The Braves on Tuesday parted ways with manager Fredi Gonzalez, who'd been on the job since 2011. The Braves, who are in the midst of a deep rebuild, were expected to be a bad team in 2016, but a 9-28 start has "surpassed" even the most bearish of forecasts. As the team gets set to reboot in a new suburban ballpark starting in 2017, they're likely ready to enter the next phase of the cycle and, ideally, move toward contention, possibly as soon as 2018. The question for the front office is thus: Who best to lead them in the dugout?
Let's take a look at some potential candidates to fill the job in Atlanta on a permanent basis ...
Brian Snitker
Snitker, 60, was named interim manager on Tuesday and reportedly will manage the team for the remainder of the 2016 season. He's been the manager of Triple-A Gwinnett since the start of the 2014 season. Prior to that, Snitker spent seven seasons as the Braves' third base coach. Snitker knows the system, obviously -- including many players presently on the roster -- and as a minor-league manager in that very same system, he's accustomed to handling young and untested talents. On that point, the Braves have a lot of young and untested talents on the way. The next permanent manager's most important job will be helping all these high-ceiling prospects that the Braves have compiled transition to the highest level. Snitker for the rest of 2016 has a chance to prove he can do that. Maybe he's not the favorite, but let's recall that Pete Mackanin recently rose from interim to permanent choice in Philadelphia under similar circumstances.
Bud Black
Black, 58, was of course the longtime manager of the Padres, and his name was recently floated by Bob Nightengale as a candidate in Atlanta. With San Diego, Black compiled a 649-713 record. Black was also a successful big-league starting pitcher for 15 years and later a pitching coach, and that's bound to have appeal to the Braves, who have a lot of young pitching in the pipeline.
Terry Pendleton
Pendleton, who won an MVP for the Braves as a player, has been a member of the Braves' coaching staff for 15 years. From 2002-10, he served as hitting coach, and since then he's been first base coach. Now 55, Pendleton has before been named as a candidate to manage Atlanta, and he provides a direct link to the Bobby Cox glory years. As well, Pendleton, as an African-American, would be a minority hire, which MLB has long encouraged.
Dave Martinez
The 51-year-old Martinez, Joe Maddon's longtime bench coach in Tampa and now with the Cubs, remains a hot managerial candidate who's been linked with any number of vacancies. Needless to say, with Maddon's Cubs looking like a juggernaut this far in 2016, Martinez's appeal is only growing. But would Martinez prefer to hold out for a team that's more established on the success cycle than the Braves are right now? For what it's worth, Martinez spent his final season as a player with the Braves in 2001.
Torey Lovullo
Lovullo, 50, is John Farrell's bench coach in Boston, and he also earned rave reviews while managing the Sox while Farrell was battling cancer last season. Like Martinez, he's one of the hottest managerial prospects around, and the bench coach role typically provides a natural transition. As Rob Bradford tweets, Lovullo's contract with the Red Sox permits him to interview for managerial vacancies during the season. If the Braves opt not to keep Snitker in the job, then consider Lovullo to be a strong contender.
Mark DeRosa
If you're looking for a longshot, then maybe it's DeRosa, 41. Joel Sherman of the New York Post recently name-checked DeRosa as a candidate in Atlanta, citing his popularity with some highly placed members of the front office. As well, DeRosa was drafted by the Braves in 1996 and spend the first seven seasons of his big-league career in Atlanta.
David Ross
My colleague Matt Snyder put forth Ross' name as another longshot contender. It indeed makes sense. Ross is a Georgia native who grew up in north Florida, and he's in the final year of his playing career. He earns universal praise for his demeanor and clubhouse presence, and catchers so often wind up as managers. No, he doesn't have any managerial experience, but neither did recent and semi-recent hires like Mike Matheny, Brad Ausmus, and Kevin Cash -- catchers, all.
Mostly, consider all of this to be ... developing.
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