Why haven't the Atlanta Braves named Brian Snitker their manager for crying out loud?
Snitker took over the club on May 17th after the Braves got off to a 9-28 start under Fredi Gonzalez. The Braves went 59-65 the rest of the way. OK, that doesn't look impressive and the Braves did finish in last in the NL East a distant 26.5 games back of the Washington Nationals. But they did go 37-35 after the All-Star Break and went 18-10 in September/October.
The Braves were on pace to lose more than 100 games. Not only did Switker prevent that, he also prevented the club from having the worst record in the NL (the San Diego Padres and Cincinnati Reds share that honor). Pete Mackanin essentially did this with the Philadelphia Phillies last year and the Phillies gave him a vote of confidence. There's no reason the Braves shouldn't do the same with Switker.
But instead they have interviewed Terry Pendleton, Eddie Perez and Bo Porter as well as former Padres manager Bud Black and ex-Texas Rangers manager Ron Washington.
Brian Snitker has been with the Braves' organization for 40 years. He's given the Braves his heart and soul. The very least the Braves can do is give him a vote of confidence. But I've a bad feeling the Braves will give Snitker a raw deal.
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