Latest news with #AlexAnthopoulos
Yahoo
a day ago
- Sport
- Yahoo
Insider Sparks Debate on Braves' Brian Snitker Decision
Insider Sparks Debate on Braves' Brian Snitker Decision originally appeared on Athlon Sports. It's been a disappointing start to the Atlanta Braves' 2025 season, marked by uncertainty surrounding the team's direction and what to expect moving forward. Advertisement Even with the return of former NL MVP Ronald Acuna Jr. recently, the Braves haven't figured out how to win games and are currently on a six-game losing streak. Speculation has centered on manager Brian Snitker and how he's led the Atlanta Braves in 2025. At 27-36, the Braves are in fourth place in the NL East and are 13 games behind the division-leading New York Mets. The odds of Atlanta turning their season around and making their way into a Wild Card spot are slowly slipping away, and that's what seems to be happening to Brian Snitker's job as well. Atlanta Braves manager Brian Snitker (43)Credit: Brett Davis-Imagn Images MLB insider Ken Rosenthal believes that Braves' manager won't be fired in 2025 There have been a lot of negative comments filling the Braves that have centered around Brian Snitker and how he's led his team in 2025. Advertisement Insider Ken Rosenthal spoke on Foul Territory and said that manager Snitker won't be going anywhere this season unless he chooses to step down on his own. "I know fans don't want to hear this. They're screaming their heads off for his head, for [Alex] Anthopoulos' head, but I just don't expect they're going to make a change unless for some reason he decides to step down, and I don't expect Brian Snitker to quit on a season," Rosenthal said. Snitker has been at the helm for Atlanta after taking over in 2016 as the team's interim manager, and he's shown high success for the Braves since then, winning six division championships as well as a World Series title in 2021. Atlanta Braves right fielder Ronald Acuna Jr. and manager Brian Snitker in 2021Dale Zanine-Imagn Images Although Ken Rosenthal's comments are speculative, it's clear that Braves fans are frustrated with the team's current struggles. Advertisement Brian Snitker could be done as the team's manager after this season, but it seems to be unlikely that he gets booted out in 2025. This story was originally reported by Athlon Sports on Jun 8, 2025, where it first appeared.
New York Times
3 days ago
- Sport
- New York Times
Craig Kimbrel rejoins Braves 11 years later, and their losing streak continues
SAN FRANCISCO – More than 2 1/2 months after Craig Kimbrel signed a minor-league deal with the Atlanta Braves, and two weeks after he called general manager and president of baseball operations Alex Anthopoulos to tell him he was ready, the team's all-time saves leader finally made it back. The Braves added Kimbrel to the major league roster and joined the team in San Francisco for Friday's series opener against the Giants. He pitched a scoreless seventh inning in a game that ended like far too many have recently for the Braves — in a one-run loss, the fifth consecutive defeat for Atlanta and 12th in 15 games. Advertisement 'It feels good (to be back),' said Kimbrel, a 15-year veteran who began his career with the Braves but last pitched for them in 2014. 'I've been working hard for the last couple of months to get back here, and whatever the circumstances are, it's great to be back to come and help this ballclub. Throw up some zeroes, do my job and just enjoy it.' He threw up a zero, but he and the Braves didn't enjoy Friday night, which ended with another loss for Atlanta. The spiraling Braves have not enjoyed much lately. They lost 5-4 in 10 innings Friday on a walk-off wild pitch by Pierce Johnson, whose curveball bounced wide of Sean Murphy, allowing Tyler Fitzgerald to score as Atlanta absorbed its third consecutive one-run loss and fifth in the past 13 games. The Braves stink in close games, partly because of their bullpen but also because of their poor situational hitting. They were 1-for-9 with runners in scoring position Friday. They got a tying two-run homer from Matt Olson in the seventh inning, and nearly a grand slam by Alex Verdugo, whose fourth-inning fly sailed wide of the right-field foul pole. They left the bases loaded in the 10th, failing to score after advancing the ghost runner to third with one out. The Braves and Giants have each played 26 games decided by one run, tied for the most in the majors, and Atlanta has lost 17, while San Francisco has won 14. The Braves' 13-24 record in games decided by one or two runs is third-worst in the majors, better than the Chicago White Sox (6-24) and Colorado Rockies (9-22). That helps explain why the Braves are 27-35 and in fourth place in the National League East, 12 games behind the division-leading New York Mets and 3 1/2 games ahead of the last-place Florida Marlins. And so it goes. Kimbrel's fastballs Friday averaged 91.5 mph, far below the 97-99 mph heat he delivered during his closer heyday with the Braves more than a decade ago. He gave up a soft single and a walk to the first two batters he faced. Advertisement He got through the inning with three batters faced, thanks to a terrific throw by Murphy to throw out Heliot Ramos trying to steal second base and Kimbrel's pick-off of Jung Hoo Lee at first base. Kimbrel struck out Wilmer Flores to end the inning and keep the score 4-4. 'Kind of lucked out in it a little bit, obviously,' Snitker said. 'I'm glad he got through it. It's good to kind of get him out there for the first time. So, you know, we'll see.' Now pitching for your Atlanta Braves, number 46, Craig Kimbrel!#BravesCountry — Atlanta Braves (@Braves) June 7, 2025 The move to add Kimbrel, 37, came after Atlanta's bullpen imploded in one of the team's worst losses in recent memory Thursday, when the Arizona Diamondbacks scored seven runs in the ninth inning to win 11-10 in Atlanta. Before Friday's game, Kimbrel wished happy birthday to his son, Joseph, who turned 3 Friday, and talked about how pleased he was to rejoin the team with whom the Huntsville, Ala., native began his career. The team that his grandmother still watches play every game, and she was thrilled about Kimbrel wearing the 'A' on his cap again. The Braves put setup man Daysbel Hernández on the 15-day injured list Friday with forearm inflammation, and traded reliever Scott Blewett back to the Baltimore Orioles for cash, one day after Blewett was charged with five runs, including four in that ninth-inning collapse. They also recalled left-hander Dylan Dodd, attempting to do something, anything, to get things turned around with their bullpen and their team in general. 'I think where we're at right now, it's good to have two fresh arms,' Snitker said. Kimbrel rejoins the Braves at the Giants' ballpark where he pitched in the NL Division Series as a rookie in 2010, when he worked two perfect innings with four strikeouts in Game 2, the only win for Atlanta and retiring manager Bobby Cox in that series. Advertisement 'Yeah, the playoffs in 2010,' Kimbrel said, smiling at the memory. 'This still is one of my favorite ballparks, and moments (like that), things that you enjoy and you remember and that make them your favorite in your life. And that playoffs there was kind of my welcome to the big leagues moment. This place is electric when it's sold out in the playoffs, so it is good to be back.' Closer Billy Wagner strained an oblique in that Game 2 win, the last game pitched by the Hall of Famer, and Kimbrel, who was 22 at the time, was brought in with a runner on base and none out in the ninth inning of Game 4 in Atlanta, the Braves trailing 3-2. Kimbrel got three quick outs by striking out Buster Posey and getting Travis Ishikawa to ground into a double play. But the Braves failed to score in the bottom of the ninth. Kimbrel took over as closer in 2011, when he led the NL with 46 saves and a staggering 41.5 percent strikeout rate, piling up 127 strikeouts with 32 walks in 77 innings. He was the unanimous NL Rookie of the Year winner, ahead of teammate Freddie Freeman. It marked the first of four consecutive All-Star appearances for Kimbrel, who during that dizzying five-year span in 2010-2014 compiled a 1.43 ERA in 294 appearances for Atlanta, with 186 saves and 476 strikeouts in 289 innings. He finished in the top nine in Cy Young balloting each of those All-Star seasons and received MVP votes in three. In short, Kimbrel had one of the greatest five-year stretches of any closer in history, then was traded to San Diego just before Opening Day in 2015 when the Braves were shaving payroll and needed to move him to dump B.J. Upton's bad contract. Kimbrel has pitched for seven other major league teams since leaving Atlanta. He's never been as elite as he was with the Braves, but he had some standout seasons, making five more All-Star teams and also getting Cy Young votes in 2017 with the Boston Red Sox. Advertisement One year ago, he had a 2.10 ERA at the All-Star break with the Orioles, but he dealt with a balky back that worsened as the season progressed. After posting an 11.50 in 19 appearances after July 14, Baltimore released Kimbrel in September. He signed a minor-league deal with the Braves late in spring training, spent a few weeks in Florida pitching his way into game shape and then went to work in the minor leagues, making three Double A appearances before moving up to Triple-A Gwinnett and posting a 2.45 ERA in 15 appearances. Kimbrel had a recent stretch of seven scoreless appearances in which he allowed two hits and two walks with 10 strikeouts in seven innings before giving up two hits and two runs in his final appearance Wednesday. He had a clause in his contract that would force the Braves to bring him to the majors or release him if another team made a major-league offer. 'I mean, it was tough,' he said of waiting. 'This is where I want to be. It came out that (going elsewhere if offered a contract with another team) was an option, but I wanted to be here in Atlanta. This is the team, the jersey I want put on. Obviously, I wanted to be a couple weeks ago, but I didn't let it bother me too much, because I still got work to do. 'I knew at some point I was going to be throwing the ball, and I'm glad it's right now.' The clause in his contract wasn't a factor. 'There's a couple different reasons for that,' Kimbrel said candidly. 'I mean, obviously you got to have suitors on the other side as well, right? So, some of those things just didn't work out.' Friday, he was back with the Braves, pitching on a mound where he made a lasting memory 15 years earlier. 'I told him, I said, 'I remember kind of when he became Craig Kimbrel was here,'' said Snitker, who was the third base coach on that 2010 team and saw Kimbrel warm up with particular gusto in the postseason. 'After Billy pulled his oblique, I remember (Kimbrel) warming up and thinking, yeah, that's something special right there.' Snitker added, 'It's good to see him. He's worked hard to get back here. So, hopefully he can help us out.'
New York Times
4 days ago
- Sport
- New York Times
After hitting ‘rock bottom,' Braves can still salvage their season – if they snap out of it
The Atlanta Braves are 27-34, 11 games back in the NL East, 1 1/2 games behind rebuilding Washington and only 3 1/2 ahead of lowly Miami. After their latest misstep, a blown six-run lead in the ninth inning Thursday against Arizona, their broadcaster and Hall of Fame pitcher Tom Glavine said, 'If you were looking for rock bottom, this might be it.' Advertisement The tendency, in this age of overreaction, is to project the Braves as trade-deadline sellers and start listing potential landing spots for designated hitter Marcell Ozuna. But through the same date a year ago, the New York Mets were 27-35 and the Houston Astros 28-35, records nearly identical to the Braves' current mark. Both teams finished with nearly 90 wins and reached the postseason. If the Braves fail to ignite, it will be fair to question whether they lost too much of their fabric with the free-agent departures of first baseman Freddie Freeman, shortstop Dansby Swanson and left-hander Max Fried over a four-year span. Whether president of baseball operations Alex Anthopoulos created too comfortable an environment by awarding so many players extensions. Whether Anthopoulos last offseason should have done more to address his offense and bullpen. But more than 100 games remain. As poorly as the Braves are playing, the recoveries of the 2024 Mets and Astros are testaments to the dangers of passing judgment on a team too soon. So, for that matter, is the example of the 2021 World Series champion Braves, who at this stage of the season were 29-32. The 162-game marathon, combined with an expanded playoff format, allows teams to recover from a bad month or even three. The Braves are unlikely to even consider selling unless they are buried at the All-Star break. Their replacement of third-base coach Matt Tuiasosopo with former manager Fredi Gonzalez on Monday was not a warning shot at manager Brian Snitker, who has led the team to seven straight postseason appearances and is in his 49th year with the organization. No, it was simply a response to two seasons of Tuiasosopo making poor decisions. A change team officials deemed necessary. Snitker isn't blameless. The Braves aren't going to fire him after all he has achieved, but this sure looks like his last season. On Thursday alone, he could have stuck longer with right-hander Grant Holmes rather than start the bullpen carousel by lifting him after 3 1/3 innings. Still, the Braves took their six-run lead into the ninth. At some point, their disappointing performance is on the players, from center fielder Michael Harris II to second baseman Ozzie Albies to closer Raisel Iglesias. Advertisement By this time a year ago, the Mets already had started their turnaround. The Astros got going about two weeks later. But not every club reaches its desired destination. Another projected contender last season, the Texas Rangers, showed how some teams never recover from faulty starts, missing the playoffs one year after winning the World Series. The Braves, if they don't snap out of it, could be this year's Rangers. Their plus-6 run differential indicates their record should be above .500, yet they are seven games under. They have played a major-league-high 25 one-run games, and are only 9-16 in those contests. Even with the deadline offering an opportunity for improvement, an opportunity Anthopoulos seized to catapult his club to a championship in 2021, the strength of the NL this season adds to the degree of difficulty. The Braves need more from their offense, which, before their 10-run eruption Thursday, was tied with the Marlins for 22nd in runs per game. They also need to fix their bullpen, which underwent another shakeup after Thursday's shocking ninth-inning collapse — Daysbel Hernández to the injured list, Scott Blewett designated for assignment and Craig Kimbrel and Dylan Dodd up from Triple A. Yet, for all the Braves' middle-inning maneuvering, the biggest problem remains closer Raisel Iglesias, whose .956 opponents' OPS essentially means he is turning every hitter into Pete Alonso. Not even the highly anticipated returns of right-hander Spencer Strider and right fielder Ronald Acuña Jr. altered the Braves' trajectory. Strider is trying to regain his form after missing all of 2024 recovering from Tommy John surgery and nearly a month this season with a strained right hamstring. Acuña, coming off nearly a yearlong absence due to a torn ACL in his left knee, is performing better than the Braves could have expected, batting .333 with four home runs and a 1.056 OPS. Yet the team is 3-9 since his return. Bad breaks are part of this. The loss of right-hander Reynaldo López to shoulder inflammation after one start. The offseason knee surgery that might sideline setup man Joe Jiménez all season. The 80-game suspension to left fielder Jurickson Profar for testing positive for PEDs. Advertisement Well, all teams deal with injuries. The $42 million investment in Profar, based on his outlier campaign in 2024, was always going to be a gamble. And even the regressions of Harris (.590 OPS) and Albies (.658) reflect the volatility in individual performance that is part of the game. The Braves never expected catcher Drake Baldwin and outfielder Eli White to make such positive contributions, either. Early in the offseason, Anthopoulos orchestrated a series of moves to create payroll flexibility, trading designated hitter Jorge Soler, allowing catcher Travis d'Arnaud to depart as a free agent and restructuring the contracts of López and reliever Aaron Bummer. The Braves later lost Fried, right-hander Charlie Morton and reliever A.J. Minter to free agency as well. Profar turned out to be Anthopoulos' only significant addition. And the team, under its Liberty Media ownership, wound up with a lower payroll. Fried might win a Cy Young Award, but the Braves never were going to sign him to the $218 million contract he received from the New York Yankees, and their rotation isn't a problem. Anthopoulos non-tendered Griffin Canning, the pitcher he acquired from the Los Angeles Angels for Soler, and the Mets turned Canning into a potential All-Star. But none of the other players Anthopoulos lost is haunting him. His plan just isn't unfolding the way he envisioned. The way the Braves are constructed, an offense that set records in 2023 should be capable of succeeding with light-hitting Nick Allen at shortstop, just as the Astros once thrived with Martín Maldonado at catcher. A better version of outfielder Jarred Kelenic, an Anthopoulos acquisition from last offseason who earned a demotion at Triple A, surely would help. But the Braves shouldn't need to rely on him, either. Some seasons are like this. Some years it doesn't just work out. The Braves are talented enough to bounce back like they did in 2021, and like the Mets and Astros did last season. But at some point, they've got to show it. And they sure aren't showing it yet. (Top photo of Brian Snitker: Todd Kirkland / Getty Images)
Reuters
6 days ago
- Business
- Reuters
Braves hire ex-skipper Fredi Gonzalez to fix 3B coaching woes
June 3 - The Atlanta Braves brought back former manager Fredi Gonzalez back to coach third base on Tuesday after a series of base-running blunders. He replaces Matt Tuiasosopo, who accepted a new position as a minor league infield coordinator. The Braves have seen four runners thrown out at home plate this season, including a crucial ninth-inning play in a 2-1 loss to the San Diego Padres on May 23 and an easy cut-down of Alex Verdugo by Boston Red Sox outfielder Jarren Duran in a 7-6 loss on May 17. It's a role reversal as Gonzalez, 61, joins manager Brian Snitker's coaching staff. Snitker was the third-base coach for the first two years of Gonzalez's stint as Atlanta's skipper from 2011-16. The Braves had a .512 winning percentage under Gonzalez and made the playoffs in 2012 and 2013. But after a 67-95 record in 2015 and a rough start to 2016, Snitker replaced Gonzalez in May of that year. General manager Alex Anthopoulos said the team didn't seriously consider making the change at third base until Sunday, and that Gonzalez's availability was key to the decision. "If he hadn't been available, I can't tell you we would have made this move, because it wasn't just make it to make it," Anthopoulos said, per The Athletic. "It had to be the right person and someone that could hit the ground running that we knew would be successful at it. And Fredi's proven that at the big-league level for years." Gonzalez also managed the Miami Marlins from 2007-10, winning The Sporting News Manager of the Year award in 2008, and returned to the Marlins to coach third base from 2017-19. Most recently, he spent five seasons coaching with the Baltimore Orioles before being let go at the end of the 2024 campaign. --Field Level Media
New York Times
03-06-2025
- Business
- New York Times
Braves replace third-base coach with former manager Fredi González after multiple bad sends
ATLANTA — The first casualty of the Atlanta Braves' disappointing performance this season is third-base coach Matt Tuiasosopo, who was reassigned Monday to a minor league position and replaced by Fredi González, the former Braves manager and third-base coach. González, 61, most recently spent five years on the Baltimore Orioles staff including three seasons as bench coach before being let go along with two other coaches after the 2024 season. He was the Braves' manager from 2011 until being fired in May 2016, when González was replaced by current Braves manager Brian Snitker. Advertisement González had been working this year as an umpire evaluator based in Philadelphia, where he visited with Snitker last week during the Braves' series against the Phillies that ended Thursday. Alex Anthopoulos, Braves general manager and president of baseball operations, said this was the first time in his 14 seasons as a GM that he made a coaching change during a season, and indicated the move came down to several decisions made by Tuiasosopo to send runners who were thrown out at home plate. 'There's been some aggressive sends, and that's part of the job,' Anthopoulos said. 'But the results, from my standpoint — and in talking to Snit he understood and he ultimately agreed — I felt like we could do better. A guy like Fredi, all the work I've done on him as a third-base coach — he's had a ton of experience doing it, and people rave about him as the third-base coach. The reviews I've gotten is (he's) as good a third-base coach as you're going to find. So, the opportunity to get someone like him in-season is rare. He wasn't available in years past. 'And if he hadn't been available, I can't tell you we would have made this move, because it wasn't just make it to make it. It had to be the right person and someone that could hit the ground running that we knew would be successful at it. And Fredi's proven that at the big league level for years.' González was a third-base coach for legendary Braves manager Bobby Cox from 2003-2006. After a stint as Marlins manager from 2007 through June 2010 — when he was fired less than years after winning The Sporting News 2008 Manager of the Year Award — González was hired as manager by the Braves after the 2010 season to replace the retiring Cox. Under González, the Braves won an NL East title (2013) and had three second-place finishes in his first four seasons, but slipped to fourth with a 67-95 record in 2015, and were 9-28 in 2016 when he was fired and replaced by Snitker, another former Braves third-base coach who was promoted from Triple-A manager to be interim Atlanta manager. Advertisement The interim label was eventually dropped and Snitker, 69, has continued to manage the Braves since. He's in the final year of his contract and the Braves are off to a 27-31 start, in fourth place in the division and 9 1/2 games behind the first-place New York Mets. The Braves are 9-14 in one-run games and 13-20 in games decided by one or two runs, results that figured into the decision to replace Tuiasosopo, who was promoted from the Triple-A staff after the 2023 season to become Atlanta's third-base coach after Ron Washington left the Braves to become manager of the Los Angeles Angels. Tuisasosopo, 39, had also shared infield instructor duties with bench coach Walt Weiss, the job that Washington formerly handled with such aplomb and accolades. Anthopoulos said Weiss would continue to oversee infield instruction. 'Ultimately it's the results at third base, and it's not for lack of preparation or effort or anything,' Anthopoulos said of changing third-base coaches now. '(Tuiasosopo) is beloved in the clubhouse, beloved by the coaches, did a phenomenal job in this organization for years in the minors, did a great job at third in Gwinnett. But unfortunately, like what happens with players, you see closers lose their jobs at times and change roles, you see players change roles over time. 'We've been in a lot of close games. We've got a lot of areas that we can still improve upon. And in my view as a front office and as a coaching staff, we need to look for every area that we can get better, you know? So, tough decision, but Snit and I talked about it initially on Sunday, spoke again (Monday) morning, talked at length this morning about it, and then finally came to the agreement that this was the right decision to move forward, and contacted Tui soon thereafter.' (Photo of González: Daniel Shirey / Getty Images)
