Brian Snitker, the beloved Atlanta Braves skipper, will be leading the team for at least three more years.
Tuesday morning, the Atlanta Braves announced they would be picking up the 2024 club option for manager Brian Snitker. This option was included as part of a contract extension he signed back in February.
This is not a surprising move in the least, as the Braves are coming off a remarkable 2021 season. They achieved their first National League Pennant win since 1999 and captured their first World Series since 1995. Both of these accomplishments are thanks to the steady leadership of Snitker.
During the lowest points of the 2021 season, Snitker’s leadership helped the team press forward until better days arrived. He navigated the team despite several injuries to key players, inconsistent play on offense, bullpen woes, and the Marcell Ozuna domestic violence case.
Despite these setbacks, the Braves rallied and wound up winning it all.
Snitker has been with the Braves’ organization for well over 40 years now. He has had multiple coaching and managerial roles on both the minor and major league levels.
He was named the interim manager of the Braves in 2016 after Fredi Gonzalez was fired and helped the rebuilding Braves play near .500 baseball the rest of the year, leading to the organization making him the full-time manager.
Snitker was named 2018 NL Manager of the Year after Atlanta went 90-72 and won their first of what would become four straight division titles.
Players love him, the fans love him, and the ownership loves Brian Snitker. He is a Brave for life and deserves to keep serving as the team’s manager until he calls it quits.
And that certainly could be what happens with this news. He just turned 66 years old and will be approaching 70 when this current deal ends.
As someone who has been a lifer and accomplished everything a manager can, perhaps we see him ride off into the sunset after the 2024 season. What do you think?