Before the Atlanta Braves and Brian Snitker made their announcement that Snit would be moving into an advisory role and out of the managerial role, I was ready to start working on a bit of a speculative
post on who would be Atlanta’s manager in 2026: Brian Snitker or “The Field?”
Now, things have gotten a bit more fascinating in that regard since “The Field” just took the checkered flag before the race even began. Now that makes things simpler but also more complicated: We now know that the Braves are going to have a new manager but who is it going to be?
In my opinion, I’ve always maintained both publicly and privately that Atlanta would likely stay in-house when it came to their next manager. The cynic in me figured that the writing was on the wall when Fredi González returned to the fold as the “new” third base coach for the Braves earlier this season. Even if it wasn’t Fredi, Walt Weiss is here as well and while he’s never sat in the big chair for the Braves, he has had that experience with the Rockies. Now granted, it wasn’t a great experience but also winning consistently in Colorado is one of the most difficult tasks in baseball so maybe we have to grade his work on a bit of a curve? Either way, he knows what the job entails, just like Fredi does.
Eddie Pérez has been here forever and he also has experience managing in the Venezuelan winter league as well — and if you don’t think that type of experience matters, Albert Pujols is reportedly currently the leading candidate to be the next manager of the Angels and the only experience he has is managing in the Dominican winter league and he has a Caribbean Series title under his belt. That experience does matter — or at least it does when front offices want it to matter and I’d imagine that if Eddie Pérez wanted the job then that would be taken into consideration as well.
With that being said, the Braves would be foolish if they didn’t cast their net out further than what the organization has to offer. Of all of the managerial openings across baseball right now, Atlanta is arguably the most attractive landing spot for any potential manager and you’d have to hope that the Braves would recognize this and make sure that their search for a new manager is as wide as possible so that they’re doing their due diligence and making sure that whoever comes in is the right skipper to get this boat back on course.
I’d also imagine that they probably started this process earlier than October 1. If we take Snitker at his word during yesterday’s press conference, then everybody associated with the club knew that (outside of some last-minute waffling on Snitker’s part) 2025 was going to be it for Snitker as the manager. If that’s the case then the search for a new manager should’ve unofficially began way before yesterday’s press conference. In that case, we probably won’t even have to wait all that long for the new manager to take his place in the big office in the clubhouse.
With all of that being said, I’d imagine that the two obvious options from outside of the organization would have to be either David Ross or Mark DeRosa. Both are former Braves players so they understand what this organization is all about and how things work around here — for better or for worse. They both also have a decent amount of experience but not enough to where they’d be stuck in the old guard way of doing things. Ross had an up-and-down stint with the Cubs when he took on the role for four seasons starting in 2020, while DeRosa was able to place a huge feather in his cap by managing the star-studded USA squad during the 2023 World Baseball Classic.
As far as Ross goes, he’s made it known that he wants another shot at it after he was essentially thrown under the bus by the Cubs in 2023 so that they could snatch Craig Counsell away from the Brewers. As this article from Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic made sure to drive home, Ross believes he has unfinished business as a manager in this sport and wasn’t particularly satisfied with how his stint in Chicago ended. As you’ll see from the quote below, he even turned down an opportunity as a bench coach because he wants his next job to be as a manager.
Shortly after Ross was fired, the New York Yankees approached him about becoming their bench coach, replacing Carlos Mendoza, who had left to manage the New York Mets. Ross at the time preferred to manage if he was going to jump back into a uniformed position.
Last offseason, Ross said he again had conversations about bench coach positions, but the timing wasn’t right. The oldest of his three children, Landri, was a senior in high school, preparing to play volleyball in college (she attends North Alabama). He had other family considerations. And the terms of his buyout with his Cubs were another complication.
“Just a lot of moving parts,” Ross said. “The more I thought about it, how valuable being home felt with the year off, I just was not ready to go.”
His feeling now is different. The end of his tenure with the Cubs gnaws it him. He did not get to complete the job.
Ross’s W/L record with the Cubs may not be impressive at face value but considering that it was his first time managing a big league club (and his first time doing any sort of managerial work) and doing so with a team that was in a rebuilding phase, 262-284 ain’t a bad record at all. Ross never got the chance to make something happen with a Cubs team that had real expectations and for all we know, that could’ve been Ross in the dugout calling the shots for the Wild Card Series at Wrigley Field this week instead of Counsell had the chips fallen in a different formation. But here in reality, I’d say that the fire and motivation that Ross currently has to prove himself as a big league manager could work out for the Braves if they decide to be the spot for his second chance at it.
Some fans might dismiss DeRosa’s experience in that department that because it was the WBC. However, trust and believe me when I say that every single person participating in that competition was going at it as if it was a shot at the World Series and those elimination games in Miami had an intense atmosphere during March that was comparable to anything you’ll see and hear during October. Everybody in that USA clubhouse wanted badly to win the WBC and it’s a credit to DeRosa that he was able to help lead that loaded squad to a runner-up finish against a Japan squad that’s mastered that particular competition. Being able to manage a squad of that magnitude during a high-stakes, high-pressure tournament like the WBC certainly bodes well for DeRosa’s ability to do the same with a very talented Braves squad should they get back to where they should be in Postseason action.
I also have a bit of a darkhorse in mind for a potential new manager. It wouldn’t be a guy who’s relatively fresh to the managerial scene. In fact, it would be someone who both fans and the media have had their eyes on in these parts for a solid decade now. That man would be Bud Black. After nine seasons with an NL West team (including two winning seasons), Bud Black was fired in the middle of the season — right before Atlanta’s managerial position opened up. If you think I’m talking about 2025, I’m actually talking about 2015. Bud Black had a solid stint with the Padres before getting canned and was allegedly a candidate to become Braves manager following the 2016 season but instead, the Braves went with Brian Snitker and Bud Black began his time in Colorado with the 2017 season.
Fast forward to 2025 and now here we are again: After nine seasons with an NL West team (including two winning seasons and Postseason appearances), Bud Black was fired in the middle of the season — right before Atlanta’s managerial position opened up. I’d imagine that Black could slot into the role and do a very good job. Black has a ton of experience under his belt, he managed to put up winning seasons in San Diego (back when they were pretty much irrelevant) and Colorado (which, again, is Colorado). It’s hard to blame Black for the organizational rot that’s currently happening with the Rockies — while having two 100-loss seasons and being on track for a third would be a blight on anybody’s record, what was going on during those seasons definitely wasn’t on Bud Black. If you don’t believe me then maybe you’ll believe another manager (who shared this quote to Bob Nightengale of USA Today):
“I don’t think [Hall of Fame manager] Casey Stengel could change the outcome of that ballclub,’’ said Los Angeles Dodgers manager Dave Roberts, who was on Black’s coaching staff in San Diego, and one of his closest friends. “That’s not the manager’s fault. Obviously, they felt they needed a chance in voice or direction, but for me, there’s not many people that are better than Buddy Black. It’s very disappointing. It’s not his fault.’’
So yeah, with all of that in mind and considering Bud Black’s record when he has actually received some sort of help from the front office, I’d say that the Braves should at least give him serious consideration if he wants the job. I’m not saying that he’s the perfect manager or someone who should be completely absolved of the failures from the past but if anybody deserves a shot at seeing what they can do with a competent organization backing them, it would probably be Bud Black. The guy is beyond overdue for managing in a non-horrible situation and Atlanta could be that oasis for him.
So there’s my opinions and shortlist for who should be manager. If I had to pick between the three of David Ross, Mark DeRosa and Bud Black, I’d go with Ross simply because it seems like he has the perfect balance of being a player, being relatively fresh as a manager and also having the intangible hunger and motivation to prove that he’s got what it takes to be successful as a big league manager. Again, this all comes with the caveats that baseball managers are less “F1-caliber drivers bringing a McLaren to the checkered flag” and more “bus drivers making sure everybody gets to their destination safely” so it’s not like this could be the difference between a World Series and a losing season or something like that.
However, it’s very important that the Braves figure out a way to make sure they do their due diligence and at least come as close as they possibly can to nailing this pick. This is an organization that hasn’t really had to worry about instability at the managerial spot for a few decades now. This isn’t the time to go into chaos, it’s the time to make sure that someone comes in here who can make sure that the Braves continue to be relevant and that these past couple of seasons are simply a blip on the radar for this talented core that they have in place. Let’s see what hapens.
