In a lot of ways, Walt Weiss is not Brian Snitker.
And that is a good thing.
Unlike Snitker, he played in the major leagues, grinding out 14 seasons, including three with the Braves. He has been a part of four organizations, where Snitker, who retired as Braves manager at the end of the regular season, famously worked for only one. They are different people.
“He’s a little bit more fiery than ‘Snit,’” Hall of Famer Chipper Jones, a Braves teammate of Weiss’, told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
But Weiss is similar to Snitker in that both have been inculcated in the Braves’ way of doing things. Weiss was at Snitker’s right hand for the past eight seasons as his bench coach. They contributed to a run of success that made the Braves the envy of the game. That also is a good thing.
At his introductory news conference Tuesday at Truist Park, Weiss spoke of learning patience from Snitker, a quality Snitker undoubtedly absorbed from his many years with Hall of Famer Bobby Cox. Weiss spoke about going into Snitker’s office after losses to offer his presence as his boss stewed over the game.
“And, you know, usually it was him giving me the therapy,” Weiss said.
That’s what makes the hire of Weiss by Braves president of baseball operations and general manager Alex Anthopoulos a commendable one. Weiss has a fundamental understanding of how and why the Braves have been successful, but also has earned the opportunity to lead the team in his own way after Snitker did the job in his fashion for the past nine-plus seasons.
Weiss acknowledged it Tuesday, saying how he would have happily continued serving as Snitker’s bench coach for another 10 years because of how much he loved working for him.
On the other hand, “Our personalities are very different,” Weiss said. “We’re two different people.”
Credit: Daniel Varnado/For the Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Credit: Daniel Varnado/For the Atlanta Journal-Constitution
You probably don’t like this hire if you’re not happy with the state of the Braves. They didn’t make the postseason this year and, despite the seven consecutive playoff appearances that preceded it, they made the World Series only once in that span (which they won).
And if you fit into that category, you might be interested to know there are Dodgers fans who were on X (formerly Twitter) calling for manager Dave Roberts’ firing DURING THE WORLD SERIES.
It’s also possible to live in a world where winning six consecutive division titles (and a World Series) is a worthy accomplishment and to believe that the culture and leadership qualities that helped the team achieve that success are worth continuing.
It’s not the only reason to hire Weiss, but it’s certainly part of it. Weiss will start spring training with a feel for the clubhouse and the respect of players that no external candidate could have. Particularly for a team that will go into 2026 with a roster capable of returning to the postseason and competing for a World Series title, that matters.
“It sounds weird, but it takes the better part of a year to truly understand your team,” Weiss said. “I’m talking about getting to know them on a deep level — what makes them tick, what situations they thrive in, even down to their body language and those types of things that we read into.”
But Weiss’ candidacy was far more than that. What was most curious about Anthopoulos’ search — that he took a month before hiring a candidate who had been coming to work at Truist Park for the past eight years — actually validates it.
No one would have found it odd if Weiss had been named the manager the day after Snitker’s retirement was announced. So the longer the search went on, the easier it became to connect the dots that Weiss wasn’t going to be hired. Even Weiss himself wondered.
“There were times where I thought maybe the ship had sailed,” he said.
But, as he does, Anthopoulos was interviewing candidates (he declined to provide a number, leaving it only at “a lot”) and doing the background work that he places significant value in. It was only Saturday, when the World Series reached Game 7 and the offseason was about to begin in earnest, that he felt the nudge to make a decision. Anthopoulos determined Weiss was the right candidate only after a lot of work.
“This is a real responsibility, and we owed it to make sure that we left no stone unturned and were as thorough as we could be, even if that was someone that was somebody internal,” Anthopoulos said.
Anthopoulos noted that in his two managerial hires as the Toronto GM, he went outside the organization for both.
“I never had a thought process of, it needs to be internal,” he said. “It’s the best person, period. You hear different things about, ‘Well, the roster …' and this and that — the rosters change. You can change the manager at the same time. You need the right person, the right individual, no matter where they come from. And (Weiss) stood out as the right man for the job.”
It’s easy to look at Weiss’ record in his four seasons at Colorado (283-365, no winning seasons) and doubt his capacity to fulfill the job. But it’s worth noting that he took over a team that, the year before his hire, had set a franchise record for lowest winning percentage.
Further, when Weiss took the job, he had been out of baseball for the previous four years, choosing to devote himself to his family. Also, the Rockies were getting vastly outspent in their division by the Dodgers and Giants. And, for that matter, that was before he had spent eight seasons as a bench coach with the Braves.
“Look, the circumstances, they couldn’t be more different,” Weiss said.
As always, time will tell. But, at this early date, the hire of Walt Weiss makes a good deal of sense.
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