Atlanta Braves choose cultural continuity in selecting Walt Weiss to be next manager

The Atlanta Braves have a new skipper, and it's a very familiar face.

Walt Weiss, the club’s bench coach since 2018, was named the 49th manager in franchise history on Monday. He takes over for longtime head man Brian Snitker; the 2021 World Series winner retired last month after a decade in the big chair. The Braves, as is typical for the most tight-lipped organization in MLB, posted the news themselves.

This will be the second managerial gig of Weiss’ career. The 14-year big leaguer and 1988 AL Rookie of the Year helmed the Colorado Rockies, for whom he played four years, from 2013-16. That tenure was decidedly unfruitful, as Weiss posted a 283-365 record with an undermanned roster in Denver. After a year off, he joined the Braves as Snitker’s right-hand man for the 2018 season. Since then, the goateed 61-year-old has been a steady presence and key character during this extremely prosperous period of Atlanta baseball.

As such, his hiring represents cultural continuity for a Braves team coming off its worst season since 2017. Atlanta finished a distant fourth in the NL East, with a paltry 76-86 record. In an embarrassingly weak National League field — the Reds made the playoffs, despite being just four games over .500 — the Braves concluded the campaign seven games adrift in the standings.

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Injuries and underperformance were dual culprits behind Atlanta’s disappointing 2025. Ronald Acuña Jr., Sean Murphy, Austin Riley, Chris Sale, Spencer Schwellenbach and Reynaldo López all missed significant chunks of time. Michael Harris II and Marcell Ozuna took steps back offensively. Spencer Strider failed to rediscover his peak form after missing all of 2024 while recovering from Tommy John surgery. Major free-agent signing Jurickson Profar was limited to 80 games after being hit with a PED suspension late in spring training.

So now Weiss is tasked with getting things back on track for a franchise that made seven consecutive postseasons, including winning six NL East titles, between 2018-24. It certainly doesn’t look like the most imposing turnaround job in MLB history; this Braves roster still has a plethora of enviable pieces. Simply put, another October spent on vacation would be considered a massive disappointment.

By promoting from within, the Braves and president of baseball operations Alex Anthopoulos are effectively doubling down on the status quo. Weiss is a known commodity. He knows the organization, and the organization knows him. He has been with the big-league club longer than every current Braves player except Ozzie Albies.

Critically, the players respect Weiss and listen to what he has to say. For an outside hire, that would have been an open question — or at least a process. Instead, the Braves can plug and play. It’s a sign that Antholopolous and his very small inner circle view 2025 as an aberration, not the start of a trend.

Weiss and his predecessor are, obviously, their own men. But both are cut from a gruff, hold-no-punches, old-school cloth. Like Snitker, Weiss is direct, honest, unapologetic. But while Snitker was no dinosaur, expect the new guy to be a bit more nimble with the analytical intricacies of modern baseball. Weiss’ hiring also means that Atlanta’s 2026 coaching staff will likely feature many of the same characters as in years past, though his bench coach role will need filling.

That it took more than a month between Snitker’s stepping down and Weiss’ stepping in is undeniably compelling. This was far from a preordained succession plan, even though Snitker was at Weiss’ introductory news conference on Tuesday. In the time since Snitker announced his retirement on Oct. 1, the Rangers, Angels, Giants, Twins, Nationals and Orioles all introduced new managers. That implies that Anthopoulos and Co., at the very least, discussed and considered making an outside hire.

But while a number of coaches were linked to this job — Tigers bench Coach George Lombard, Dodgers bench coach Danny Lehman, former Mets bench coach and big-league skipper John Gibbons — the buttoned-up nature of Atlanta’s front office has thus far prevented news of any interviews from leaking to the public. 

That is, from a pessimist’s perspective, the biggest critique of Weiss’ promotion. The Braves have grown increasingly insular in recent years. That consistency can be valuable, but it also heightens the risk of an institution growing stale and stagnant. Weiss isn’t likely to arrive with any groundbreaking, new ideas — something that might have been helpful for an Atlanta team trying to keep pace in a rapidly evolving baseball world.

He is more of the same, which, considering how successful the Braves have been in recent years, might a good thing.