Where Are The Atlanta Braves Going to Turn to Find Their New Manager?

Brian Snitker is transitioning to an advisory role for his 50th season with the organization; who will replace him as Atlanta's skipper?

Brian Gerald Snitker will end up as one of the greatest managers in Braves franchise history.

Snitker, who turns 70 in two weeks, spent ten seasons as manager of the Atlanta Braves after announcing on Tuesday that he was “transitioning” to an advisory role for his 50th year in the organization.

But in those ten seasons, the Braves accomplished a lot: winning the 2021 World Series, sure, but also 811 wins (2nd-most in baseball in that span¹), six divisional titles and seven playoff appearances. Snitker was named the 2018 NL Manager of the Year and received down-ballot votes another six times, as well as being a two-time Minor League Manager of the Year in 1999 and 2000 with Single-A Myrtle Beach.

His 811 wins are third in franchise history, and both men ahead of him - Bobby Cox (2149 wins, 1978-2010) and Frank Selee (1004 wins, 1890-1901) are enshrined in the National Baseball Hall of Fame.

As part of his sendoff on Wednesday, the Braves organization gifted Snitker a brand new pickup truck, an all-expenses paid trip to Hawaii for him and his wife Ronnie, and announced that he would be inducted in the Braves Hall of Fame in 2026.

Not an easy legacy to follow. Who might the Braves hire next, and what are they looking for in their next manager? Let me tell you what I’m hearing.

How important is continuity?

In the last 35 years, there have been more US Presidents (six different men over ten administrations) than there have been Braves managers (three), and the only time an external search was even conducted was to bring Fredi Gonzalez into the organization for the 2011 season. He was both the primary target and prematurely fired by the Miami Marlins, so they officially hired him just seven days after the end of the season.

It wasn’t much of a wide net, is what I’m saying.

How wide will it be this time? Some of the individuals I’ve spoken to within and around the organization, none of whom are authorized to speak publicly or hold a decision-making role regarding the manager, expressed their belief that current bench coach Walt Weiss will be the next manager. The plan here, according to my sources, would be to retain a bulk of the current staff - pitching coach Rick Kranitz, hitting coach Tim Hyers, third base coach Fredi Gonzalez, and assistant coach Eddie Perez would remain with the organization. Additionally, there would be a push for former Los Angeles Angels manager Ron Washington, who was recently let go by owner Arte Moreno, to rejoin the organization as Weiss’s replacement in the bench coach role.

There are definitely some pros and cons of this approach. Weiss has been with the organization since 2018, giving him familiarity with both the players and the front office. He also has previous managerial experience, running the Colorado Rockies from 2013 to 2016.

The downside of the Weiss promotion is that those iterations of the Colorado Rockies weren’t very good. He was 283-365 across those four seasons, a .437 winning percentage, and never finished better than 3rd place in the NL West. Bud Black took over for the 2017 season and immediately had the Rockies in the postseason, making two consecutive playoff appearances and narrowly missing the 2018 divisional title by one game.

Additionally, the danger of the continuity approach is that if you’re inclined to believe that the early-season underperformance of the offense was due to some external factor outside of the players themselves - the coaching they’re receiving, the accountability placed (or not placed) on them, etc. - then retaining the bulk of the coaching staff and promoting from within doesn’t resolve that issue unless you’re a big believer in Ron Washington singlehandedly fixing it himself.

Walt Weiss would be an uninspiring hire, but one that would ensure the greatest continuity. Not exciting, but would likely get the job done.

Does the new hire need Atlanta ties?

For better or worse, the Atlanta Braves value familiarity. If you think about an organization that prides itself on the clubhouse culture - AA called it “an asset” when discussing the decision to place a waiver claim on shortstop (and potential free agent) Ha-Seong Kim - that makes sense.

But how strong of ties are they looking for? Several of the common names bandied about as potential candidates, like former Chicago Cubs manager David Ross and former player and current MLB Network commentator Mark DeRosa, have experience as players with the Braves, but no managerial or coaching connections.²

Additionally, the level of experience varies for the two men - DeRosa was a Braves 7th-round draft pick in 1996 and spent seven seasons with the Braves before leaving in free agency, but has virtually no managerial or coaching experience to speak of. Ross, by contrast, has less experience as a player in Atlanta (four seasons) but four seasons as MLB managerial experience, something DeRosa can’t claim.

Those Atlanta ties and his experience led me to declare Ross the "obvious” choice to appease every stakeholder when I first wrote up the expected managerial opening back in August.

But there are other options outside of those two men that can check the “familiarity with Atlanta” box off their resume. Outfielder George Lombard spent three early-career seasons with the Braves (1998-2000) before entering coaching in 2010, serving as the Los Angeles Dodgers’ first base coach for six seasons (including their World Series title season in 2020) and is currently the Detroit Tigers’ bench coach.³

Ryan Flaherty, an infielder who played for Snitker in 2018 and is now a bench coach for the Chicago Cubs, is another possible candidate.

What if they go outside the ‘family’ completely?

Then the possibilities are endless; for the sake of brevity, let’s discuss some of the names that either I’ve heard directly from a source or that make a lot of sense to get a call.

Quick note here: I’d be really intrigued by former Miami Marlins manager Skip Schumaker, as I think many would. However, he’s currently working as a senior adviser to Texas Rangers GM Chris Young and is widely expected to get that open job after the team parted ways with incumbent Bruce Bochy. They even went ahead and added his former Miami bench coach, Luis Urueta, to Bochy’s staff last offseason. I’m taking him off the list.

Among current and former managers who might be considered, Bochy seems possible but unlikely, owing to his age: He’s already 70 and turns 71 early in the 2026 season. Bringing Bochy in feels like more of a short-term fix than anything; the team would likely need to do another search in one or two seasons.

Bob Melvin, however, probably gets an interview in this scenario. A 22-year veteran who has won three Manager of the Year awards, he was dismissed by the San Francisco Giants on Monday despite having one more year remaining on his contract.

I’d question the fit here, however. If there was a commonality in his recent Giants squads, it was struggles with the running game, defense, and a lack of fundamental play. While Atlanta’s not a great baserunning team - I called them The Worst Baserunning Team in the League” in early September - they pride themselves on being defensively sound and comfortable with the fundamentals.

Rocco Baldelli, formerly of the Minnesota Twins, is another name that intrigues me. Winner of the 2019 AL Manager of the Year award, he led Minnesota to a 101-win season in 2019 and won three division titles in his seven years running the Twins. But similar to Atlanta’s last few postseasons, Baldelli also found success in October hard to come by - those three postseason appearances resulted in one total win, being swept in the Divisional Round once and the Wild Card round once.

I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention John Gibbons, either. Gibbons coached twice in Toronto; managing from 2004-2008, he was dismissed so that the Blue Jays could bring in former manager Cito Gaston. In November of 2012, with Alex Anthopoulos now running the show in Toronto, Gibbons was re-hired as manager and coached for six more seasons, finishing his eleven-year tenure with a record of 793-789.

Interestingly, Anthopoulos hired Gibbons again after he came to Atlanta, giving the former manager a prominent role in the revamped Braves scouting department in 2020. Gibbons worked for three years with Atlanta before taking a role as bench coach for the New York Mets, a role he still holds today.

It is an uninspiring choice, especially to a fanbase that is looking for a ‘big name’ to come in and fix the team, but one that the front office would likely have full faith and confidence in.

Let’s get weird

But what if Atlanta really decided to cast the widest possible net and had no one off limits? Who might be a splash interview?

What if they went to the college ranks?

It’s a 202-mile drive from the University of Tennessee’s Lindsey Nelson Stadium and Truist Park, a drive I know head baseball coach Tony Vitello’s made more than once. A…fiery personality that’s brought a National Championship back to Knoxville and taken his Volunteers squad to the College World Series in Omaha three times in eight years, he’d be a hire that would rock both college and the pro ranks.

Let’s be clear: I don’t think it’d be a good hire. I’ve seen his ‘antics’ up close and personal while covering college baseball, and Vitello’s the type of abrasive personality that you love when he’s your coach but hate when he’s in the other dugout. It does not seem like a good fit with a Braves clubhouse that is characterized by quiet veteran leadership, one that prides itself on doing things the right way and holding itself to a veteran standard. Vitello feels like a better fit for a young team that needs that focusing energy…or Philly, really. They manufacture grievances, just like Vitello. It’s almost a match made in heaven.

It’s worth pointing out that The Athletic’s David O’Brien also mentioned Vitello, but it felt like more speculation rather than actual reporting.

No, if you want an SEC baseball coach that could somewhat make sense for Atlanta, I’ve got two names for you: LSU coach Jay Johnson and University of Georgia coach Wes Johnson.⁴

LSU’s Johnson is a two-time National Coach of the Year who has won two championships in four years in Baton Rouge. LSU’s been known for pitching prowess and clutch hitting during his tenure.

Some of that pitching credit goes to Georgia, however, as Wes Johnson’s former role was as Jay Johnson’s pitching coach. Coming to LSU from the Minnesota Twins, where he was the team’s Major League pitching coach, Johnson has a history of developing pitchers like Dakota Hudson (St. Louis, 1st round) and Hayden Simpson (Chicago Cubs, 1st round) during his pre-Twins college tenure, as well as not screwing up eventual #1 overall pick Paul Skenes.

A beloved former player

No, not Chipper Jones; he’s already said no. Wants to spend more time with his family.

Travis d’Arnaud.

It’s true that catchers make pretty good managers, as they spend time in both the position player and the pitching worlds. From their position on the diamond, they’re the only player who can see the entire field and every other fielder at all times.

We’ve even seen former players go straight into the dugout and find success - Steven Vogt of the Cleveland Guardians jumped straight into managing the Cleveland Guardians and has two postseason appearances under his belt in two seasons.

I just don’t love the idea of trying to catch lightning in a bottle again. If the Braves were going to grab a former Atlanta Braves catcher to be manager without any MLB experience as the head man, Eddie Pérez is right there. He’s at least coached in the Majors, and he’s bilingual to boot, a useful skill for the modern manager. He does have managerial experience, by the way, just not in the majors - he’s coached Águilas del Zulia in the Venezuelan League in three different offseasons, just to help himself prepare for one day getting a Major League job.

This is in no way an exhaustive list, and someone will get an interview that I haven’t predicted or named here. Hopefully, this helps to understand some of the different dynamics at play for the Braves to consider.

1. Dave Roberts of the Los Angeles Dodgers has 944

2. For what it’s worth, Walt Weiss both played in Atlanta and coached here.

3. And the fact that his youngest son, Jacob, is expected to be an early-first-round draft pick as a prep shortstop doesn’t hurt; Atlanta is expected to be drafting inside the top ten.

4. No relation.