped Vazquez to the Yankees for Arodys Vizcaino (years later flipped for Paul Maholm and Reed Johnson), Mike Dunn, and that LF we all hated. 

There have been numerous other moves including flipping Teixeira to Anaheim; bringing in mid-season reinforcements such as Farnsworth, Ankiel, Adam LaRoche, Derek Lee, and Scott Downs; and signing Billy Wagner, David Ross, Takashi Saito, and Erik Hinske.  Of course there were the more recent moves of trading for Ryan Doumit and signing Floyd/Santana/Harang.

Overall I think Frank Wren has done an excellent job in Atlanta.  He might have some high profile flops that we questioned at the time and will continue to question in the future, but there are very few folks I would feel more comfortable running the Braves organization.