Gonzalez: No decisions yet on Braves' staff

ZEBULON, N.C. (AP) Atlanta Braves manager Fredi Gonzalez said Thursday that no decisions have been made yet about his coaching staff's future.

Interim general manager John Hart said he and Gonzalez met Wednesday and ''looked at all facets of the club, and we talked a lot about staff.''

Hart said he doesn't know that any moves are ''imminent.'' Gonzalez added that he believes ''in the next couple days, we'll come up with something.''

The Braves are looking for a hitting coach after Greg Walker resigned earlier this week. They lost 18 of their final 25 games and finished under .500 for just the third time in 24 years.

Atlanta hit just .241 as a team and its total of 573 runs was the second-smallest in the majors. A team supposedly built for power hit only 123 home runs - only seven teams hit fewer - and had the fourth-most strikeouts in baseball.

The Braves averaged less than 2.4 runs during the late fade that knocked them out of playoff contention.

Hart acknowledged that Walker ''had a tough year'' and Gonzalez said he was not surprised by his hitting coach's decision because, ''Greg and I had been talking about that for quite a while.''

There weren't many updates on the Braves' search for a general manager to replace Frank Wren, who was fired with a week left in the season.

Hart, team president John Schuerholz and Hall of Fame manager Bobby Cox comprise the committee that will hire the new GM.

Schuerholz said he and Hart have assembled ''a rather extensive list'' and has communicated with some people who have expressed interest in the job, but declined to identify them. The goal remains to have the GM hired before the general managers' meetings in mid-November in Phoenix.

''We have names. We're going to get to that soon. We're not yet into that process,'' Schuerholz said.

The Zebulon-based Carolina Mudcats will become Atlanta's advanced Class A affiliate next season. Braves officials visited this town about 15 miles east of Raleigh to discuss the move.

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