Team USA Coach Named as Potential Brian Snitker Replacement for Braves

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Brian Snitker looks on during a game against the Diamondbacks.

The Atlanta Braves have multiple problems, which could lead to some massive changes during the offseason. While the Braves have arguably been one of the worst teams in baseball at 58-71, Brian Snitker could’ve already been entering his final season. Snitker is a legend in Atlanta and one of the better managers in franchise history.

However, already 69 years old, it might be a mutual agreement to part ways. The Braves haven’t played well, Snitker is only getting older, and there must be some sort of change.

When searching for who that change could be, Chase Irle of SportsTalkATL named Mark DeRosa, the Team USA manager, his potential replacement. DeRosa doesn’t have any experience coaching in Major League Baseball, and he has a good job at MLB Network, but he coaches for the USA Team and could be interested in making it his full-time job.

“Mark DeRosa grew up in the Braves farm system and spent his first seven seasons with the club. He’s yet to try his hand at managing in Major League Baseball since retiring as a player in 2013, but he has been the manager for Team USA in the World Baseball Classic. Given he’s currently got a pretty good gig over at MLB Network, it won’t be easy to convince him to get off the couch. However, perhaps he might be more willing to do so for a familiar organization like the Braves,” Irle wrote .

Could Brian Snitker Leave the Braves?

In his report, Nightingale noted that if Snitker decides to hang them up, Walt Weiss and Skip Schumaker could be potential options for the Braves.

“Former Marlins manager Skip Schumaker and bench coach Walt Weiss are expected to be strong candidates to replace Brian Snitker as Atlanta’s manager when he retires after the season.

“Schumaker could also wind up in Texas if Bruce Bochy retires,” he reported .

Is Mark DeRosa an Ideal Candidate for Atlanta?

There are also some other things to consider for the Atlanta Braves. DeRosa is a bit outspoken and is obviously a former big leaguer.

He understands what it takes to play every day. Still, according to The Athletic’s Matt Gelb, some Philadelphia Phillies players didn’t like what DeRosa recently said when the Phillies met with commissioner Rob Manfred about potentially implementing a salary cap in the next CBA.

“The commissioner’s a powerful guy, don’t expletive around with him,” was what DeRosa was saying, per Gelb .

When speaking about the situation, DeRosa later admitted that he thought he had a better relationship with the players, given he’d coached some of them during the USA Team days. Still, clearly, guys weren’t too happy about that.

“Shame on me for thinking I had a better relationship with some of the players in there than I guess I do,” said DeRosa. “The comment I made was completely in jest, completely kidding, amongst a group of about 10-12 players. Guys were laughing, guys were joking. I had managed some of them with Team USA, I had played with Bryce in 2012. Literally making a joke.”

Jon Conahan covers the NBA and NFL for Heavy.com. Since 2019, his sports coverage has appeared at Sports Illustrated, oddschecker, ClutchPoints and Sportskeeda. More about Jon Conahan