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The Atlanta Braves have fired their general manager, Frank Wren, and have named John Hart the interim general manager.
Hart, of course, was the Rangers' g.m. from 2002-05, and his tenure here was...rocky, at best. Hart immediately spent a bunch of money (and parted with draft picks) to sign free agents Chan Ho Park, Juan Gonzalez, Todd Van Poppel, and Jay Powell, with none of them working out. He also hired Buck Showalter and was involved in a behind-the-scenes power struggle with Grady Fuson, though the interoffice problems may simply be one of those things inherent to a Tom Hicks owned team.
Hart will be part of a three person group, which includes John Schuerholz and Bobby Cox, that will be a "transition team" that will look for a new g.m. There's some thought out there, apparently, that Hart might end up with the full-time role, although the knock on him 12 years ago when he was with Texas was that he wasn't interested in working full-time, so I'm not sure how likely that is.
Hart hired Jon Daniels and was an advisor for the Rangers until recently, so there's some speculation he could look to the Rangers' front office (and in particular, Thad Levine) in search of the new g.m., although the sense seems to be that current Braves assistant g.m. John Coppolella has the inside track at this point.
