Since longtime manager Brian Snitker stepped down from his role as the manager of the Atlanta Braves on Oct. 1, speculation has been flying as to who will fill his shoes and take the reins of a Braves team that uncharacteristically struggled in 2025.
It seems like every major source and analyst has their own list, and ESPN is no exception. The staff released their official top four candidates for the position on Oct. 13. ESPN’s list of four more or less tracks with most speculative lists.
The list starts with Mark DeRosa, who led Team USA to a second-place finish in the 2023 World Baseball Classic and played for the Braves for six years. Then, they list John Gibbons, who’s had significant managerial experience with the Blue Jays, followed by David Ross, a former Braves catcher who managed the Cubs for four seasons. As an in-house candidate, listing Walt Weiss, the Braves’ current bench coach, who previously managed the Rockies from 2013 to 2016.
DeRosa and Ross were both spotted attending a mini Braves reunion that took place on the Plains during the Georgia vs Auburn game. They were in attendance alongside Brian Snitker, Chipper Jones and Tim Hudson.
This isn’t the first of ESPN’s lists for the Braves’ manager spot, as ESPN’s Buster Olney listed all of the same names except for Gibbons. He had Skip Schumaker on his list prior to being hired by the Texas Rangers. Schumaker was the 2023 National League Manager of the Year with the Marlins.
Atlanta Braves on SI’s list of potential candidates included Weiss, Ross and DeRosa, along with three-time Manager of the Year Bob Melvin. He was recently let go by the Giants.
The fact remains, though, that there’s a plethora of candidates to choose from, but Braves general manager Alex Anthopolos has been adamant that, to date, there isn’t a list the team has set to choose from.
They’d like to get this figured out sooner rather than later so they can move on to the next stage of the offseason. We’ll know soon enough who comes out on top.
