The Braves Report: packing up is tough; will Snitker be back? Who else wants to come back? Observations
May be updated
Understatement: Snit would like to come back
Column: giddy season ends as new era begins
From beat writers Gabe Burns/Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Mark Bowman/MLB.com, and David O’Brien/The Athletic on Twitter (and others when notable)
Snitker, whose contract is up, expects to hear about his status by end of the week. (To reiterate, there is absolutely no reason to think he won’t be brought back.)/DOB
They needn't promise Sanchez a rotation spot or anything, but a starter/long relief role as appropriate - and keeping him in the clubhouse - would be wise./GB
Braves general manager Alex Anthopoulos will wait until early next week to announce the 2019 coaching staff. He has been meeting with manager Brian Snitker and all of the coaches since around 10 a.m. ET. They have reviewed the season and gained a feel for next year's plans./MB
Anthopoulos has routinely taken a patient and methodical approach to every decision. Still, the delayed announcement leads me to think there may be at least a tweak or two to the coaching staff. With that being said, I'm maintaining the assumption Snitker will be the manager/MB
Kimbrel is going to get one more huge contract, and I don't know that the Braves would or should get him just because he was terrific here before. He's still great, but huge reliever contracts generally don't work out well. I'd trade for a couple of established relievers./DOB
On a team that puts so much emphasis (rightfully so) on infield defense, signing Machado to a huge contract to play either 3B or SS flies in the face of that whole strategy. If I'm spending a pile of money on one hitter, it's Harper. Would be much better fit for this team IMO./DOB
Harper also hits a lot of balls a hell of a long way and scares the pee out of pitchers./DOB
Harper hit .300 with a .434 OBP and .538 slugging percentage after the All-Star break. And in a "down" year he had 34 homers, 100 RBIs, .393 OBP and .889 OPS./DOB