Atlanta Braves could have lots of interesting managerial choices after 2018

Okay, so Braves’ Twitter™ is still bitter about having Brian Snitker back next year. Patience, all… your wish could be granted in another 11 months.

Freddie Freeman spoke. The Front Office (such as it was at the time) listened. The Atlanta Braves extended Brian Snitker’s managerial stint for another year. This much isn’t exactly news.

I personally don’t call for anyone to be relieved of their position of employment (Matt Kemp doesn’t count – he’s still got a contract either way), but for those that have been clamoring for somebody like Alex Cora or Bud Black or Torey Lovullo to run the team over the past couple of years, there’s an interesting list of possible candidates building up for next off-season.

We’ve yet to see how the Braves will handle this off-season in terms of personnel. We do know, however, that Snitker will have to get acquainted with a new bench coach and a few other new faces on the major league staff.

Just how both of those sets of changes play out will go a long way into determining whether there’s enough reason to continue allowing Snitker to continue beyond 2018.

Play Along

But for the sake of this discussion, let’s assume that Alex Anthopoulos wants to make a change. Already, there’s a fairly star-studded list of veteran talent out there, plus some others whose contracts are expiring:

Joe Girardi. Is he available because he didn’t communicate well enough with his players? Or was it that he made $4m annually and renewing him again might have pushed that to $5 million. [Aaron Boone, by the way, will get $4m over the next 3 seasons combined].
John Farrell was just cut loose from the Boston Red Sox, having a feast or famine existence in Boston with… I’ll say ‘varying levels’ of talent available to him.
Buck Showalter is entering the last year of his deal with the Orioles.
Dusty Baker is available, though he will be 69 years old after next season. He’s available because the Nationals seem to think that having a swinging door on the manager’s office is a good policy.
Ned Yost‘s deal with Kansas City expires after 2018, though he seems to be surgically connected to Dayton Moore.
Among newcomers, Carlos Beltran seemed well-respected among those discussing his candidacy for the Yankees job.
You can’t ignore the presence of Ron Washington and now Walt Weiss on the Braves’ staff.
Of course, there’s also Terry Pendleton and Eddie Perez, though it’s apparent that their ships have sailed.

But that’s just the bigger names… not too many would have guessed that the new NL managers hired over the last 7 weeks would be named Dave Martinez, Gabe Kapler, and Mickey Callaway.

Maybe Not Just Idle Speculation

You can’t ignore that Anthopoulos is already trying to get things set up the way he wants them. Though the coaching staff is set for now – and was done before he had a say, of course – AA has been busily reshaping things in the front office already, which would leave a few coaching positions to deal with next season.

More from Tomahawk Take

But of note:

John Farrell was Blue Jays’ manager for the 2010-11 campaigns. His record there was 154-170 and he was permitted to interview with the Red Sox after 2011. That hiring had some wondering if there wasn’t some tampering going on on the part of the Red Sox, so it’s possible that Farrell might not be given an opportunity with Atlanta – whether the job is open or not.
Hitting coach Kevin Seitzer was hired by Anthopoulos after the 2013 season. But that didn’t last long as the pair were unable to find a contract number that was mutually acceptable. At that point, the Braves hired him. So again, while there’s a history there, that history may have a lasting aftertaste.

We’re a long way away from the 2018 off-season, but once again, the Atlanta Braves will head into the year with a lame-duck manager.

Next: Teams are Gaining New Autographs

There’s also a new sheriff in town who might be able to tell Freddie Freeman ‘no’.

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