Brian Snitker is coming into his tenth season because the Braves’ supervisor, and his forty ninth season total as a member of Atlanta’s group. The skipper additionally turns 70 years previous in October, and his most up-to-date contract extension with the Braves (signed again in January 2023) was only a one-year pact that lined the 2025 marketing campaign.
With all this in thoughts, Snitker appears to be at the very least contemplating ending his managerial profession as soon as this season is over. He not too long ago instructed the New York Submit’s Jon Heyman that “I’ll let the yr get underway and see what occurs,” and instructed USA Right this moment’s Bob Nightengale that final yr, Snitker did view 2025 as his final season, although he now isn’t able to make a remaining name.
“I nonetheless really feel actually good, and the 50-number [50 years with the Braves] is one thing I believe it’d be form of cool. However proper now, I’m leaning in the direction of getting via immediately,” Snitker instructed Nightengale.
It speaks to Snitker’s baseball-lifer standing that stepping away from the supervisor’s chair wouldn’t imply he’s retiring fully, as “hopefully, I’ll simply keep round right here and be a type of advisor guys. I’ll go to the minor-league parks, come to Spring Coaching a little bit bit and spend a whole lot of time watching my grandkids.” So technically, such an advisory function may stretch Snitker’s Atlanta tenure into yet one more decade, even when he can be free from the day-to-day grind of managing.
Bobby Cox and Frank Selee are the one managers in franchise historical past with extra wins than Snitker, who’s 735-585 over his nine-plus seasons. That resume contains seven consecutive successful seasons, and a streak of six straight NL East titles that ended solely with final season’s second-place end. Snitker’s run of success was highlighted by the Braves’ triumph within the 2021 World Collection, as Atlanta overcame shedding Ronald Acuna Jr. to a torn ACL that season and launched one thing of a Cinderella run to the championship.
Snitker’s minor league enjoying profession consisted of 4 seasons within the Atlanta farm system, and he then instantly pivoted right into a roving teacher place in 1980. This was the stepping stone to turning into a minor league supervisor in 1982, with Snitker appearing because the skipper for a number of groups at a number of rungs of the organizational ladder over the subsequent three-plus many years. These minor league managerial assignments got here in between three completely different stints on the Braves’ huge league teaching workers — Snitker was the bullpen coach in 1985 after which once more from 1988-90, and he acted because the third base coach from 2007-13.
Snitker was the supervisor at Triple-A Gwinnett when he was named the Braves’ interim supervisor in Could 2016, after Fredi Gonzalez was fired. Although Snitker was solely 59-65 over the rest of that season, it was sufficient to earn him the full-time job, and Snitker then went 72-90 through the 2017 marketing campaign. As Nightengale notes, Snitker’s job safety was on shaky floor earlier than a good larger shake-up occurred inside the group, as GM John Coppolella resigned on account of a league investigation into allegations that the Braves violated worldwide signing guidelines. Alex Anthopoulos was shortly introduced on as the brand new basic supervisor, and stored Snitker as supervisor partly to take care of some stability inside an uncommon state of affairs for the workforce.
“I didn’t know something about Brian Snitker however his title after I received right here,’’ Anthopoulos instructed Nightengale. “I didn’t know who he was. I actually had no attachment, no historical past by any means. Now, I’ve the best stage of belief from a private standpoint, an expert standpoint, which is critically essential. I’ve a lot belief in him in the whole lot we do.”
It will seem that Anthopoulos can be very happy to maintain Snitker within the job past 2025, and if Snitker does determine to return, one other one-year extension might be labored out in fairly fast style. All of Snitker’s contracts as supervisor have been short-term offers of now not than two assured years, maybe as a nod to Snitker’s age despite the fact that his groups stored delivering on the sphere.
Snitker’s future might be a significant operating subplot of what’s anticipated to be one other yr of excessive expectations in Atlanta. As a lot as flags fly without end, the Braves haven’t received a playoff collection within the three years since that 2021 ring, and now face heavy competitors simply within the NL East, not to mention the Nationwide League as an entire. Nonetheless, the Braves overcame a whole lot of main accidents to nonetheless at the very least attain the postseason final yr, and a more healthy roster may assist Snitker doubtlessly exit on a excessive be aware if he does determine to finish his managerial profession.
