Braves minors: Former All-Star Michael Saunders to manage Danville in 2020

On Friday, the Atlanta Braves announced a promising new manager within the organization — both a former big league player and current Team Canada representative, Michael Saunders.

The Atlanta Braves organization will gain the services of an All-Star caliber player, though this time being in the form of a manager, as former 2016 All-Star outfielder Michael Saunders will manage the Danville Braves in 2020 — the Braves rookie-advanced club, in the Appalachian League.

Playing 73 games for the Toronto Blue Jays in 2017, followed by just 38 games at the Triple-A level in 2018 (in the Orioles and White Sox organizations), Michael Saunders hasn’t been a big league regular since his All-Star season with the Blue Jays in 2016, where he slashed .253/.338/.478 with 24 home runs in 140 games.

That All-Star season came three years after a career-high in WAR (2.4 fWAR) in 2012 with the Seattle Mariners, when he hit .247 with 19 home runs, also finishing with 21 stolen bases.

In all, the 32 year old native of Canada — an 11th round pick by the Mariners in 2005, out of Lambark Park High School, in Victoria, BC — played ten professional seasons and posted career numbers that included a .232 average, 81 total home runs and 55 stolen bags.

Saunders will play next month with Team Canada — 38 year old, retired Twins’ legend Justin Morneau will also suit up for Canada — in November’s Premier12, a worldwide tournament that features the top teams from North and South America.

Anthopoulos connections and frequent turnover

It appears this is a classic case of a GM bringing in one of his former players, as Braves’ general manager Alex Anthopoulos (then GM of the Blue Jays) acquired Saunders as part of the 2014 deal that sent J.A. Happ to the Mariners.

Unfortunately, Saunders didn’t get to start his Blue Jays career until 2016, thanks to a freak accident in Spring Training of 2015 — he injured himself tripping over a sprinkler head and tore cartlidge in his left knee (talk about some bad luck!).

In terms of the hiring itself, this is the third manager change in Danville in as many seasons. In January of this year, the Braves hired former Danville Braves player, Anthony Nunez, to guide the club for the 2019 campaign. Nunez led the team to a 30-32 record this past season.

Nunez was also a coach with the Rome Braves in 2018, and has been in the Atlanta Braves system since 2015, after spending 7 seasons with the organization as a player (2008-2014).

In 2018, the Braves went with another Danville alum, hiring Barrett Kleinknecht, who spent six seasons in the Braves system. Kleinknecht — who also managed the GCL Braves in 2017 and is the current Florida Fire Frogs manager — posted a 33-35 overall record with the D-Braves in 2018.

Persistent turnover at the lower levels of the minors are actually quite common, as just like the players, coaches and managers are paying their dues and trying to move up the ladder.

I like this hire and the fact that Anthopoulos is again going with a younger manager, which I think fits well for a team full of very young and inexperienced players. The fact that Saunders and Anthopoulos are familiar with one another is also a plus, as the two should have no problem communicating back and forth.

And while a manager’s former playing career theoretically has no impact on his coaching skills and tendencies, Saunders is perhaps the most successful former big leaguer on the Braves’ minor league coaching pay roll — an achievement that should count for something!

Of course, this is the rookie-level of the minor leagues, a class that is obviously far from the big league team; but it’s at least comforting to know that a respectable prior major leaguer is at the helm and responsible for the development of these young Braves’ players.

As with any hire, we shall see. If nothing else, this will be an excellent learning experience for Saunders.

Other minor league news

A few weeks ago, the Mississippi Braves made a couple of front office hires, bringing in David Kerr as the team’s new Director of Group Sales and Peyton Cain an Account Executive.

Mississippi Braves Vice President and GM, Pete Laven expressed his excitement for the new hires:

"“David Kerr will be a tremendous asset to the M-Braves not only in his role leading our group sales team but in every facet of the operation. I have had the pleasure of working with David in the past and have seen first-hand the impact he brings to a franchise through his hard work and creativity.”“Peyton joined us after the season began in 2019 and immediately displayed the diligence and drive the Braves organization seeks in our front office culture. His success in developing our Community Nights was a contributing factor to our attendance growth this past summer.”"

Kerr has an interesting past: along with majoring in Mass Media at Henderson State, in Arkadelphia, AR, he was a World Champion collegiate debater and semi-professional table tennis player.

Both Kerr and Cain join a team that is growing substantially in popularity in Central Mississippi. The Double-A M-Braves experienced a 10% increase in attendance from 2018 to 2019, according to MiLB.com.