Braves’ Alex Anthopoulos looking to revive organization with never before seen decision originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
The Atlanta Braves had a season they’d like to forget after enduring their worst year under Brian Snitker’s tenure. The timing couldn’t have been worse, as Snitker was in the final year of his contract. With the way things were going, it appeared unlikely that he would be brought back.
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“Because of that consistent recent success, Snit would normally be afforded a ‘mulligan’ year—even though going from the second-best preseason World Series odds to possibly the third-best odds of winning the draft lottery is a pretty serious mulligan,” Bleacher Report’s Kerry Miller wrote. “At 69, though, he’s already the oldest manager in the National League by a several-year margin and was likely to retire at the end of this season, which is the last one in his current contract.”
Snitker has now made it clear that he won’t be returning as the Braves’ manager.
“Brian Snitker will not return as manager of the Atlanta Braves, sources tell ESPN. He informed the team of his decision yesterday. But he will remain with the organization in a senior advisory capacity,” ESPN’s Jeff Passan posted.
Now, general manager Alex Anthopoulos has the opportunity to take a new approach in the managerial search.
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“This I think represents (president of baseball ops and general manager) Alex Anthopoulos’ first opportunity to kind of look at it through his lens for what he wants and what he values in the manager. And I think Brian Snitker embodied a lot of those qualities, but they were kind of thrown together, at least to start with. They just built a great partnership. So I think with that in mind, there’s really no impetus to just keep it status quo or keep it with somebody who was under the Bobby Cox coaching tree,” Braves reporter Grant McAuley said.
Anthopoulos is expected to look outside the organization for the next manager — something the Braves haven’t done in years. This marks a major shift for Atlanta, as Anthopoulos is set to handle the process entirely on his own terms.
There’s still no clear indication of how he plans to conduct the search, which makes the situation all the more intriguing. For Anthopoulos, this decision is critical — he must get it right, as it represents a significant break from the Braves’ traditional approach.
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