The Atlanta Braves could take a new direction of leadership when it comes to finding their next manager for 2026 and beyond.
Atlanta moved from Brian Snitker after 10 seasons. He replaced Freddie Gonzalez midway through the 2016 campaign. Snitker helped the team be active in playoff contention, even winning the World Series in 2021. However, their results slowly declined as they missed the postseason this season, ending in Snitker having a dismissal.
Team reporter Grant McAuley gave his thoughts on how Atlanta should approach the managerial search during a Thursday appearance on the Foul Territory show. He cited the past decisions of having experienced managers in Snitker, Gonzalez and Bobby Cox in the past. However, he thinks they can be unique in their search this time around.
“This I think represents (president of baseball ops and general manager) Alex Anthopoulos' first opportunity to kind of look at it through his lens for what he wants and what he values in the manager. And I think Brian Snitker embodied a lot of those qualities, but they were kind of thrown together, at least to start with. They just built a great partnership. So I think with that in mind, there's really no impetus to just keep it status quo or keep it with somebody who was under the Bobby Cox coaching tree,” McAuley said.
“I think they just really have this unique chance, for the first time in a while, to really just assess, what is it we need? What do some of these candidates have to offer? Whether that's a first-time manager, which would be interesting and not necessarily what I expect, or if it's somebody who's just kind of younger in their managerial career, who could stick around for a long time and maybe build himself into the next long line of continuity that the Braves have at the managerial spot.”
For the first time in a while, the Braves have a unique chance to assess multiple factors in their managerial search.@GrantMcAuley with more… pic.twitter.com/p8uSgZOjE9
— Foul Territory (@FoulTerritoryTV) October 24, 2025
What lies ahead for Braves this offseason
It is clear that the Braves may be at a crossroads when it comes how they want the direction of their franchise to be when they hire their next manager.
Atlanta had the privilege of taking part in seven consecutive postseasons during Brian Snitker's stint. The World Series they won in 2021 will forever remain in MLB history and one of their most successful campaigns of all time. However, they needed a direction after missing the playoffs this past season, making their selection of the new manager an important one for the long term.
The Braves will continue retooling in the offseason as they hope for better success going into the 2026 campaign.
