Prior to the year, the Atlanta Braves had serious hopes of winning the 2025 World Series. Fast forward to now, and they’re looking for a new manager, and Mark DeRosa could be a great fit.
Now, in fairness to the Braves, it’s tough to live up to the hype when your superstar goes down. When Ronald Acuña went down in July, the Braves’ championship hopes went down with it.
The Braves would finish the year 76-86, which was disappointing, even knowing Acuña was out for a significant amount of time. Keep in mind that Acuña did end up coming back.
While Acuña missing a good part of the year hurt the Braves, you can’t rely on one player to make a team good or bad. That’s exactly why Brian Snitker will no longer be the Braves manager. Here’s why Mark DeRosa is the perfect coach to fill his spot.
*THIS IS A PREDICTION, NOT A REPORT*
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Atlanta Braves Hiring Mark DeRosa as Next Manager
For starters, there have been reports that suggest the Braves’ hiring of DeRosa is on the table. Per Mark Bowman of MLB.com, “David Ross, Mark DeRosa, Walt Weiss and Eddie Perez are among Cox’s former Braves players who have interest in the vacancy. But there’s a chance Atlanta president of baseball operations Alex Anthopoulos will choose a manager without any previous ties to the organization.”
There are other strong candidates even outside of this group, but DeRosa being on the list just adds to the realism of this move happening as well.
Why Mark DeRosa Fits With the Atlanta Braves
DeRosa played in the MLB for 16 years, if you needed an answer to how well he knows the game of baseball. Outside of that, DeRosa spent seven years with the Braves, so he’s already accustomed to this organization and culture.
While most teams run the risk of a possible conflict in not meshing well with the organization, it’s safe to say that shouldn’t be a problem.
DeRosa has limited experience as a manager, but he’s already taken one of the most important tasks in baseball. Coaching Team USA.
On a team loaded with talent, it’s not exactly easy to make sure everything runs smoothly. DeRosa led the team to a 5-2 record in 2023, and despite losing to Team Japan, he did a good job. That’s evident based on the fact that DeRosa will be coaching the team in 2026.
What Hiring Mark DeRosa Would Mean for the Atlanta Braves
As we talked about above, the Braves’ poor season lies on the shoulders of more than Acuña going down. The Braves’ pitching staff had a ton of injuries, and there’s not much more an organization can do about that.
If the Braves are able to stay healthy, their team is going to be right back in the mix even if they don’t make any big moves. That doesn’t mean the Braves should stay completely out of the free agency mix, but landing a good manager should be their top priority right now.
The talent for the Braves to make a deep run in 2026 is still there. They just need luck to be more on their side this next year and new energy from DeRosa to help guide the Braves to their maximum potential.
Mark DeRosa Stats
While not necessarily relevant to DeRosa’s ability to manage a team, he played 16 years in the MLB. DeRosa never put up unreal stats, but being able to play that long is an accomplishment in itself.
Over those 16 years, DeRosa had an impressive 10.6 WAR and a 0.268 batting average. Given that DeRosa has spent time with the Atlanta Braves as a player, among other reasons, he would be the best hire for the organization.