Frank Wren

Wren (left) accepts a gift from a NASA astronaut

Francis Wren
(1983 Guide lists first name as Franklin)

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 5' 11, Weight 173 lb.
• School South Florida Community College
• High School Northeast High School (St. Petersburg)

• Born March 17, 1958 in St. Petersburg, FL USA

BR Minors page

Biographical Information

Frank Wren served as general manager of the Baltimore Orioles in 1999 and of the Atlanta Braves from 2007 to 2014. Previously, he had played five years in the minor leagues and was in the Florida Marlins front office for 8 years.

Wren was chosen by the New York Yankees in the 17th round of the 1976 amateur draft. He debuted, though, in the Montréal Expos chain in 1977, with the GCL Expos. The outfielder hit .248/~.390/.300 with 29 walks in 47 games. The next year, he was a New York-Penn League All-Star after hitting .313/~.383/.488. He was 8th in the NYPL in average, scored 46 runs in 56 games and legged out six triples. In 8 attempts to steal a base, he was successful seven times.

Wren moved up to the West Palm Beach Expos in 1979 and hit .258/~.327/.325 with 13 steals in 14 tries in 74 games. Returning to the same outfit in 1980, he batted .253/~.336/.373 with 9 steals in 10 tries in 62 games. He moved up to the Memphis Chicks and hit .222/~.305/.282 in 38 contests there.

With the 1982 San Jose Expos, he hit .212/~.302/.247 in 24 games.

Wren then became general manager of the Jamestown Expos in 1985. He was promoted to Expos Assistant Scouting Director and in 1989, Director of Latin American Scouting and Operations. From 1991 to 1998, he was the Florida Marlins Vice President and Assistant General Manager. The Baltimore Orioles hired him as their General Manager in 1999, but after a rough year, he was fired along with manager Ray Miller. He was immediately hired by the Atlanta Braves as Vice President and Assistant General Manager for Player Personnel and held that role through the 2007 season.

On October 11, 2007 Wren was promoted to General Manager as former Braves GM John Schuerholz moved into the team president role. During his tenure the Braves saw the end of the long managerial reign of Bobby Cox and his replacement by Fredi Gonzalez in 2011. After a four-year absence, the Braves returned to the postseason in Cox's last year, 2010, but lost in the NLDS. They again made the postseason in 2012, but lost the Wild Card Game at home, and in 2013 were ousted in the NLDS by the Los Angeles Dodgers. The pressure was on for the team to move further in 2014, but instead they missed the postseason altogether. Wren paid the price when he was fired on September 22nd, the day after the Braves were mathematically eliminated. He was replaced on an interim basis by John Hart.

On September 25, 2015, he was hired by new Boston Red Sox team President Dave Dombrowski as Vice-President of baseball operations, a day after Mike Hazen had been hired to be the team's General Manager. Wren had a strong connection with Domnbrowski, who had been his boss in the Montreal Expos organization and whom he had followed to the Florida Marlins when that franchise got off the ground.

Wren's club, the Braves, drafted his son, Kyle Wren, in the eighth round of the 2013 amateur draft.

Sources: 2007 Braves Media Guide, 1978-1983 Baseball Guides, Baseball America Executive Database

Preceded by Pat Gillick

Baltimore Orioles General Manager 1999

Succeeded by Syd Thrift

Preceded by John Schuerholz

Atlanta Braves General Manager 2008-2014

Succeeded by John Hart