After five plus seasons as the Atlanta Braves manager, a 9-28 start has led the franchise to fire their only manager since Bobby Cox.
A 9-28 start in any sport is likely to put a lot of baseball personal people on the hot seat. Usually a start this bad should fall on the management, as they put together a team that has many fatal flaws.
However, according to David O’Brien of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, the Atlanta Braves today decided to part ways with manager Fredi Gonzalez.
The #Braves have fired manager Fredi Gonzalez.
— David O'Brien (@DOBrienATL) May 17, 2016
The 52-year old Gonzalez will be replaced by Brian Snitker, the Braves Triple-A manager. The team is expected to announce the firing and hiring later today. Snitker will remain the manager for the rest of the season for the Braves, according to ESPN’s Jerry Crasnick.
Gonzalez’s best season as a manager came in 2013, when the Braves won 96 games. They however won just one playoff game, before being bounced by the Los Angeles Dodgers in the playoffs.
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Under Gonzalez, the Braves actually won 89, 94 and 96 games in his first three seasons at the helm. Through his first three years, Gonzalez owned a 296-214 record.
Overall, Gonzalez amassed a 434-413 record with the Braves, but his teams had gone just 76-123 combined in 2015 and through 37 games in 2016.
Gonzalez was hired by the Braves in 2011, replacing coaching legend Bobby Cox. Gonzalez was the third base coach for Cox for four seasons before he replaced Joe Girardi after Girardi’s lone season in Miami.
Despite a winning the Manager of the Year award in 2008 and a 276-279 career record with the Marlins, Gonzalez was fired as their manager in June of 2010.
It did not take long for Gonzalez to land a job, as he replaced Cox after the 2010 season, starting in 2011 as the Braves manager.
Gonzalez’s firing should not surprise anyone, as Ken Rosenthal, of Fox Sports, mentioned the possibility of the move several weeks back. It is believed that Gonzalez has been on shaky ground for longer than this season.
After the 2014 season, there was much speculation that Fredi Gonzalez would join then Braves GM Frank Wren in unemployment. Ultimately, Wren was fired and Gonzalez kept his job.
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With Snitker expected to remain the Braves intern manager through the rest of the season, the Braves will likely conduct a full-scale manager search this off-season.