The Braves have fired manager Fredi Gonzalez, the team announced on Tuesday. Brian Snitker, formerly the manager at Triple-A Gwinnett, has been named to replace Gonzalez in an interim role.
As well, the Braves also fired bench coach Carlos Tosca. Gwinnett pitching coach Marty Reed has joined the club as bullpen coach, Terry Pendleton will move from first base coach to bench coach, and Eddie Perez will move from bullpen coach to first base coach.
The Braves enter play Tuesday with a 9-28 record on the season. That's an awful mark, to be sure, but the team is in the midst of a deep rebuild and for 2016 handed Gonzalez a roster that was major-league in name only. As a consequence, Gonzalez becomes the first manager fired in 2016.
Gonzalez, 52, had been at the helm in Atlanta since the start of the 2011 season. Over that span, he compiled a 434-413 (.512) record with the Braves. On Gonzalez's watch, the Braves won an NL East title in 2013 and a wild-card berth in 2013. However, Gonzalez's teams went just 1-4 in postseason play.
Prior to his Braves stint, Gonzalez spent three-and-a-half seasons as manager of the Marlins. In all, he's compiled a 710-692 record across parts of 10 seasons as a big-league manager.
As for Snitker, 60, he's been the manager of Triple-A Gwinnett since the start of the 2014 season. Prior to that, Snitker spent seven seasons as the Braves' third base coach. Jerry Crasnick tweets that Snitker, according to a source, will remain Braves' manager for the remainder of the 2016 season.
Not long ago, a report surfaced that former Padres manager Bud Black was the favorite to lead the Braves in 2017, as they move into a new suburban ballpark.
