After limping into the All-Star Game with seven losses in their last 10 games, a stretch that now has them sitting a whopping 9.5 games out of the final Wild Card spot, the Atlanta Braves and their fans have officially started to focus on 2026 and beyond.
(Alex Anthopoulos more or less said as much last week, when he hinted that pending free agents like Marcell Ozuna and Raisel Iglesias could be available at the trade deadline.)
There’s a lot of work to do to get this team back to contention by next spring, but the first item on the list has to be finding a long-term solution at manager.
Brian Snitker was already leaning towards retirement this winter, and given his struggles both in the clubhouse and with the media this year, Atlanta probably isn’t too broken up about that fact.
So the question becomes: Who will the Braves find to replace him?
The name at or very near the top of fans’ wish lists would probably be Chipper Jones, who has remained plugged in to the team for which he played all 19 years of his MLB career.
But while Jones is as big a Braves fan as anyone, he poured some cold water on the idea that he might look to follow in his mentor Bobby Cox’s footsteps — at least not right now.
Chipper Jones on managing:
“The lure of Atlanta Braves baseball, wearing the uniform, and being around the fellas is real — I dig it. But ultimately, I made promises when I retired that I would be a better dad and husband … I’m content with life away from baseball for now.”
He… https://t.co/5H0jVki4uH
— 680 The Fan (@680TheFan) July 14, 2025
In an interview with Atlanta’s 680 The Fan, Jones admitted that the “lure of Atlanta Braves baseball, wearing the uniform and being around the fellas is real.”
But after over two decades of playing professionally, he sounds like he’s not quite ready to get back into the grind just yet, saying that “I’m content with life away from baseball right now.”
But while Jones won’t be in the Braves dugout anytime soon, he did leave the door very much open to a different sort of role, one that would allow him to help shape the team moving forward while still accommodating his desire to stay close to home.
And if Alex Anthopoulos is smart, he’d take him up on it in a heartbeat.
