There are a number of former Atlanta Braves catchers that would make sense as managers or coaches. Not only was the recently retired Brian Snitker formerly a catcher, but names like David Ross, Eddie Perez, and Brian McCann have either already gotten opportunities as coaches or have gotten calls to give coaching a try. Once Travis d'Arnaud decides to retire, he is a mortal lock to get some attention as a potential coach/manager. Ross has been a particularly prominent name in the Braves' search for a new manager, but another former Braves catcher just got his first shot at managing rather quickly.
From 2017 to 2018, Kurt Suzuki was in a timeshare at catcher with Tyler Flowers and it was a very fruitful relationship. Suzuki had some of his better seasons, especially from the back half of his 16 year career, with Atlanta and he was widely lauded for his management of the pitching staff and leadership in the clubhouse in addition to his bat.
Now, he gets to show if those skills are going to translate to a big league dugout as it was announced on Tuesday that Suzuki was hired as the Angels' next manager.
Kurt Suzuki getting hired to be the Angels' next manager the latest in a long line of Braves catchers staying in the game
The Angels' search for a new manager after declining to bring Ron Washington back was pretty wild. Most thought that Albert Pujols was going to get the job without much deliberation, but talks between Pujols and the powers-that-be broke down over the specifics and the Angels were forced to pivot. Suzuki's name came up after that pivot, but Torii Hunter appeared to be the new favorite until he, too, fell out of the running.
It is a bit of an upset that Suzuki was the first former Braves catcher to get a manager job this offseason, but perhaps it shouldn't have been considered as such. Suzuki doesn't have any managerial experience, but he was a special advisor to the Angels as a starting point for that relationship and that is an organization that is a bit unconventional. Ross is an experienced manager and is widely considered to be a top managerial candidate for open positions, but the jobs he is in play for are just being handled more deliberately than what the Angels were doing.
At the end of the day, Suzuki is going to have his hands full dealing with what is a very dysfunctional Angels roster, but he could end up doing great. For the moment at least, it does appear that his background could be setting him up for some success.