A deeper look at 3 negative takes from Atlanta Braves 2019 season
In the days and week following the Atlanta Braves’ brutal exit from the playoffs, I tried to avoid social media.
If you frequent the various Atlanta Braves Facebook groups, or surf Twitter, or see what people reply to @Braves with, there are a lot of terrible takes out there, but there are also some pretty good ones.
Here, I’m going to examine three negative takes, give the groundwork for them, and try to talk about both sides of the coin in regards to each one.
“We should fire Brian Snitker”
Oh man. This take is hotter than Tickle Me Elmo and Furbies during the holiday season in their respective eras.
Brian Snitker is easily the favorite target of many angry Atlanta Braves fans.
He mismanages the bullpen is a popular one. He’s been raked over the coals for starting Keuchel and Foltynewicz twice instead of Soroka, a decision I originally supported and even stated should happen before it was announced.
Now, I wouldn’t mind playing it out with our favorite Canadian hurler starting two games.
Brian Snitker should be a hero to many. He worked and played in the organization for three decades, and worked from the bottom to the top.
Isn’t this the American Dream? You get a job at a huge organization or corporation, and on day one, you’re a grunt. On year one, you’re likely still a grunt.
You show that loyalty and you keep pounding away, taking whatever you can get to make a move towards the top.
Brian Snitker should be YOUR BOY. I mean, he’s your boy and you should have a tattoo of Snitker on your upper arm, because he’s the man.
Fredi Gonzalez carried the worst weight of the rebuild, but Brian Snitker stepped in during the 2016 season and a pretty terrible roster played to a 59-65 record.
In 2017, we weren’t quite there and we lost 90 games.
Then, we arrived early, winning a division title in 2018 and won a second division title this season.
Brian Snitker knows the players, knows the organization, and knows the game of baseball. He’s done well on paper, and as much as some fans want to dissect his managerial game, it’s hard to find a reason to fire him.
Now, what would the Atlanta Braves have done if we fired Brian Snitker? Well, the hottest of takes was to hire Joe Maddon to be our manager. That’s over, because the Angels already did that.
What’s the plan after that? Gabe Kapler?
“The only starter that we have that’s worth anything is Mike Soroka”
Whoa. To be clear, I’ve seen this take more than once. It’s like some fans want to take a formula that won the division, turn it upside down and just… start over?
My main thought when I see a take like this, and so very often, it’s not backed up with any reasoning is – what would be your plan if this is what the Atlanta Braves decided to do?
Well, we could just line up prospects and let them have open tryouts. We could easily fill the rotation with Bryse Wilson, Kyle Wright, and Ian Anderson.
Then, if we really did trade Max Fried and Mike Foltynewicz, along with not resigning Dallas Keuchel and not picking up Julio Teheran‘s option, you’d have to figure we could either A) acquire a pitcher by trade that could slot in as the fifth starter, or B) spend some money to sign a free agent that’s likely not named Gerrit Cole.
Related Story. Pitching report cards. light
Honestly, typing out the scenario like I did just made it seem really interesting. But interesting doesn’t necessarily mean smart. If we were to deal Fried and Folty, wouldn’t we likely get a similar pitcher back in a trade?
Take Folty for example – good enough to be an All-Star, good enough to pitch one of the best games in Atlanta Braves postseason history, but also inconsistent enough to get destroyed in game five.
Different personnel, similar results, right? I can tell you this, if you replayed game five 10 times, Folty wouldn’t give up that many runs in each of the ‘test runs.’
Chances are, Wilson, Wright, and Anderson are going to get their auditions, or be dangled for trade bait this off-season.
Keeping what we have is way more simple and gives fans like the ones that would make such a suggestion about 10 more decisions to second guess and post on social media about.
I guess these types of fans crave situations like these.
“This is typical Atlanta Braves stuff, we can never get over the hump and win the big game”
The photo was chosen for a reason. Let’s reflect. How many of these types of moments have the Atlanta Braves provided us in the past two seasons?
Then, let’s think about how many of these moments the Atlanta Braves provided us with during their streak of 14 straight division titles?
I can agree with the song and dance that this is the ‘same old thing.’ That’s true, because it is, in fact, the same old thing.
Only one team wins the World Series each year, and many times, the Atlanta Braves have seemed to have had the team to get it done.
Let’s be clear on this: I am a huge Bobby Cox fan, but one thing that Atlanta Braves fans have largely done is view his career through rose-colored glasses.
With the rotation of Greg Maddux, Tom Glavine, and John Smoltz, Cox was only able to reel in one World Series championship.
In 1991 and 1992, the Atlanta Braves didn’t have that much pitching and fell in two more World Series.
This doesn’t mean Bobby Cox is a bad manager. Did he underachieve with the talent he had? Perhaps. But it’s hard to win a World Series.
This year’s team wasn’t anyone’s pick to win anything – basically anything at all. And the staff at this website, Tomahawk Take, only had one staff writer to pick the Atlanta Braves to win the World Series once they made the playoffs.
That staff writer was me, and guess what, it was a bad pick.
My point is, that if you’re reading this article, you’re likely a fan of one of the best baseball franchises in the world.
There’s plenty to smile about, and sure, losing stinks. But there’s really no reason to keep spewing this take, bringing up the past and wallowing in it.
Next. Offseason questions the Atlanta Braves face. dark
In short, analyze this all you want, for as long as you want. It’s the offseason now and we have to trust our ownership and general manager to make the right moves. They’ve done that so far.