Brian Snitker, Braves Agree to Contract Extension Through 2023
Tim Daniels@TimDanielsBR
Featured ColumnistFebruary 26, 2021
The Atlanta Braves announced Friday they signed manager Brian Snitker to a contract extension through the 2023 MLB season with a club option for 2024.
Braves general manager Alex Anthopoulos said he's "thrilled" the sides agreed to a new deal:
Snitker was elevated to interim manager in May 2016 following the dismissal of Fredi Gonzalez and was named the club's full-time manager that October.
The 65-year-old, who's been a member of the Braves organization in various capacities for more than four decades, has guided Atlanta to three consecutive NL East division titles. The club advanced to the NLCS in 2020 before losing to the eventual World Series champion Los Angeles Dodgers in seven games.
Snitker has posted a 353-317 record over the past four-plus years, and the Braves' 222 wins since the start of 2018 rank sixth in MLB. He was named the NL Manager of the Year in 2018 and finished in the top four of the voting for the award in each of the past two seasons.
He's garnered the support of his star-studded roster with an old-school approach that includes a quick defense of his players akin to longtime Braves skipper Bobby Cox.
"He has a lot of good traits, but that's one of his best ones," Atlanta shortstop Dansby Swanson said. "He always has your back regardless of what's going on. Sometimes, even when you're wrong, he's going to have your back. That's just his M.O."
Snitker and the Braves face a major challenge to repeat as division champions in 2021, however, as the New York Mets, Philadelphia Phillies and Washington Nationals all upgraded their rosters in the offseason to create a legitimate four-team race in the NL East.
"We hope with another year's growth of our young players and the additions that we have, that we're gonna be right there with all those guys," Snitker told Chris Russo of the MLB Network. "It's a tough division."
Atlanta opens its spring training schedule Sunday against the Tampa Bay Rays and kicks off the regular season April 1 when it visits Citizens Bank Park to take on the Phillies.
