Braves News: Braves extend Snitker, spring training roster battles, more

Well, it was an unexpectedly eventful day for the Atlanta Braves on Friday. With spring training right around the corner, we got the news that the Braves had extended manager Brian Snitker through the 2025 season. At this point, it has certainly felt like Snit can keep the job as long as he wants to keep it given his track record of success as skipper and stature in the clubhouse. It is fair to wonder a little bit how long he will manage given his age and how long he has been in baseball, so its great to see him commit to at least three more seasons.

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Elsewhere on the site, we took a look at the key roster battles we should expect to see going into Braves spring training this year. The battle for the fifth spot in the rotation is probably going to be the most intriguing competition this spring, but how things look at shortstop, left field, and the bullpen are all going definitely going to be worth keeping an eye on.

Finally, our top Atlanta Braves managers of all-time list continued to count down with Bobby Cox getting the number two spot. This will likely get some fans upset given how much reverance they have for Bobby from the Braves' run in the 1990's and 2000's, but it is worth noting that the Braves have a very, very long history...so you may want to keep an eye out for who is at number one.

MLB News

The New York Mets are still finding ways to spend money, but this time it was on a pretty team-friendly deal. Jeff McNeil has been an annoyingly productive player for the Mets for some time and instead of waiting to see what happens during his final two arbitration seasons, the team went ahead and gave him a contract extension through at least 2026 worth $50 million guaranteed. The deal also has a reasonable club option for 2027 as well.

We had another extension yesterday as well, but this time it was the Rays getting a deal done. Pete Fairbanks, when he has been healthy anyways, has proven he can miss bats in the big leagues and looked absolutely dominant upon returning from a lat injury last season. As a result, the Rays continued to shore up their bullpen by giving him a three year contract extension. An additional bonus for the Rays is that the move gives them one less arbitration hearing they have to go through this year...they still have five more potential hearings, though.