When Brian Snitker announced that he was retiring as the Atlanta Braves manager, he left some very big shoes to fill. The number of acceptable potential replacements for a guy that won a World Series ring just a few years ago and helped the Braves establish their dynasty is a short list which is exactly why the Braves are being so deliberate in their search for a new manager. While that search continues, Snitker's legacy could come back to bite Atlanta in an unexpected way.
The Mets, after flaming out after spending the GDP of a small country, very quickly decided that they needed to purge their coaching staff to get the franchise back on track. While a number of areas were impacted, hitting coaches in particular felt the wrath of the powers that be and that means Atlanta's division rival has some openings to fill.
Unfortunately, one of the candidates they have interviewed for their coaching staff is Troy Snitker, who is obviously the son of the recently retired Braves manager.
Troy Snitker interviewing with the Mets is unwelcome news for Braves fans
While the younger Snitker doesn't have the same depth of ties to the Braves as he dad does, there is some history there. The Braves drafted him with a late pick in the 2011 MLB Draft and actually traded him for cash considerations to the Pirates a couple of years later. That must have been a fun conversation to have with the elder Snitker when that move was made.
More importantly, Troy Snitker is generally held in high regard as a hitting coach and after a tough season for the Astros, it feels like his firing was an unfortunate scapegoating due to some larger organizational issues. It isn't a guarantee, but the Mets hiring Snitker would very likely make their offense better.
For Braves fans, this is obviously not ideal. One should not underestimate the Mets ability to screw things up and they could easily end up hiring strictly worse coaches than the younger Snitker. However, if they stumble into the right choice here, it could make the NL East an even bigger uphill climb for the Braves in 2026 and beyond.