While the goings on in camp for the Atlanta Braves have been reasonably quiet the last day or two outside of the news that Joey Wentz will miss the season, the goings on at the World Baseball Classic are heating up. Not only has Ronald Acuña Jr. been putting on a show for Team Venezuela, but one top Braves managerial candidate has made the news for all the wrong reasons.
When Brian Snitker made the decision to retire, a bunch of names were immediately floating around as replacement candidates. Current Braves manager Walt Weiss was always among the favorites, but one name that came up repeatedly was former Braves infielder and current MLB Network analyst Mark DeRosa. Among the "he sounds good on TV" crowd, DeRosa was a popular choice despite his lack of experience, and many thought his work with Team USA was in preparation for a future managerial role in the big leagues.
However, if managing a big league team was DeRosa's goal, it took a big hit on Tuesday night when not only did it become apparent that he didn't know Team USA could still be eliminated, but the US lost and is now in danger of elimination.
“It’s weird. We want to win this game even though our ticket’s punched to the quarterfinals.” -Team USA manager Mark DeRosa earlier today
— Talkin' Baseball (@TalkinBaseball_) March 11, 2026
Team USA’s ticket was not, in fact, punched to the quarterfinals, and now they’re in danger of missing out pic.twitter.com/xMPAdLODTY
Braves fans should be breathing a sigh of relief that Atlanta didn't push harder to make Mark DeRosa their manager
First, can we just say how brutal the optics are with all of this? DeRosa clearly thought the US was safe from elimination, and instead of owning up to the mistake immediately, MLB Network did its best to cover it up by deleting the clip from their platforms. Clearly, the powers-that-be are just not aware of how the internet works, and they made the situation even bigger than it already was.
This also highlights an important aspect that teams require from their managers: total situational awareness. From knowing which bullpen arms are available and who match up the best against opposing hitters to understand the rules of the game for challenges, experience is paramount, and even those who have done this forever make mistakes. In DeRosa's case, his inexperience was put on full display because he was looking to drop a money quote instead of being correct. We'll never know for sure, but it could have cost Team USA a win over Italy as a result.
If Italy wins against Mexico, the US still advances, and the only thing that is impacted is seeding. If Mexico wins, Team USA's fate will come down to tiebreakers, which they are not guaranteed to win. The whole situation is a complete mess, but at least DeRosa isn't making a mess of the Braves instead. It is the little things.