The Braves are planning to offer manager Brian Snitker a new contract, Jon Heyman of Fancred writes in this week’s notes column. Soon to turn 63, Snitker took over as manager on an interim basis back in 2016 after the Braves dismissed Fredi Gonzalez. There were ups and downs during the first two seasons of his tenure, but the ’18 ballclub outpaced expectations by winning 90 games and securing an NL East division title. Snitker’s current contract only runs through the end of the month, and it’s not yet clear how long of a deal the Braves will put on the table.
A bit more out of Atlanta…
- Snitker held an extensive chat with reporters after the club’s exit from the postseason, as MLB.com’s Mark Bowman was among those to cover. The skipper says he’d like to stay in his post for “a few more years.” It’s not hard to see why, as there’s considerable excitement for the future in Atlanta. Of course, as Snitker also noted, there’s still work to do for the club to reach its potential. “We’ve just got to continue to work to get stronger with the bullpen depth, the bench and things like that,” he said. “We’re not a finished product by any means. There’s a lot of young players on our team — position players and pitchers — that will take steps to get there.”
- Heyman also reports that the Braves are not currently planning on issuing a qualifying offer to right fielder Nick Markakis. The 34-year-old veteran enjoyed his most productive season since 2012, hitting .297/.366/.440 with 14 home runs, 43 doubles and a pair of triples in 705 plate appearances while playing in all 162 games for the Braves this season. It’s worth noting, though, that Markakis’s season was largely fueled by a five-week power surge early in the year. He homered seven times in his first 160 plate appearances and then went on to hit .285/.350/.407 with seven homers in his next 545 PAs. That’s certainly solid production, but it’s more in line with Markakis’ three prior seasons in Atlanta (.280/.357/.386). Given the manner in which aging corner outfielders have struggled in free agency in recent seasons, it’s not entirely surprising that the front office wouldn’t want to risk a $17.9MM offer.
- Second baseman Ozzie Albies also got off to an incredibly impressive start in 2018, but struggled through a terrible second half of the season at the plate. Still, as Gabe Burns of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution writes, Snitker voiced confidence in the youngster’s ability to develop into a consistent threat at the plate. “I have every confidence, and I think everybody does, in him as a player,” said Snitker. “He’s got the skill set. It’s sometimes not a bad thing that you kind of get sobered up a little bit. That’s part of it. And it takes awhile. You just have to have patience with these guys.” Albies, still just 21 years of age, hit just .254/.296/.409 from May 1 through season’s end and struggled even more mightily when looking solely at his post-All-Star break split: .226/.282/.342.
Lock down that bullpen! Then get a solid RF. Done
Heyward ?
Oh jeez, NO. Atlanta does not want him back.
You’d be doing the Cubs a big solid taking Heyward back. Not sure what Theo saw in him to begin with. He’s just a defensive replacement.
Are you serious about Heyward? Every team in baseball wanted him in their starting lineup just 3 years ago.
Yeah just like every team wanted Ken Griffey JR 20 years ago or every team wanted Brooks Robinson 50 years ago or every team wanted To Cobb 100 years ago.
Point being is times change and players regress and Heyward was never that good. He was athletic but never evolved as a hitter.
He was good as a Brave. Maybe the bright lights of Chicago are too much for him. Look at Sonny Gray
If the Cubs put in some money I bet they take him.
Heyward hasn’t even had 15 home runs since 2012. Actually Markakis is more of a power threat. But you think there won’t be much pressure here to a team that will be expected to compete from this point forward.
I’m actually fine with Heyward under 1 condition. Cubs would have to eat a ridiculous amount of his salary. That said, I full well know it will never happen.
heyward was garbage. his best days were the first few weeks of his big league career before he got injured. after that was never the same. his defense was always on point, but i never saw what the hype was surrounded his free agency or how he got such a big contract
Yeah that’s the point. They would give money obviously. Nobody would take him without that
Easy, most teams thought his defense was the floor, and saw his brief offensive output combined with having his free agent years include his prime, and some teams looked at his potential as the determining price. Maybe because so many teams were burned by paying for past performance that they felt better paying for potential, but either way, it hasn’t worked out aside from a World Series clubhouse pep talk.
Right, these people saying that Heyward was garbage or not talented are just being absordly ridiculous!!
Early on, Heyward showed tremendous promise, and played with a maturity that was well beyond his years. The ball just jumped off his bat, and even Hank Aaron was quoted as saying Heyward was going to be special, that the ball just made a different sound coming off of Heyward’s bat.
Heyward was an All-World defender, capable of playing all three OF positions extremely well, he was able to use his long stride and speed to steal bases and run the bags very well, and he had a great approach at the plate, especially for such a young player.
He drew walks, he hit for power, and he was able to hit for a solid average early on. What was there not to like!?!..
He suffered an injury, which forced him to alter his batting stance, I believe somewhere around his last year in Atlanta, but after that, he really struggled with the placement of his hands in his stance and load. It really just about seemed to be the kiss of death to his natural power, and ever since he hasn’t been able to quite put it together..
Such a shame, he looked like one of the next stars of this league, and being an African-American baseball star, it was great for the league. It’s just so unfortunate that he was never able to re-adjust his swing, and fix whatever problems occurred because of that injury..
He’s still young enough to possibly fix his long swing, and regain his lost confidence, but I am about 95% positive the mental damage has been done and it’s too much for him to come back from../:
Hasn’t been the same since the hbp that crushed his face
Do you know what regress means?
Also if every team wanted him why are you two talking with so much hind sight haughty toitiness? Obviously he hasn’t lived up to the contract but stop pretending you’re smarter than the 30 GMs that would have taken him in a heartbeat.
yea he showed tremendous “promise” but that’s it.
his rookie year he had 91 BBs after that he avg around 50-60 a year. thats garbage. he stole 20 bases a few times in his career but other wise stole anywhere from 5-10.
same thing with power, he hit 27 in arguably his career year with Atl but barely hit any in years after.
like i said, he was coming up clutch in his first few weeks legit every single ab. then he injured i think his thumb and never was the same. he altered his stance because he was sucking, not because of injury.
unfortunately it doesn’t matter how touted you are as a prospect, if big league pitchers figure you out and you don’t adjust it’s game over for you.
I don’t hate the guy and i wish he would have had a long productive career in Atl, but he just couldn’t make the adjustments.
I feel the Braves rush their prospects. They don’t know how to make adjustments until they are in the big leagues where it’s probably hardest to do. Drives me crazy
That’s like saying “We don’t want to make the playoffs again, but hell yeah we’ll help the Cubs!”
Ironically the Braves doom will be due to their best player, Freeman. Stop advocating for him and get a new manager. Don’t bring back Markakis. Trade or get rid of Teheran and Newcomb. Get an ace. Get a true middle of the order hitter. Overhaul the bullpen.
What’s wrong with Freeman? He was worth 6.1 bWAR, and he was .008 points shy of his 3rd straight .900+ OPS season.
I was referring to Freeman constantly telling the Braves to bring back Snitker.
Ok well what’s wrong with Snitker? He got them to win The NL East, even though that seemed like a dead runaway to The Nationals.
People always think the grass is greener. You just won a division championship with a young team, and you wanna fire the manager? How does that make any sense?
ATL wouldn’t be the first team to allow their franchise player have an opinion of who manages them – since they are in the clubhouse (and the loudest voice in the clubhouse). I don’t think he’s dictating the decisions or else Snit would be gone, but Freeman is not the only one backing him – he’s got most likely the entire clubhouse. What reason do you have in dismissing someone that’s been with the club for 40 years and taken some 20-year olds to the playoffs for the first time in a half decade? His bullpen lacked a lot of talent, which he overly relied on (Sam Freeman, Winkler, Carle) in the 1st few months causing damage after the AS Break.
I always thought 2020 would be the year they truly contend. Bring back Snitker, add a couple free agent pieces, and hope a couple young guys make the leap up from the minors. If they regress, they can make a change and still have a huge contention window. No need to do anything drastic. If anything, I’d replace their pitching coach. Way too many walks. That can absolutely be corrected with a better pitching coach.
It’s not that we want him fired it is that if he going to continue to be the braves manager he needs to be better with his decision making like waiting until it was too late to bring in Julio in game 4
wait, you mean you actually wanted to see JT pitch? Are you running a fever?
It’s the same with the Cubs, Dodgers, Brewers and countless other teams. Fans always think they know more about the game than the players or managers.
On top of that, it’s not like his contract will prevent them from pursuing players…
Freddie is just giving the PC vote of confidence response. So take it with a grain of salt if they hired someone else he would express support for the new manager.
I do think they should get a new manager because I don’t like Snitkers handling of a bullpen but hes earned an extension.
The hell is wrong w/ Snit? He’s worked out his rookie bullpen issues, he was handed a Benz in the field and hitting, and a yugo in the bullpen. Not his fault.
I agree with everything AllOurGods said. His comment is spot on. I like Snitker as a person but his management leaves a lot to be desired. I think the bullpen would have faired better if he wouldn’t have exposed it as bad. Take the last game for example. Venters is not the Venters of old. He should be used to get out lefties not multiple innings of use. The Braves need a new voice in the dugout. A true ace is needed. Folty is a nice #2 because he is volatile. Teheran needs to go we can replace his production with someone in house for far less cost. Trading Newcomb now can get you a nice piece in return. You love the arm and the stuff but face the facts he’s never been a consistent strike thrower at any point in his career. The middle of the order bat is also a need
you want to trade newcomb, one of the pieces we traded for our rebuild, who started out ridiculously good, went through some growing pains, but still came back and pitched dceent as a rookie against the dodgers in NLDS…and “has never been a consistent strike thrower in his career” oh you mean his one season , of which he practically threw a no no against the LA Dodgers…
This guy is Kanye West. Ignore him. Put out the album, Yeezy!
Man, that’s some shopping list. Won’t take much for the Braves to improve in 2018. They have arguably the best stable of young pitching prospects in all of baseball, so there are numerous options for one or more to be converted to relief. Newcomb? He’s the second coming of Jon Lester. I’ll take that.. As for RF, I’d be fine with Markakis coming back, but not for, what is it, $17 million and change? If not, there is never a shortage of outfielders. Maybe Braves add two; one RH and one LH and end up with a nice platoon that can combine for 20+ HR? Whatever, I’d rather be a Braves fan than a fan of all but one or two NL teams. I think we’ll be in the playoffs for many years to come. The NL East is weak; the Nats may rebuild and the Phillies proved who they really are by going 14-31 over their final 45 games. The Mets? Fahgetta about dem! Injuries to key players are chronic with them. Can’t keep anyone healthy for a complete season. 90+ wins next year. Book it, Dano!.
In other Braves news they are going to ensure every member of the team knows who Mickey Mantle is.
We have zero reason to bring snitker back he is one of the worst pitching management managers in the game.
Zero reason huh? You sir, are a complete moron and should be embarrassed by posting such nonsense in public.
This roster would have won the division with or without snitker. U trying to demean me because of that opinion proves nothing. Look at the facts, folty our ace very rarely went beyond 5 IP in his starts, newkomb clearly was gassed in the second half yet not extra rest til September, we had allied and fried on the roster yet Julio continued to get starts while giving up more home runs then any other pitchers on our roster. Lastly snitker continuously used random relievers during the season who were no more then mop up guys in late inning important games. I for one find no reason to keep the guy, this roster was talented enough that nearly any manager could have achieved what he did this year even with the number of game choice errors.
It’s dumb to say there is “zero” reason to keep him. Plus, who else is gonna never gonna leave this organization? I think he’s the perfect guy right now and should at least get 3 years.
3 years, are you joking?
@bravesiowafan
Folty had 12 quality starts of 31 starts. He had 15 starts of 6 or more IP, with only 5 of those coming before the Fourth of July. Ever think he was saving something for September and October for a young pitcher?
Newcomb was gassed…but he was over his career high in IP. Do you suggest moving to a 6 man rotation or letting the kid learn to pitch every 5th day?
Julio had a .196 average against this year. That’s incredible. He was a victim of really rough luck…but still posted a 3.16 in August and a 2.76 in September. Why in the hell would you replace that?
So, okay genius. Who was on the staff in the pen to use? His 8th and 9th inning options were out for most of the year. Moylan didn’t pan out. Who would you have let pitch 200 innings from the pen?
Albies second half struggles occured at the same time the braves tried to get him to hit more ground balls. No surprise his power numbers nose dived. I dont see snitker trying to get credit there like he did with acuna. I like snitker but i dont think he is a good manager, he seems like he lets the players do what they want and as a consequence the players like him. Too many games he made poor decisions on bullpen usage. Others he would bring the infield in in the first couple innings ensuring we gave up multiple runs instead of one.
He needs a lighter bat, he appears to struggle getting the bat through the zone and it’s almost as big as he is.
so you’re saying he made Albies try to hit more ground balls, AND also that he let’s players do whatever they want? which is it? Snitker is a good coach for this young team. Players respect and respond to him. Most of the issues people have with him can be attributed to having an inexperienced team.
Braves trade one of their pitchers to NYY for Stanton?
Brilliant idea.
Absolutely not. Terrible deal. The Braves are gonna have a lot of money to use after some players elect free agency and Giancarlo’s contract would eat up the Braves and any future plans. It would put a halt to the momentum the Braves are carrying. Plus the fact that Stanton strikes out a LOT and the Braves has the 2nd or 3rd least amount of strikeouts in the National League, which would also break up the chemistry and mindset of the time. Trading for Stanton would be a disaster.
I am really surprised at the amount of dislike for Snit!! A team that was supposed to be 500 at best before the season wins the division!!
As far as the bullpen usage goes….look at what he had out there. No offense to anyone, but it isn’t like they had a top notch bullpen! With the young starters they had setting new career highs in innings they had to go to the bullpen a lot to protect the young starters. A lot of the bullpen issues where due to how often they were used, not how they were used necessarily. Even several of the bullpen guys set career highs in appearances and innings….The fact the bullpen did as good as it did is pretty good if you ask me….Especially if Snit is as bad as you all say at managing the bullpen!!
Dan Winkler 69 games, 60 innings pitched-over used and tired out.
I agree a lot of them were over used! Not because Snit was bad at management…It was because every one was young and setting career highs in innings and appearances! The only way to prevent that is to have starters go deeper! OH WAIT the starters areyoung and setting career highs also….I think you have tonproteft the young starts! In doing so the bullpen gets over worked!
Exactly !!! Very well put
Young pitcher throw a lot of balls
A lot of balls equal a lot of walks
As good as Foltynewicz & Newcomb had been at times they still walked a ton of guys that led to their pitch counts getting high fast
I still have no clue how the Orioles did not offer a Qualifying Offer to Markakis after the 2014 season. Lose-Lose, Orioles have pathetically tried to fill his shoes since he left, and Markakis would get hurt by the QO drag if he receives it this year. Hate to see.
He’s not getting a QO. He was bland in the 2nd half and he’s 35. You can get better production in many ways through trade or FA.
The Orioles were concerned his neck was an issue. His last couple seasons in Baltimore he was a singles hitter. They made a mistake not giving him a fourth year but that is mostly because they couldn’t find a reasonable replacement. He was not worth a QO
Look Sling, there is NO FREAKING WAY…that Markakis will EVER get offered The $17.9 mil qualifying offer by The Braves.
Dude basically had a 5 week hot streak to open The 2019 Season..then SUCKED in his last 524 at-bats! He DID NOT hit a homer in his last 177 Regular Season at-bats….and ONLY got one meaningless single in 4 Post Season games!
I want NO PART of Markakis on The 2019 Braves!
I wouldn’t say he sucked in his last 524 at bats, more like he came back down to earth. He hit .285 with a .750 OPS. If you told me at the beginning of the year that he was gonna do that for the whole year, I would’ve taken it. That being said, there’s no way he returns to ATL. He’ll probably sign with the Giants or another AL team.
My guess is with Oakland. He would give them a great presence in the clubhouse and a high on base percentage from the outfield.
No chance. Watch him go to the Nats or Phillies. He wants to be on the east coast.
The bullpen’s problems were due to the youth and if Snitker was that bad how did such a young team win 90 games
Snitker deserves an extension and once these young pitchers get the confidence to throw strikes more consistently good things will fall in line
I would like one of Grandal, Realmuto or Sally Perez
I would like Iglesias plus another veteran bullpen arm maybe David Robertson
I think they resign Markakis and let him split time with Duvall while moving Riley to the OF and let him develop another year in AAA then next year let Duvall walk and Riley come up and share time with Markakis until he takes over
Trade for Greinke the more of the contract they eat the better the prospect going back
I like the Robertson move, keep Duvall, let Nick walk, I even like Greinke, but if you are doing that might as well go big and try to obtain Mad Bum. NC kid, big strong horse type Ace, who ATL fans can attach themselves too, local kids never hurt in ATL.
Dude, here’s how The Braves won 90 games with A BAD MANAGER like Snitker: The Braves played IN A TERRIBLE DIVISION (going 39-18 against The Mets, Marlins and Phillies….while ONLY going 51-54 against THE REST OF MLB).
In other words, The Braves/Snitker STRUGGLED against non-NL East teams!
Dude, you are OUT OF YOUR MIND if you really want to see The Braves re-sign Nick “NOODLE BAT” Markakis for 2019 and beyond! Dude will be 35 years old in 2019…and is HELLA SLOW with NO POP in his bat (he DID NOT hit a homer in his last 177 Regular Season at-bats…and only hit 7 homers in his last 524 at-bats).
Other than possibly trading for Realmuto/signing Grandal…your ‘moves’ basically SUCK (Austin Riley is a 3rd baseman…he’s NOT going to play in the outfield)!
Acuna, Albies, Camargo, Dansby all are expected to progress in their development.
Freddie is as consistent as they come & Inciarte should be expected to bounce back.
Add in a difference making catcher at the bat and behind the plate and now the line up doesn’t need a star. You have Waters, Pache & the 2nd round pick this year coming up fast so no need to acquire a long term high priced free agent.
You can’t put a price on Markakis leadership and intangibles. Adam Jones has said he was the best teammate and leader he ever played with.
He teaches these kids how to be professional and with the progression of the kids and a better catcher behind the plate he can be an asset.
With Duvall there he won’t be exposed by having to play 162 again and a bat like Grandal or Realmuto or Perez wouldn’t have to have him batting cleanup. You ask me he would be the perfect 2 hole hitter in back of Acuna.
Also yes if you know anything about Riley than you know he was expected at one time to be moved to RF before he proved he could stay at 3rd but in all reality to acquire a Realmuto I would expect him to be in a package. Either for him or Greinke.
And as far as MadBum goes he is gonna be trying to break the bank in his next contract because of the club friendly deal he was on all these years. He will go high and long which I don’t want them to invest that kind of time or money in. Mainly time wise. Long contracts never work for pitchers. With Greinke he is only signed for 3 more years and the D-backs would have to eat some money on the contract.
I understand how good MadBum is but he has not shown the ability to stay healthy the last couple years and his style of pitching. The ferociousness says he will struggle to stay healthy for years to come.
I look at it like this you can’t get an ace pitcher on a 3 yr contract nowadays. MadBum is gonna cost you years as well as money as well as prospects to get more than likely 2 top 10 and plus. Where Greinke May cost us 1 and you get Dbacks to eat some money and it’s only 3 years.
I don’t know it just makes sense to me and Greinke is not as volitile as MadBum so in my opinion his chances of staying healthy is better.
Smart to let Markakis go after this nice season. So many teams are fooled by older players having success in their walk year.
I miss Markakis in Baltimore
Markakis is a good hitter and has served Atlanta well but it’s find the starter and focus on bullpen you’ve got help on the way offensively in your system.
The only thing wrong with Heyward is how much money the Cubs paid him. Ridiculous contract then, ridiculous contract now.
That offense isn’t worth $10MM AAV, let alone $20MM AAV. He also had what was statistically his least productive defensive season, that also didn’t help.
i enjoyed reading these comments until i saw someone mention adam duvall in a platoon. smh. i wouldnt use duvall in a simulated game as a platoon. we are trying to take the next step in the process, not 5 steps backwards.
I’ve been A DIE HARD Braves fan since 1982. Brian Snitker is A TERRIBLE Manager from a strategic/analytical standpoint! I watched EVERY GAME on tv in 2018. His bullpen usage was TERRIBLE (how many times did Snitker leave in Sam Freeman to face 3-4 righties in a row…in addition to leaving in Luke Jackson to face 3-4 lefties in a row…ALL in crucial situations?)!
I get it, The Dodgers were THE BETTER OVERALL team in The NLDS. However (as The Braves proved throughout their 15 division title run from 1991-2005) the best team DOES NOT always win! A manager should put his players in position to win…NOT put them in high leverage situations where they are LESS LIKELY to succeed.
Prime Example: Snitker SHOULD NOT have left Venters in to pitch the top of the 6th inning of Game 4. Machado, The Dodgers #4 hitter that day, made the last out of the top of the 5th inning (Venters threw 18 pitches that inning). The top of the 6th inning would have been A PERFECT TIME to finally use Julio Teheran in that series. The Braves were up 2-1 going into the top of the 6th..and needed Teheran to get through the top of the 6th and 7th innings….in order for The Braves to have a chance to win the game. Teheran would be facing the bottom 5 hitters of The Dodgers lineup…while ONLY having to go through the top of The Dodgers lineup ONCE in order to get through those 2 innings unscathed (potentially).
If Teheran could have pitched 2 scoreless innings…..Snitker could have done the lefty-righty matchups to get the last 6 outs of the game (he’d have Vizcaino, Minter, Sobotka and Fried at his disposal).
I’m not saying that it would have worked out that way., I’m saying that if you’re going to have Julio Teheran on your 25 man Playoff Roster….that would be THE BEST TIME to use him (or why even have him on your roster?). Snitker’s decisions in the top of the 6th inning…basically GAVE The Series to The Dodgers.
The Braves GM, AA, is going to have a busy, potentially PRODUCTIVE offseason (Free Agency AND The December Winter Meetings…as well as our prospects pushing their way onto our Roster during Spring Training). Bringing back Snitker…..not a good idea!
Plus he should have started Suzuki over Flowers, Suzuki was the better catcher and hitter all year, and Suzuki is still the better player.
And yet, having Suzuki on the bench got the Braves their only runs…
Julio wasn’t pitching in that game until it was lost. He was the game 5 pitcher. No one was saying it, but he managed it to be that way.
How many teams have 3-4 lefties in a row in their lineup for Jackson to have faced ????
You don’t know what you are talking about and that comment proved it. Teheran was on the roster to eat innings in a 1 sided game. And the problem again with the bullpen and the whole pitching staff at that was the amount of balls these pitchers threw compared to strikes. As these youngsters learn to throw strikes you will see better results. There is a reason why guys spend time in the minors it is to learn accuracy.
The manager of any team that overachieves deserves to keep their job
And besides who out there would you like to manage ?
Girardi ??? Ran out of town because he couldn’t relate to the younger players no thank you our core are young guys
Scosia ??? Had the best player in baseball & hasn’t done a thing with him no thanx
Buck ??? Control freak whose act gets tired
Snitker is a father figure that these young kids need and the veterans will run thru a wall for him
Gonna be a fun offseason with all this minor league talent and AA as the GM its gonna be hard to predict any moves and I am sure there will be an out of the blue move or 2 that no one sees coming
Dude, I know PRECISELY what I’m talking about! I’ll give you ONE GAME where Snitker’s decision to use Luke Jackson in a HIGH LEVERAGE SITUATION against lefties almost cost The Braves an important game:
On September 9th at Arizona, The Braves had a 2-0 lead going into the bottom of the 6th inning. Touki Tousiant had pitched very well for 5 innings..before getting pulled by Snitker after a single, a walk and a ground ball out that had runners on 2nd and 3rd with 1 out. Snitker brings in Luke Jackson to face Nick Ahmed (a righty hitter), who promptly hits a game tying single.
Then, Jackson walks the lefty hitting catcher Avila (who was hitting under .200)…then gives up singles to BOTH lefty hitting Peralta and Jay…before Snitker FINALLY pulled him for Ziggy Sobotka, who got Escobar to pop out to end the inning. Jackson turned a 2-0 lead..into a 4-2 deficit He faced 4 hitters (3 lefties in a row) WITHOUT getting an out.
The Braves getting lucky with a 5 run 9th inning comeback to win the game….SHOULD NOT let Snitker off the hook (if anything…his bullpen management EXTENDED the workload our bullpen’s best pitchers, time and time again).
Luke Jackson and Sam Freeman…for some reason…’inspired’ Snitker to keep putting them in high leverage situations against opposite side hitters. Neither pitcher..is very effective facing opposite side hitters.
Dude, I watched EVERY GAME on The MLB Package (I love The Braves…have since 1982) in 2018. Snitker’s bullpen usage..AND his lineup construction (batting Nick “NOODLE BAT” Markakis cleanup, DESPITE him SUCKING for most of his 4 years with The Braves, with the exception of his 5 week ‘hot streak’ to begin The 2018 Season…..was MINDBOGGLING)…DEFIES logic!
Markakis DID NOT hit a homer in his last 177 Regular Season at-bats. The reason why The Braves ‘overachieved’..had NOTHING to do with Brian Snitker….and EVERYTHING to do with playing in A WEAK DIVISION (The Braves were 39-18 against The Mets, Marlins and Phillies….while 51-54 against THE REST OF MLB)! If Snitker was such ‘a great manager’…why did The Braves UNDER-ACHIEVE against THE REST OF MLB?
While I’m a fan of our GM, AA…I’m AM NOT a fan of Snitker. Bobby Cox won 15 Division Titles in a row..because he had 3 GREAT Starting Pitchers who COVERED UP for a number of Regular Season Mistakes that Cox made…that got HELLA MAGNIFIED come Playoff Time. The Braves should have won MORE than the 1995 World Series!
Despite The Dodgers being ‘the better team’….The Braves had a chance to extend it to a Game 5..IF Snitker DID NOT bring a tired Venters out for the top of the 6th inning. While I disagreed with having BOTH Julio Teheran and Rene Rivera on the playoff roster (if you’re ONLY going to use Teheran in a blow out AND only use Rivera if one of your catchers got hurt….you’re only playing with a 23 man roster..while The Dodgers played with a 25 man roster)…..a RESTED Teheran was a BETTER OPTION for the top of the 6th inning…than Venters was (who threw 18 pitches in the top of the 5th…who at this point in his career IS NOT a multi-inning reliever).
MLB is full of YOUNG Managerial Candidates who are more willing to embrace analytics/take advantage of lefty-righty high leverage matchups (as well as NOT bat A BUM like Markakis in the clean-up spot). While Acuna is our long term leadoff hitter….I would have rather had Markakis hit leadoff (where his ability to get on base via The Walk could be an asset) and inserted Acuna in the cleanup spot (his right handed power would have helped The Middle of The Braves Lineup produce some power/knock in runs/provided Freddie Freeman with some Lineup Protection)! Yet Snitker didnt want to ‘offend’ Markakis.
Also, Snitker kept TROTTING OUT Ryan ‘I SUCK’ Flaherty TIME AND TIME AGAIN during the the summer…..when it was apparent that his LUCKY STREAK ended in late April! To have him be our 1st pinch hitting option in The NLDS..was MINDBOGGLING! I would have rather that Austin Riley been called up (at least dude has SOME POWER……I could care less that he had yet to make his MLB debut! Flaherty had NO CHANCE of doing any damage against The Dodgers!).
I FREAKING HATE Snitker being The Manager of The Braves for the next few years. He’s going to mess up come Playoff time in 2019 and 2020 (bank on it). In a short series….a bad manager can be exploited (just like Bobby Cox was ROUTINELY during The Braves Playoff Runs during 1991-2005..with the exception of 1995). However, The Yankees were ‘somehow’ able to win 4 World Series in 5 years (in 1996, 1998-2000). The Braves had HELLA TALENTED teams (especially that 1996 team….which was BETTER than The 1996 Yankees).
I am sorry to tell you but the 96 Braves team was not better than the Yankees. They proved it with their dynasty run. As a matter of fact just look at the teams the Braves lost to the only team I think they actually were better than was the Twins and it wasn’t by much. The Blue Jays were a mini dynasty they made the playoffs a couple times and won back to back World Series
I didn’t agree with all of Bobby Cox decisions but the Braves problems come playoff time was the SP not getting the calls they would get during the regular season. Thus they would have to put the ball closer to the plate where guys were able to put the bat on the ball.
Is Snitker perfect no I would probably in all honesty like Ron Washington manage but Snitker deserves to see this thing until he doesn’t deserve to anymore.
The bullpen again was horrible because he had young guys WHO COULDN’T CONSISTENTLY THROW STRIKES. Venters was about the only reliable guy who could get the ball over the plate.
Teheran is not a RP he takes entirely to long to warm up and that’s why thru all his struggles you never see him working out of the bullpen.
Rivera was on the roster so Flowers or Suzuki could be the 1st pinch hitter off the bench.
And yes Luke Jackson was in that game againts the Dbacks but if you watched every game than you would remember the Sat night game the day before he needed to use 6 or 7 RP to finish off a win. By the end of the year those young kids in the pen didn’t have it anymore I thought it was amazing how Snit was able to pitch patch that bullpen by the end of the year. Those kids were not used to pitching that late or that much in a season. For somebody who has been watching the Braves for so long you really sound crazy.
You lost all credibility when you said 96 Braves were a better team than 96 Yankees. Should the Braves have won yes I say that but that Yankee team proved for the next decade that they were the better team. Just look our bullpen had Wholers as the best pitcher and the Yankees had Mo & Wettland. Only advantage the Braves had was the starting rotation that was it no other advantage what’s so ever bullpen bench or line up wasn’t better so how can you say they were the better team ?
And go back to the Blue Jays same thing
Just because we got there so many times doesn’t mean we were the better team in any of those series. To me we never even had a more talented team than the Pirates
We were better than the Phillies though and I thought the Indians were a better team going into the World Series in 95 as well. Only team I thought we were better than going into the World Series was Minnesota that’s it
Thank you Mr. Tolstoi aka paullentz1972, but we are still working through your “War and Peace.”
If you do submit more pieces, make them short stories.
Teheran could have gone 3 innings-the fact is he pitched well. You don’t get it, Atlanta had to win the game, instead Snitker gave us no chance by using Venters who is good for 1 innings max, not 1.2 innings. It was the wrong move.
I can’t see much wrong with what Snitker does; you can cherry pick moves that were made/not made with every guy who has ever managed. And I’d refer everyone to remember how Ray’s fans screamed for the last 3 years for Kevin Cash’s head. All of a sudden, the same fans are screaming for Cash to be the MOY….it’s amazing how a better roster (and MUCH better pitching) can make a dumb guy smart.
IMHO, both Snit and Cash are the same guy…..they don’t cost you any games, but aren’t in the Larussa/Bucky class of being able to squeeze out a few more victories, either. Their teams will go as far as the talent as the roster brings them.
Dude, I dont invest time watching Tampa play MLB. HOWEVER (because I’m a DIE HARD FAN of The Braves) I watched EVERY ONE of their 162 Regular Season Games (as well as all 4 of their NLDS games). Snitker was easily outmanaged a number of times in 2018. The Red Sox Series in early September…Alex Cora outmanaged Snikter ALL THREE of those games. I could go INTO DETAIL….of THE MISTAKES that Snitker made during those 3 games. However, I doubt that taking the time to detail how BAD a manager Snitker is…will have any effect on your opinion.
Snicker is an excellent manager. He should get a nice raise.
Would love to see the rangers trade Mazara to the braves for a pitching prospect or two.
I think the Braves need a power bat behind Freeman to protect him more. When Kemp came to town as nothing but power before his resurgence Freeman’s power numbers spiked significantly. Doesn’t need to be Harper, just a .275 guy who can knock 25 dingers a year. They don’t grow on trees, but they can be had.
The Dodgers were far and away the better team but look at how many walks our pitching staff gave up. We need a catcher behind the plate that will help the young pitchers. I really hope the Giants blow it up and Buster won’t be interested in a rebuild and would want to come home but I doubt it. Other than him Grandal impressed me in the series againts us. I think to me the best option though is Perez in respect to helping the young pitchers. All in all I believe the catching position is the most important to be fixed. Next is getting an ace preferably Greinke for me and then a bullpen arm which for a year now I been clamoring for Kimbrell to come home but now I am thinking more about Iglesias he is younger but to fill some of these holes it’s gonna have to be about money and signing somebody although we have a ton of prospects we can’t trade all of them.
With Gregorius having TJS—Trade Swanson,Fried,Allard and Suzuki for G.Sanchez,S.Gray,D.Acevedo and L.Gil..
Newcomb,Gohara and Camargo or Riley for Perez and Whit Merrifield.
Sign Brantley for LF and try workout a deal for Greinke or Bumgarner. Keep JT for bp and Spot relief. Use Free Agents for Closer and good bench players. We would possibly have best defense in MLB!
Pirates should go after Markakis. Vet with a solid bat to man RF until Polonco comes back. Could serve as a reserve or platoon after that.