John Schuerholz Stepping Aside As Braves President, Into New Role

John Schuerholz, who joined the Braves as general manager in 1990 after spending two decades in the Kansas City Royals’ front office, is stepping aside as president of the Braves, but not retiring.

Terry McGuirk, the Braves’ chairman and CEO, told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution that the 75-year-old Schuerholz will take an advisory role as vice chairman.

But McGuirk made it clear to the newspaper that Schuerholz isn’t retiring. “Heck no,” he said.

The Braves will name two people to replace Schuerholz, the newspaper reported. Derek Schiller will be president of business and Mike Plant will be president of development.

General manager John Hart will report to Schuerholz and McGuirk. As GM, Schuerholz oversaw 14 consecutive division titles, five NL pennants and a World Series championship in 2005.

“With John Schuerholz did–14 straight titles–will never be done again,” Braves GM John Coppolella said.  “He’s a sure-fire Hall of Famer for a myriad of reasons. First and foremost he’s a baseball man through and through. He’s a great evaluator of players. He gets everyone involved. He’s a great leader. Look at everything with the Royals have done. He trained Dayton Moore. We’re so fortunate to have him.”

In recent years, Schuerholz has been credited with jump-starting the Braves’ massive rebuilding project by revamping the player development department, beginning with the firing of GM Frank Wren and the hiring of Hart.

Schuerholz’s son, Jonathan, is the Braves’ assistant director of player development.