Walt Weiss Introductory Press Conference

Walt Weiss Introductory Press Conference

Good morning and welcome to Truis Park. Before we get started, I’d like to recognize a few special guests that are in attendance today. Um, Walt’s family, his wife Terry, his boys Blake, Bo, and Brock, and Brody joining us virtually. Uh, Brian Snicker, and Chipper Jones. We will start with some opening remarks followed by questions from the media. And now I’ll turn things over to Alexopoulos, president of baseball operations and general manager. Alex, thank you everyone for coming. Um, thank you to Walt’s family, his wife Terry, and his three boys that are here. Um, obviously this has been a long process for us to to get this done. Um, first and foremost, I want to thank our our chairman, Terry Mcgherk, for his support uh throughout this whole entire process and the entire baseball operations team. Uh, I know it took a little longer than everybody everybody expected or wanted. Uh, but this was important for us. It was important for us to get it right. Uh it was a rare opportunity for us to really ca canvas uh the entire game teams the league talk to as many people do as much background work as we could and ultimately uh that search came came back to Walt and um I couldn’t be more excited. Um his experience um his character, his work ethic is exactly what what we want here and um we expect great things going forward and we get expect to get back to the playoffs going forward. So, with that, um, want to present him with his jersey and his hat. He’s going to switch from four to 22, what he wore as a as a player, and I just want to congratulate Walt on the new manager of the Braves. All right. And we’ll do we’ll do a photo and you hold first. You hold one side. Yeah. And then we’ll Yeah. Good. Thanks, Mitch. Dramatic pause here for the buttons. Looks good. You get one one button at the top. I get one. He gets one button. Congratulations. [Applause] Floor is yours. Yeah. Well, yeah. Uh, like Alex said, thanks for for being here. Um, you know, it’s uh it’s been an interesting process. You know, I think um very excited once uh Snit stepped away and and and I became a part of this. Um it was something I was I got really excited about. So, you know, my my history here, my my last eight years, I think um you I’m hoping it’ll be a a seamless transition here because of the relationships, not only with the players, but the the front office, you know, there the support staff, there’s there’s respect and trust that that’s that flows up and down the chain of command. And so, I think um you know, for that reason, we can we we can hit the ground running. You know, it’s um you know, the first time I did this, it it was uh I came to realize that I mean, it sounds weird, but it it takes the better part of a year to truly understand your team. Um I’m I’m talking about, you know, getting getting to know them on a deep level, what makes them tick, you know, what situations they thrive in, um even down to their body language and and those types of things that we read into. So, that’s a process that takes the better part of a year. And I think uh you know, the fact that I’ve been here and and a lot of those things are already established, like I said, we can hit the ground running. But, um um that being said, I want I want I want to throw out some thank yous. Also, uh um my family, uh my four boys, they’re my four best friends. And um you know, my wife who for for 35 years has navigated this baseball life to perfection. So, um, you know, grateful grateful for the people in in in in my life. Um, thank you to Terry, Terry Mcgherk, and, uh, same name as my wife, Terry. Make that clear to everybody. And and and and thank you to, uh, to Alex. Um, and and and everybody else that was involved in in in in this coming to fruition. Um, look, I understand I I understand the the the impact of this Braves brand, played here for three years, you know, obviously coached for eight years. I understand the the the wide reaching fan base, you know, the the history of of this brand and how and how important it is to a lot of people and how how many people have worked really hard to make this brand. Um, really one of the envies of the sports world when you consider, like I said, our our our farreaching fan base goes coast to coast. Uh, this venue we play in, uh, the the history here, the success, the Hall of Famers, um, and ultimately the people, you know, it’s it’s the standards are really high, the expectations are high, and that it’s a good thing. It means you’re doing something right. But um you know and and I want to say thank you to to Snit. I mean without SNIT um I wouldn’t be here. You know Snit and Bobby Cox brought me back into a Braves uniform eight years ago. And um I love these last eight years working for Snit. I would have happily done it for another 10 years if Snit went another 10 years. I’d have happily done it. Um, so learned a lot. I’ve evolved, you know, from the from my first job in in Colorado. And yeah, I’ve learned a lot. game has changed, you know, I I’m sure I’ve changed and hopefully wiser, but um you know, and I think we need to appreciate and respect what’s gone on here the last eight years on snitch watch and we need to maintain some perspective because I believe that, you know, outside of any team called the Dodgers, every team in baseball is signing up for our last eight years. Matter of fact, they’re they’re tearing a hole in the paper, signing up for it. So I think we need to keep that in mind and and and and honor that and maintain some perspective and and understand um what this man in front of me has done uh for this organization and it’s going to be his 50th year. So with that um I guess we’ll take uh some questions. Okay. Thank you. There are microphones on either side of the room. Mark Bowman. Well, can you just tell us what was your thought process over the last couple weeks as as time progressed? Were you starting to get worried they may go externally? Yeah, look, you never know, right? I mean, you try to read the tea leaves and uh you know, usually that doesn’t work out too well, but um yeah, early on I I was very excited to be a part of it and and and and to be considered a candidate. You know, obviously as time went on, you you start to, you know, things start to creep in your mind and and and yeah, there were times where I thought maybe this ship has sailed. Um, but we know uh we all know Alex how thorough he is and how stealthy he is, likes to work under the cover of darkness. And so, you know, this process, you know, was was like that at times. But um yeah, it’s I I couldn’t be more excited. You know, yesterday when I got that call from Alex um I mean yeah can’t tough to explain this. This is there’s a lot of responsibility here like I said with this this brand this franchise but uh I embrace it. Barrett Walt you mentioned that that you’ve changed the game has changed since your time in Colorado. uh how has your your view of advanced analytics changed uh during that span because the game has changed and moved in that direction. Look, I’ve evolved with the game. I I think if you don’t, you’re you’re a fool. So, you know, my philosophy is why would anybody, especially in a position of leadership, turn their back on information. And Alex has done a great job and his team has done a great job of of blending, you know, the wisdom that comes from being in uniform for for a number of years and the information that’s available to to us today and the technology that’s available. So, I’m very curious when it comes when it comes to the information. I want it. Um, and then you know there’s a point where you got to put context to it and and I always say you know there’s there’s there’s an art and a science to everything. You know the the the information gathering is the science part of it and the art is putting context to it in the dugout and making it practical and pragmatic over the course of a nine inning game. So yeah, I I I think you have to evolve. The game has changed like I said. Um, and yeah, you’d be a fool not not to evolve with the game. Allison, uh, two questions. Walt, um, what’s one thing that you learned from Brian Snicker during your time, um, working with him? And then for Alex, what stood out about Walt Weiss and, um, the C during this process? Um, that’s an easy one for me. And I think the top of the list, there’s there’s several things, but patience. Um, you know, it’s really good to see for me to see Snit operate these last eight years because, you know, our personalities complement each other very well. I mean, obviously our personalities are different. We’re two different people, but, you know, my personality is always, you know, to hurry up and get in there and fix things. And watching Snit have a feel for the timing of when when to interject was very valuable for me. Um, and he and and and to watch him absorb losses like he did. I mean, I I’d come in his office because I always go in the office because I never wanted the manager I never wanted Snitch to have to feel a loss by himself. And and I and I’ve been there and and nobody feels a loss more than a manager. So, as a bench coach, I I I didn’t want to forget that. So, always checked in with SNID after the game and, you know, usually uh it was him giving me the therapy, you know, so his patience and his his feel for the room and for for situations, his timing, impeccable. Yeah. from my standpoint. Obviously, I’ve worked with Walt for eight years, but I’ve worked with him in the role of of being the bench coach and never had a conversation with him. You know, as we all know, the manager and the bench coach, the roles are totally different. I mean, you just So, you know, being able to talk to him for the first time about being the manager of this team, it’s not I mean, sure, you can use your past experiences and your experiences here with the Braves, but it’s not the same conversation. And uh so, as much as I knew Walt, I knew everybody on our staff, that doesn’t mean everyone was a a candidate. So, um, the manager role is very different. Um, it’s unique. It’s incredibly challenging and some people aren’t suited for it in my opinion, you know. Um, so, um, getting a chance even though I knew the person and the man, he had that, that doesn’t mean that he would have necessarily been the best person for the for the job. And, um, you know, so having finally had a conversation about the manager and what that entails because we never had those discussions in eight years here. This that wasn’t the role. Mike, those are conversations that I have with Snett. Um and then obviously going through the process and doing our work and so on. But um you know at the end of the day this was about the best person internal external didn’t matter. This is the third time I’ve done this. Two other times I’ve gone I’ve gone external and I never had a thought process of it needs to be internal. It’s it’s the best person you know period. You know I you hear different things about well the roster and this and that. The rosters change. You’re going to change the manager at the same time. I mean you need the right person the right individual no matter where they come from. and he stood out as um the right man for the job. Dave Walt, I know you said uh you’ve changed since the first time you did this in Colorado. How has uh how do you think this environment here with the Braves? You’ve been in it now for a long time will help you succeed as a manager here. Um by comparison to there, just the resources you have, uh how you’ve grown as a manager, the players you have, everything. Look, the the circumstances are they couldn’t be more different. I mean, when when I took the job in Colorado, I I was out of the game for four years. I mean, I had worked at I worked as a special assistant to the GM and the manager for eight years, but I was gone for four years. I was coaching high school football. So, I got pulled back into it. You know, I I I I got asked to do an interview and I said, “What the heck?” You know, I’ve never done this. I I’ll go through this process. It’ll be good experience for me. I end up getting a job. So, you know, and look, I I took over at that at that time. It it was it was the season after the the the worst season in franchise history. Now, there’s been some rougher times there recently, but at the time it was the worst season in franchise history. So, and there there was, you know, there were some things there, you know, culturally that, you know, took a lot of time and energy. Um, look, I love the I I love my time there. It gave me it gave me this opportunity. If I didn’t do that job, I wouldn’t be sitting here today. And had great great relationships there, and it really challenged me. And I I’m very proud. Look, we didn’t have a great record over that four-year period. Very proud of of of what me and my staff did and and and the front office did as far as changing that culture and setting them up um, you know, uh, to be better. So, I’m I’m I’m I’m proud of that. You know, here it’s obviously very different. I mean, think about yourselves. I mean, where are you, you know, now compared to 12 or 13 years ago? Hopefully, you’re you’re a little bit wiser. If if not, you probably need to check yourself. So, um yeah, I mean, I I’ve experienced a lot. And um at at a high level, I I know, like I said, I I know what this brand means and how important it is and how high the standards are here and that’s what what’s exciting. Um I also know that I I have people that I work for. They’re going to have my back. You know, I I understand it’s a performance-based business, and I get it. I’ve been in the major leagues for 35 years now in a variety of roles. So, I I I get it. You know, it’s a bottom line business, but the winning has to be a byproduct of the relationships you you establish, the trust that you have with with your players. Um, you know, when it come when it comes to players and as it relates to coaches and managers, they typically they ask themselves three questions. You know, does he care about me? Can I trust him? And can he make me better? And, you know, I feel like I’ve checked those three boxes already here over my last eight years. Um, so circumstances are completely different and so are the expectations, but like I said, when the expectations are high, it means you’re you’re doing something well. So, it’s a good thing. Michael, sorry, Gabe, do you have another question? No, Gabe, go ahead. Okay, cool, cool, cool. Walt, uh, Terry and your sons, you talked about their support. Could you just elaborate a little bit on just what their love and support meant to you since you made the decision to come back, especially? Yeah. Well, look, they’ve been in my corner every step of the way. Um, you know, when I when I got back in the game, you know, that was that was a tough one in in in some ways because I I like I said, I was away for four years and I I I was I was a dad and a husband full- time. So, you know, the family gets uprooted when when you when you get back into this game. This this game is not conducive to to family life. Um, it’s all consuming. So, like I said, they’ve been with me every step of the way. I told I told you my my four boys and my are my four best friends uh along with my wife. And I mean, my and my wife uh she has superpowers in in in in a lot of ways. um when it comes to raising a family um she’s uh special. Michael, this question is for Alex. Um what do you believe are the most important qualities for a manager and why do you think that uh Walt meets that criteria? You know, there’s so many that you need, but um Walt hit on a lot of them, but you know, being able to you’re you’re dealing with so many things when you think about it. The manager and especially the job’s evolved. Even Stit and I have talked about this. The job has evolved over over time. The game has evolved, the staffs have evolved. Um and you think of the responsibilities you have day in and day out. You’re dealing with 26 players, 26 alpha dogs. You’re dealing with an expanded front office from what it was 20 years ago. You’re dealing with an expanded media contingent both from a social standpoint and a a day day-to-day beat writers and so on. Then you’ve got the in-game component and then you’ve got a staff that you’ve got to deal with as well. So, um, then you have to do do the job well beyond that, but you’re dealing you’re you’re juggling all those things and you’re spread really really thin. And from an emotional standpoint, I so, you know, it amazes me that just, you know, you see these managers in the game and snit and so on just to not react, to stay calm, to stay patient, to stay even keel, to be consistent, to be the same person day in and day out. That’s hard to do. A lot of people can’t do it. And also can maintain the the respect of the clubhouse and the players and everybody around you. And also do a good job. So the list goes on and on. It’s it’s endless. Um, these jobs are partnerships with players, office, media staff. You’re partnering across the board. We all want the same thing. We all want to win. And, uh, you know, we might not always agree on how to get there, but you know, our values are all very aligned. Grant Walt, I know you spoke um, glowingly about your time working on Brian Snder staff. You also during your playing days were able to play for some Hall of Fame managers, Bobby Cox as well as Tony Laruso. I’m curious about those experiences from your playing days and now getting this opportunity to manage how you incorporate that in the style in which you like to bring to your team. Yeah. Oh, look, I mean, we’re all a product of our experiences and the people we’ve been around. Um, yeah, I got I very fortunate to be around um some great managers and I take a little bit from from all of them. I’m going to take things I’ve learned from Snit the last eight years as well as what I’ve learned from Tony Larusa, Bobby Cox, Renee Latchman, Don Baylor, Clint Hurdle. Those are all the those are all the the managers I either played for or worked with. And look, I mean, that’s that that wisdom is shared, right? And that’s how that’s that’s how we get better by being around wise people. So, I’ll I’ll take things from from from from all those uh those men, but in the end, it it it’s going to look very different because it’s going to be my personality, my leadership style, my personal touch. So, the delivery will be very different from from any of the guys I’ve I I’ve been around. But, yeah, I’ve been fort I’ve been fortunate. I always say, look, I I I never want to I want never want to act like I I have all the answers because we we all know better, but um you know, most most of the things I’ve learned over the course of my life and my career, I I I’ve learned through failure, by screwing up, you know, but um and and and the fact that I’ I’ve been I’ve been around some pretty smart, wise people in this game, been fortunate to been around some highlevel people and every once in a while I paid attention So, a lot of the stuff I I’ve stolen from other people and and made it my own, and that’s what’s going to make it unique in the end. Oh, Alex, how many individuals did you interview for this job? And when did you know it was Walt and what did set him apart from all the other candidates? Yeah, so we did a ton of work. Um I mean we spent I don’t even remember I feel like it’s been a month or it’s feels like dog years a little bit right so um it’s been exhaustive and I mean the amount of work and candidates and people we spoke to um it was just a lot without getting into into specifics um you know I would say that over the weekend is when you know he started to I had some I had some conversations I remember there was one I had Saturday morning Saturday Saturday um you know I thought about Walt um Saturday a little bit and then I had some conversations um Saturday that really impacted me and then I you know you still chewing on it and going through stuff and and um really ultimately had a few more that I needed to have on Monday just to make sure that I checked all those boxes and look I knew Walt but I only knew him a certain Right? I’m not down there working with them day in and day out and it’s it wasn’t in the role of managers. So, people can interview and say all the right things and do all the right things, but like I mentioned when I did my first um Zoom with you guys, the background work is pretty important. as much as I felt like I knew the person um still needed to do a lot of work and maybe have a couple conversations on Monday just to make sure some people that were around him a little bit more um more than anybody else that I had significant faith and trust in what they had to say. Um, I told them I was leaning in that direction, but I wanted to make sure that, you know, I didn’t there wasn’t anything I I I missed and they both stamped it in a lot of ways and ultimately talked to Terry as well that this was my choice and this is the where I wanted to go and you walked him through the process and the thought process and why and um how I check boxes and so on and um we obviously decided to go to go ahead but it’s a big decision like Walt talked about this is a big role this is a big responsibility um with where this club is, the expectation. Look, it was no fun not making the playoffs this year and we can go through the reasons why, but you know, that’s just a standard that we’ve set here and that that’s a credit to Snit, to Bobby Cox, to John Sherholtz that have set the standard here. You know, you hear guys like Nick Saven, the standard is the standard, and it is and um you know, we expect to be in the playoffs year in and year out. So, you know, this is a real responsibility and um we owed it to make sure that we left no stone unturned and were as thorough as we could be, even if it was someone that was already internal. Bailey, this I have two questions. First one is for Alex. Uh going off of that a little bit, how much of an influence did individuals in the building like Snit and Chipper and people who know Walt influence your decision? Because you just mentioned, you know, you didn’t really know him on a manager capacity, more of a bench coach. Yeah, I mean, look, those I value their opinion immensely. Both guys are not the same person. Their careers are different, but their knowledge, their wisdom, um, they’ve won a lot and they’ve got a lot more experience in in the game than I do. So, it carries weight, of course. And, you know, I remember somebody I worked with a long long time ago told me, you know, it’s fine to cast votes, but not all votes count the same. And you know what I would tell you is when we’re going through the process and talking to people, look, certain certain individual, I’m gonna weren’t more. I’m going to have my own as well. Um, but there’s no doubt, um, when we’re doing our work, we canvas as many people as we we can. And look, I’ll talk to those guys about all kinds of things, roster, this, that, whatever. Um, they make me better, you know, and I’m glad that they’re both in the organization. The next question’s for whoever wants to take a bite out of it. Um, what have the discussions been at this point about the staff and will Cranny and Eddie be retained on the staff? Yeah. So, we you know you know this was pretty quick and that’s a conversation that we’re going to continue to have. So, uh we don’t have anything to announce today, but that’s part of the interview process. Everybody you talk to, you ask them what would you do with a staff and a coaching staff and everybody we talked to and I asked Walt those those questions when I first interviewed him as well. Um and this came together once the World Series was over. I knew at some point you have to make a decision, right? We needed to get going. And that’s where really was Saturday. Saturday this whole thing really started to move for me because I knew that that’s game seven and this is starting to move. So I had a phone call I made Saturday like I said late morning. Um and then I just gave it a little bit more time and then followed up on Monday. But um the staff, you know, Walt certainly has some some thoughts I do as well. Um those are things that are priority that we’re going to work through um the next little bit. So we don’t have anything today, but that’s definitely a front burner priority for us. Ken, well, you mentioned embracing analytics and and and wanting that information. Can you give me an example hypothetically of of maybe is obviously a very broad field. What is something that you value in it that you can see applying in a game? That is a broad question. Um, stay broad. Yeah. Look, I mean, uh, we we we can go on and on, right, about about this, but, um, like I said, it it’s you get the information and then it’s up to us to put context to it. Um, and the scoreboard always has a say, so that that’s a factor, but we have a we have a we have a great team uh that works with Alex and works with us. Um, and those relationships are rock solid and deeprooted and so there’s a lot of trust there. So I value the information that I get from our team uh upstairs and uh yeah, I mean it’s tough to go into specifics of this because because there there’s so many ways we can go and you talk about uh the analytics and the information, but um um you know very open very open and and always very curious uh to get better in that realm. Allison, Alex, um, when did the interview process really start for just all of them? And can you kind of ballpark how many people you interviewed? It’s like during this process. Yeah. So, you know, we I think I did my Zoom call with you guys on the Saturday, I think, and we didn’t have a list yet. And I don’t even know what the date was. Early October, I assume. So, um, but I would say maybe a week after that. Um you know just thinking through obviously you get through the week and start coming up with names candidates and look a job like this is open you’re getting inundated right with so many people names direct contacts it’s overwhelming in a lot of ways but you know to do due process you need to do the work on all of them. So, um, a a ton of time was spent making sure we vetted all the names, going through it and so on. Um, and, um, yeah, I I mean, you know, respect to everybody. I just I wouldn’t get into any specifics, but look, I would have loved to have gotten this done sooner, you know, and but the one thing I knew I even, you know, looked back at where some of the other the dates um, when other managers were hired, I saw Pat Murphy was hired November 16th, Steven Vote was hired. No, November 3rd. So, it felt longer because we didn’t make the postseason, you know, and we had more time. And uh I knew that I’d been through this twice before. I didn’t need to rush. As much as people wanted it to be a rush and wanted to move, I was fine. Now, I did know that um once you get to the end of the World Series, free agency hits, we have option decisions to make within 5 days. There’s a lot going on. And at some point, you’ve run the process, right? You’ve talked to as many people as you can. You’ve you’ve gone through it. Um you got to make a decision. And so, um, I know those thoughts about, oh, we’re waiting for candidates on certain teams and so on. Um, you know, I know this I was following along things in the media, but look, we were asked, we had, we had employees asked to be interviewed when we were in the playoffs. That happens, right? You have off days, you have things like that. So, you don’t need, you know, I know that was out there, but you don’t need to wait till the end of the World Series to talk to people. You could talk to people throughout the playoffs. And look, Walt’s been been called on a few times over the past few years. He declined the opportunity to talk to clubs. So, um, you know, that was his choice to make. He wanted to stay on staff with Snit and be with the Braves. But, um, we’ve let other people talk during the postseason. We didn’t announce it. No one knew about it. But there were many times in that seven-year playoff run where we had employees speaking to teams. Okay. Anyone else? All right. Thank you all very much.

Introducing our new manager, Walt Weiss!
____________________________________________________________________

Click HERE to subscribe for our latest content: youtube.com/braves

Follow Us:
X » https://x.com/Braves
Instagram » https://www.instagram.com/braves/
Facebook » https://www.facebook.com/Braves/
TikTok » https://www.tiktok.com/@braves?lang=en
Pinterest » https://www.pinterest.com/atlantabraves/
Website » https://www.mlb.com/braves

VISIT US:
Tickets » https://www.mlb.com/braves/tickets

____________________________________________________________________
#Braves #AtlantaBraves #MLB #Baseball #2025