Despite the fact that the Atlanta Braves have been playing better lately, the overwhelming consensus remains that manager Brian Snitker will likely retire at the end of the season. There are already reports that the Braves have some initial replacement candidates in mind and there has been no shortage of speculation as to who Atlanta could (or should) hire as their next manager outside of actual reporting. Unfortunately, that speculation has led to some less-than-desirable options being floated.
Such was the case when Forbes' Dan Schlossberg put out his list of Snitker replacement candidates earlier this summer. While Schlossberg isn't a Braves' insider per se, he generally doesn't completely make things up and he has at least written a book about the team.
At the time, Schlossberg's list was purely speculative and had some familiar candidates who would probably be fine like Walt Weiss and David Ross. However, it also featured some nightmare scenarios like Fredi Gonzalez, Chipper Jones, and Buck Showalter that unfortunately remain in play now.
There remains a chance that the Braves could screw up replacing Brian Snitker
To be clear, the current favorites for the job would be, at minimum, acceptable. Braves insider Mark Bowman specifically named Ross and former Marlins skipper Skip Schumaker as possible candidates a couple months ago and the reporting since then has backed that up.
However, there are some options that are still in play that would likely end in catastrophe. Jones thankfully dismissed questions about his future as a manager while noting that putting the organization in a position where they might have to fire a franchise icon like himself is problematic. Unfortunately, Showalter and his perennial personal showboating, .500 record as a manager, and inability to win in the postseason is still available after getting fired by the Mets and he could try and push his way into the conversation.
The biggest threat remains Gonzalez (Schlossberg's #1 replacement candidate), however. Braves fans do not (and should not) remember Gonzalez's time as manager fondly. Despite that, Atlanta hired Gonzalez this season on short notice to be their third base coach and some openly speculated that he could be Snitker's heir apparent after the hire. Given how much Snitker talked Gonzalez up after the hire, it is hard to argue with that as a possibility. If that comes to pass, Schlossberg's list of predicted candidates may have foretold the Braves' doom.