Hire of Walt Weiss to manage Braves not exciting, but not wrong, either
On the surface, it might appear that the selection of Walt Weiss to succeed Brian Snitker as Braves manager means that Alex Anthopoulos has hired a Snitker clone, for better or worse.
But just because Weiss was his bench coach and No. 2 from 2018 through this past season doesn’t make it so.
First, no two people are the same. Second, for instance, Weiss is thought to be a more fiery personality than Snitker, which Braves fans might welcome.
It’s not a jaw-dropping hire. But it makes sense.
For the same reason that Los Angeles Dodgers bench coach Danny Lehmann was thought to be an appealing candidate — the lieutenant for a highly successful team — you could say the same of Weiss.
He contributed to the team’s seven consecutive postseasons. And if you counter that by saying, “Yeah, well, he was just an assistant coach,” then you probably should say that about Lehmann. Being able to suggest that Shohei Ohtani stay in the lineup makes any candidate look better.
Weiss is intricately familiar with how and why the Braves earned seven consecutive playoff appearances, including six National League East titles in a row. Not only that, but he played for manager Bobby Cox and was a part of three consecutive NL East champions.
That should count for something.
And, given that he has been on the bench for eight years, he clearly is a fit with this team, something that Anthopoulos takes seriously.
Further, he comes with managerial experience, having been the Colorado Rockies skipper from 2013-16.
For whatever it’s worth, it has the approval of Chipper Jones, who posted, “Love this dude” of Weiss, who shared the left side of the infield with the Hall of Famer for those three seasons.
It’s a safe and perhaps boring decision. But it probably will also prove to be the right one.
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.
