A Look at the Atlanta Braves' Minor League Managers for 2017

Earlier this month the Braves announced their minor league staffs for the upcoming 2017 season with a mix of new and familiar faces taking the reigns down on the farm.

The Atlanta Braves made a run of 14-straight division titles starting in 1991, and this unprecedented period of success was no accident, but a calculated franchise rebuild from the bottom up starting in the 80’s.

Atlanta strayed from that “Braves Way” method during the Frank Wren era, but General Manager John Coppolella is back at it and the farm system is well stocked with potential.

2016 saw four of Atlanta’s six minor league affiliates making the MiLB playoffs. Three played in their league’s final series, and one club won it all. With that much success, a major shakeup wasn’t needed, but with Brian Snitker‘s promotion up from AAA Gwinnett to take over in Atlanta, some shifting and new hires were inevitable.

With a lot of experienced winners returning to the farm in 2017, let’s take a look at who will be at the helm of each Braves MiLB affiliate.

Triple-A Gwinnett

Brian Snitker has been in the Braves organization since the 70’s, and took over the triple-A Gwinnett Braves during the 2013 season. In 2016, the mid-season firing of Fredi Gonzalez, Snit was promoted to Atlanta, and managed to hang onto that position.

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Gwinnett’s hitting coach John Moses took over the team to finish the 2016 campaign, and will re-assume his previous role as the club’s new manager Damon Berryhill takes over.

Moses guided Gwinnett to the International League championship series with a strong second half.

Braves fans should be familiar with Berryhill. He was a catcher for the team in the early 90’s, including two NLCS, and a World Series with Atlanta. His MLB career spanned a decade from 1987 to 1997, playing for five different teams.

Berryhill led the triple-A Oklahoma City Dodgers to a Pacific Coast League best 86-58 record and a division title in 2015, which was good enough for Manager of the Year honors. His reward? The Dodgers fired him after the season ended.

52-year-old Berryhill ended his run with the Dodgers with a 418-387 (.519) record over eight seasons, leading five of his teams to the post season. He also spent time coaching within the Rangers and Diamondbacks organizations.

Double-A Mississippi

The Mississippi Braves had a successful 2016 season under manager Luis Salazar, winning a division title, and making the Southern League championship series.

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Mississippi finished last season 73-65, thanks to a strong second half push. The campaign included a batting title from Ozzie Albies.

Salazar starts his second season as manager at Mississippi, and his 14th as a minor league skipper. He’s compiled a 711-756 (.485) as a farm system manager. The upcoming season will be his seventh as a coach within the Braves organization.

Now 60, Salazar spent 13 seasons in the major leagues, playing at multiple positions. A native of Venezuela, he played for four different MLB teams in his career.

Advanced-A Florida

Yet another familiar face with a Braves history, Paul Runge will have charge of Atlanta’s new advanced-A team, the Florida Fire Frogs.

Runge has managed within the Braves organization a total of 14 seasons between 1994 and 2010. Most recently he served a field coordinator for the Houston Astros over the last six seasons.

Now 58, Runge is a former Braves draft pick, having played in the Atlanta organization from 1981 to 1988.

A two-time Appalachian League Manager of the Year, Runge was also named Atlanta’s organizational Manager of the Year in 2006 and 2009. He has a MiLB managerial record of 720-739 (.493).

Low-A Rome

Randy Ingle returns to manage the Rome Braves, coming off a 2016 South Atlantic League Championship run.

After winning it all last season, Rome was named Baseball America’s Organization of the Year, and Ingle will start his third straight season at the helm.

2017 will be Ingle’s 10th season managing the Rome Braves, and his 12th managing in the South Atlantic League.

Ingle was named to the league’s Hall of Fame back in 2014. He’s also a member of the Appalachian State University Sports Hall of Fame as the program’s all-time leader in career batting average and was a first-team all-American.

Randy Ingle has an overall managing record of 1,509-1,611 (.484), having notched win number 1,500 this past season, making Rome’s 2016 run all the more special for its skipper. He has three MiLB league titles from his 25 seasons as a manager.

It’s interesting to note that Atlanta manager Brian Snitker and Randy Ingle were once minor league teammates as members of the 1979 double-A Savannah Braves of the Southern League.

Rookie Danville

The Danville Braves will have a new skipper in 2017, as Nestor Perez takes over the team.

In 2016, Perez had success in his first season as a manager, leading the Gulf Coast Braves to the post season, and kicking off his managerial record at 28-28 (.500), winning a GCL Northern Division title.

Now 40 years old, Cuban born Perez played minor league baseball from 1998 through 2005 as an infielder.

Gulf Coast

Replacing Nestor Perez as manager of the GCL Braves, Barrett Kleinknect gets his first shot as a professional manager.

Kleinknect played in the Braves farm system from 2010 through 2015, and joined the Rome Braves as a coach during last season’s championship run.

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The 28-year-old played in over 500 minor league games as an infielder for the Braves.

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A Look at the Atlanta Braves’ Minor League Managers for 2017

By Blake Silvers | Dec 23, 2016