If this is it for Brian Snitker, he’s not getting the send-off he deserves
There would have been speeches, tributes and gifts. A lot of laughs, maybe some tears and a warm standing ovation for a job well done.
If this is indeed the end, after 49 years of service to the Braves organization, the final nine-plus seasons as manager, Brian Snitker could have been properly celebrated at Truist Park this weekend during the final series of the season, just as his mentor Bobby Cox was 15 years earlier at Turner Field at the end of his Hall of Fame career.
Snitker always will be remembered as the skipper of the 2021 World Series championship team and the leader of teams that won six consecutive National League East titles and made seven postseason trips in a row. Beyond that, he is respected and admired throughout the organization.
And for that, if the three-game series against Pittsburgh that begins Friday turns out to be his last at his post, he deserves all of the thanks and appreciation, to say nothing of the knowledge that it is indeed the end.
But it won’t happen, and that is truly unfortunate.
At least publicly, Snitker’s future is uncertain. Whether he wants to return in 2026 or whether he would be allowed to are both questions that don’t have clear answers.
President of baseball operations and general manager Alex Anthopoulos and chairman Terry McGuirk appear to be fine with that, Anthopoulos saying it will be addressed after the season ends.
But is the decision so monumental that, if Snitker is not extended an invitation to return, couldn’t it have been made two weeks ago?
What was so important that a meeting or even a series of meetings to make the decision couldn’t have been held as the season was concluding?
But the Braves have allowed this lack of clarity to persist. On Sept. 9, Anthopoulos said Snitker “is going to be in this organization forever.” It was meant as praise, but it is not difficult to recognize that it was not the same thing as saying that Snitker is welcome to return as the club’s manager next season.
Snitker isn’t owed that privilege, despite his loyalty and his successful seasons leading the Braves. There are reasons to bring him back and reasons to encourage him to retire.
But, because of his loyalty, success and decency, you’d like to think that Anthopoulos and McGuirk could offer more clarity than that.
Instead, he’s left to answer questions like those he faced Wednesday, following the team’s 4-3 loss to the Washington Nationals. After another strong start by pitcher Bryce Elder, Snitker was asked by Mark Bowman of MLB.com about the depth of the starting rotation after a series of injuries.
“Hopefully, we’ve still got to stay away from injuries and, too, realistically, we’ve got a lot of guys that, when we get to Florida, it’s going to be a lot of question marks — where they’re at and things like that,” he said.
When we get to Florida.
Perhaps it was just force of habit. Or maybe he believes that, as long as he’s captain of the ship, he should not give any indication that he might not have the same role next year. Or maybe he really does want to return.
I posed a follow-up question about the comment about spring training.
“For now, I’m still here,” Snitker said. “So that’s why I’m speaking in that tense.”
“For now, I’m still here” is what an interim manager says, not someone bound for the team’s Hall of Fame.
Some of the responsibility for this situation lies with Snitker because of his own uncertainty. It was widely believed that this year would be his last. He is 69 years old — the same age as Cox when he retired — and on the last year of his contract. He has grandchildren he relishes. Retirement makes all the sense in the world.
But the disappointment of the season has evidently caused him to consider returning to try to go out on a better note. That’s why Braves leadership is in this position.
But, again, while Anthopoulos and McGuirk don’t have to give him the option to come back, what they could have done is determine before the end of the season if that is or isn’t an option and communicated that to him rather than leaving him in a position to answer questions about a future that apparently isn’t entirely under his control.
Maybe they’ve done all that and Snitker is keeping it under his hat. But it doesn’t make sense not to make that clear. If he decides to retire, the question will always remain if it was his own decision.
It would seem that Snitker will walk off the field Sunday without knowing for sure if it’s his last game and, further, without knowing if the decision is up to him. For someone who has done his job as loyally and effectively as Snitker has, that doesn’t feel right at all.
About the Author
Ken Sugiura is a sports columnist at the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Formerly the Georgia Tech beat reporter, Sugiura started at the AJC in 1998 and has covered a variety of beats, mostly within sports.
