When Brian Snitker revealed that he was retiring as the Atlanta Braves manager, it sent a shockwave through the organization and their fans. While not completely unexpected, the idea of having a new manager wasn't something that had been entertained seriously until this point and it changed the complexion of the start of the offseason completely. However, there were also some that openly wondered if Snitker's decision was really in his hands.
Yes, Snitker's long tenure and high levels of success understandably got him a long leash (as it should have) and much of what hurt the Braves in 2025 was outside his control, but there were some folks towards the end of the season that said that Atlanta needed a new voice at the top. There was a world where Snitker would have wanted to come back, but the Braves pushed him into his new advisory role in order to turn the page without embarrassing their long-time coach.
Thankfully, that isn't what happened. During his end-of-season media session on Saturday, Braves front office head Alex Anthopoulos said, without equivocation, that it was Snitker's choice to call it quits. Had he wanted to continue, Atlanta would have welcomed him back with open arms.
Anthopoulos is doing his end-of-season media session. He says if Snitker wanted to continue managing, he would have been given the opportunity.
— Mark Bowman (@mlbbowman) October 4, 2025
Alex Anthopoulos just confirmed that it was Brian Snitker's decision alone to retire
Given the tone of Snitker's retirement announcement, this makes a lot of sense. Anthopoulos went out of his way before Snitker made his decision to not lobby one way or another and give Snit the space he needed. He also spoke at length about how important his relationship with Snitker was to him and credited Snit as the reason why he got a World Series ring.
With that relationship in mind, the idea that Anthopoulos would try to force Snitker out was always farfetched. The optics of forcing Snitker out would have been terrible and it is a mortal lock that it would have gotten out somehow. Given how much Snitker has meant to the organization for so long, he earned the right to go out on his own terms.
As for next steps, it does not sound like replacing Snitker is particularly imminent. Snitker moving into an advisory role was expected given the terms of his final extension with the team, but it does feel like there is a wide open field that the Braves are considering. Hopefully they don't wait too long so that Atlanta can go into the offseason with a new manager to sell prospective free agent targets on.