Atlanta Braves: The Search for the Next Manager

Atlanta Braves Manager: Replacing Fredi Gonzalez

On Tuesday, the Braves fired their manager, and from the reports, the Braves didn’t exactly handle it well, to say the least.

While this season’s 9-29 start to the season certainly is not something to rejoice and celebrate, it’s hardly Fredi’s fault that the team is struggling. The Braves have stripped their roster down to rebuild their team by stacking their minor leagues with arguably the most depth of any minor league system in the game. The issue is that means the major league product is pretty rough to watch.

The fan outcry, media outcry, and constant rumor mongers finally came true, and though Fredi didn’t allow a single home run from the pitcher’s mound or strike out once this season from the batter’s box, he’s out of a job.

So who do the Braves bring in going forward? For the rest of the season, they’ve promoted their AAA manager, Brian Snitker to the major league club. Snitker has a great reputation as a teacher and a great manager working with young players, so he will be a good guy to likely guide the team as they bring up Ozzie Albies, Dansby Swanson, Rio Ruiz, Tyrell Jenkins, Lucas Sims, and possibly guys like Chris Ellis and Dustin Peterson from their minor league system before the end of the season for some significant run at the major league level.

Snitker, however, isn’t the guy for the job long term. So who will be the guy going forward for Atlanta?

Next: The In House Candidates

Atlanta Braves Manager: Terry Pendleton and Eddie Perez

Terry Pendleton
Pendleton has been on the Braves coaching staff since 2001. He spent from 2001-2010 as the hitting coach, and once Fredi was hired as manager, he moved to the first base coach. He’s been moved to the bench coach role next to Snitker. Pendleton has been a leading candidate for a manager’s role before, but he’s removed his name from consideration each time before he could get to the final steps of the process. There was a thought that this was due to him wanting the Atlanta job.

Whether the Braves will offer Pendleton the job or not, he’s a guy who the next manager should ensure stays around on the club as an integral link to the Braves past and a guy who has always been someone willing to call players to the carpet for their behavior, and he’s also got the respect of players to do that while not in the manager’s role and still be listened to within the clubhouse.

Eddie Perez
Eddie will be moving in from the bullpen coach position to the first base coach job to allow Pendleton to move to the bench coach role. Perez has been rumored as an elite candidate for many jobs last offseason, but he chose not to interview for any jobs last offseason. As his profile increases, it will be harder to keep him from interviewing with these advancing jobs with other organizations.

Perez has tremendous respect and connection with the Latin players within the Braves system, and he also is known to be very much a player’s coach from his position. He’s been viewed by many “in the know” as the next Braves manager, and some even assumed that he was not moved to the interim role this season so as to not tarnish his managerial record, which is interesting to consider, but I do think it could be smart to have him just moving to the dugout to get the “feel” of the game from that vantage point.

Next: Outside Big Name

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Atlanta Braves Manager: Mark DeRosa

What? You were expecting a certain former switch-hitting third baseman? While I could absolutely see Chipper Jones involved in the next coaching group (if he even wants that role), I don’t see him being brought into the managerial role.

DeRosa had a solid start to his career with Atlanta and has good rapport with Bobby Cox and John Schuerholz, who both still have some say in the organization. He’s an Ivy League guy, so he’s certainly a smart guy. DeRosa works for MLB Network, the former employer of John Hart in the Braves front office, so there’s a connection there. DeRosa also still lives in the Atlanta area.

Of the guys I’m mentioning here, DeRosa is the youngest, and not by just a little, by just short of 7 full years younger than Perez. He’s not had any managerial experience, but with the backing of the Braves front office and retaining some of the guys like Perez and Pendleton, the transition could be easier in Atlanta than for most former players in their first gig.

Next: HUGE Possible Candidate

Atlanta Braves Manager: Joe Girardi

Because I want to throw one big curveball here, I did a bit of research here, and when you start considering other managers who may lose their job this season, and while Brad Ausmus would still rank well ahead of him on my personal “hot seat” rankings, Girardi is very possibly second. My first thought after looking that up was that there’s no way they could fire him because of contract, but then I looked up and his most recent contract runs out after the 2017 season, so firing him this year doesn’t really cost the Yankees THAT much money (as if money would really sway such a decision for them).

Girardi had some flirtations with leaving New York when his last contract was up, and those contract negotiations did not go smoothly, so it is feasible that he could even choose to walk away from the Yankees after 2017 if he does stay.

If he were to leave the Yankees, he would immediately shoot to the top of probable candidates, and he’s the type of guy that I could see the purse strings being opened in Atlanta to hire. Girardi and GM John Coppolella of the Braves know each other fairly well from Coppy’s days working with the Yankees front office before being hired by the Braves.

The other consideration is possibly hiring a guy like Pendleton or Perez for 2017 with the knowledge that they could pursue Girardi after 2017 if he fulfills his contract and likely keep those guys in the fold due to their long-time loyalty to the team.

Next: Baseball Mock Draft

It could be a very, very interesting situation as it unfolds this offseason.