Snitker retires as Braves manager, with press conference video (to be updated);
Brian Snitker’s days as the Braves manager have ended, but he will still experience his 50th straight season as a member of the organization next year.
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End of an Era in Atlanta
To be updated mid afternoon
Snitker will not extend his managerial career into the 2026 season, the club announced in a statement on Wednesday. The 69-year-old baseball lifer is moving into an advisory role with the club and will be inducted into the Braves Hall of Fame next year.
There was an assumption this year that Snitker would retire from managing once his contract expired at the end of the season. But in recent weeks, he seemed to be reconsidering.
As the Braves neared the end of their first losing season since 2017, Snitker began to think he may not want this injury-tarnished season to be the last chapter of his long and successful career, which included serving as the Braves manager for the past 10 years.
Snitker became the Braves interim manager six weeks into the 2016 season and immediately earned the respect of veterans like Freddie Freeman and Nick Markakis, who fought for him to remain in the role once the season ended.
The Braves were in the process of rebuilding when Snitker became the manager, and they tasted success much earlier than expected when they won the 2018 National League East. This was the first of six straight division crowns.
Snitker’s teams earned a seventh straight postseason berth in 2024, despite Ronald Acuña Jr., Spencer Strider, Sean Murphy, Ozzie Albies, Austin Riley and Michael Harris Jr. all missing at least two months because of injuries. This year’s club was unable to overcome placing every member of the Opening Day rotation on the 60-day injured list at some point during the season.
Snitker began his professional playing career as a catcher within the Braves system in 1977. Hank Aaron, then the team’s farm director, moved him into a coaching role in 1980 and gave him his first managerial job with Class A Anderson (S.C.) in 1982.
John Smoltz’s introduction to Snitker in an Instructional League setting led him to consider the young coach the most intimidating coach he encountered during his Hall of Fame career.
Snitker has influenced the careers of countless Braves players over each of the past five decades. His crowning achievement occurred in 2021, when he joined his mentor Bobby Cox as the only managers in Atlanta history to lead the Braves to a World Series title.