ATLANTA – The first time Walt Weiss was hired as a major league manager, the former All-Star shortstop had spent the previous four years coaching high school football in Denver. He only interviewed for the Colorado Rockies’ managerial job because someone suggested he should, and he figured it’d be good experience.
“I said, what the heck, I’ve never done this, I’ll go through this process,” Weiss said, recalling the circumstances in 2013. He laughed and added, “I ended up getting the job. I took over, and at that time it was the season after the worst season in franchise history.”
Twelve years later, Weiss believed he was the best person to replace retiring Atlanta Braves manager Brian Snitker after eight years as his bench coach. Snitker stepped down following the 2025 season, but after two weeks, Weiss still hadn’t even heard whether he was a candidate.
When Alex Anthopoulos, the Braves’ president of baseball operations and general manager, finally called to ask if he was interested, Weiss said he was. The next 10 days or so didn’t bring any reason for optimism, however. There was no indication that he was a finalist or anything else.
As a 61-year-old in today’s ever-younger game, Weiss wasn’t overly confident about his chances, given the lack of updates.
“I mean, you try to read the tea leaves and usually that doesn’t work out too well,” he said. “I was very excited to be a part of it and to be considered a candidate. Obviously, as time went on, things start to creep in your mind, and yeah, there were times where I thought maybe this ship has sailed.”
Then he smiled.
“But we all know Alex, how thorough he is and how stealthy he is,” Weiss said. “Likes to work under the cover of darkness. This process was like that at times.”
Weiss’ wait officially ended Monday when Anthopoulos called him at his home in Denver and said the job was his. The Braves and Weiss soon agreed to a three-year contract with a fourth-year option.
The team made the announcement just after 5 p.m. Monday, and Weiss flew to Atlanta, where he debuted as manager during a Tuesday morning news conference at Truist Park. Seated in the front row were his wife, Terri, three of their four sons, Braves chairman Terry McGuirk, special assistant Chipper Jones and now-senior advisor Snitker.
Braves players Drake Baldwin, Spencer Schwellenbach and Jurickson Profar were in the second row.
Weiss is just the fourth person hired to manage the Braves in more than 35 years, since the legendary Bobby Cox began his second stint as Atlanta manager midway through the 1990 season. Fredi González replaced Cox when the Hall of Famer retired after the 2010 season, and Snitker replaced Gonźalez after his firing in May 2016.
#Braves Name Walt Weiss as Major League Manager: pic.twitter.com/SOXe5xjst9
— Atlanta Braves (@Braves) November 3, 2025
Cox was a mentor and close friend to Snitker and González. Weiss played for Cox in 1998 through 2000, earning a starting spot on the NL All-Star team in his first season with the Braves. They, too, became close over the years.
Weiss drew interest from several other teams for managerial openings during his years as the Braves’ bench coach, and turned down an offer to interview with the Miami Marlins when he likely would’ve been a top candidate.
“Look, we were having a lot of success here,” he said. “I loved it here, I loved working for Snit, I loved working for all the people in this building. So it was going to take a really unique situation for me to leave. I didn’t know if I was ever gonna manage again. And I was OK with that. Nothing was enticing enough for me to leave this. Every time Alex re-upped me as a coach, I always sent him a text. I said, ‘Alex, thank you, I love being a Brave.’
And I meant that, I’m not just saying that. I played here, and obviously, the last eight years as a coach. This place is different. It’s special. That brand means something. So, I was in no hurry to leave.”
Now, he won’t have to. Weiss was photographed Tuesday with his new No. 22 Braves jersey, the number he wore for most of 14 MLB seasons as a player. He wore No. 4 as bench coach. Even with that fresh start, though, there will be some continuity that Weiss hopes will set him apart from other newly installed managers.
“My history here, my last eight years, I’m hoping it’ll be a seamless transition here because of the relationships,” he said. “Not only with the players, but the front office, the support staff. There’s respect and trust that flows up and down the chain of command. I think for that reason, we can hit the ground running.”
Later, he elaborated on why he thought he was the man best suited to take over the Braves and have immediate success.
“It has nothing to do with who may or may not have interviewed here, has nothing to do (with) who the other candidates may or (may) not have been,” Weiss said. “It’s just that I know this team like the back of my hand. The relationships in the building, in this (clubhouse), are established and deep-rooted, and there’s trust that flows back and forth.”
The Braves, who had their run of seven consecutive postseason berths undermined by pitching injuries and several long-slumping lineup regulars, aim to bounce back in 2026 and contend for a seventh NL East title in nine seasons. They should have most of their lineup and starting rotation back, and Weiss and the Braves don’t believe the managerial change should slow them down.
“We have some recent precedent here with bench coaches taking over,” Weiss said. “Pat Murphy did it in Milwaukee, a seamless transition, and Murph is a good friend. He’s done an unbelievable job. There’s advantages to it. Joe Espada in Houston took over and won a division, a seamless transition. There’s big advantages.”
When Weiss took over the Rockies in 2023, they had gone 64-98 the previous year and improved by 10 wins in his first season. Now, he’s taking the reins of a Braves team that was 76-86 in 2025 despite having all five Opening Day starters on the 60-day injured list simultaneously before the All-Star break.
“When I look back at the first time I (became manager in Colorado), I got to the end of that first year and it was like, man, it took most of this year for me to truly know my club,” said Weiss, who was 283-365 in four seasons as Colorado manager and stepped down after a 75-win season and third-place NL West finish in 2016. He had differences of opinion, to put it mildly, with a Rockies official.
With the Braves, there are much higher standards and expectations, and no time for a getting-to-know-the-team transition.
“That’s a really critical process, to earn trust and respect,” Weiss said. “That’s a process that’s longer than most people think, when we live together every day. And there’s tough conversations every day. That stuff’s already intact here. So yeah, big advantages as a bench coach. Now, it doesn’t mean just because you’re the bench coach, you should become the manager. As you heard earlier, Alex has been very thorough during the search. And ultimately, it came back to me.
“The winning has to be a byproduct of the relationships you establish with your players. When it comes to players, as it relates to coaches and managers, typically they ask themselves three questions: Does he care about me, can I trust him, and can he make me better? And I feel like I’ve checked those three boxes already here over my last eight years.”
Ready to hit the ground running! pic.twitter.com/jMJQGpy6DO
— Atlanta Braves (@Braves) November 4, 2025
Anthopoulos had indicated to Weiss that he’d have a decision by Monday afternoon. The GM said Tuesday that he was leaning strongly toward Weiss, but just had a couple of more people he wanted to talk to on Monday who worked with or played for Weiss. It was two more glowing reviews.
It had taken a month for the Braves to replace Snitker, so there was widespread speculation that Anthopoulos would hire someone from outside the organization. Much of the attention centered on Los Angeles Dodgers bench coach Danny Lehmann, 40, with whom Anthopoulos worked in the Dodgers’ front office in 2016-2017.
Other names connected to the Braves through rumors on social media and elsewhere included Detroit Tigers bench coach George Lombard, Chicago Cubs bench coach Ryan Flaherty and former Braves players David Ross and Mark DeRosa, though Ross and DeRosa said they were never contacted by the Braves.
“Obviously, this has been a long process for us to get this done,” Anthopoulos said, declining to share details regarding how many candidates he interviewed or name any other finalists. “I know it took a little longer than everybody expected or wanted, but this was important for us. It was important for us to get it right. It was a rare opportunity for us to really canvas the entire game, teams, the league, talk to as many people, do as much background work as we could. And ultimately, that search came back to Walt.
“His experience, his character, his work ethic is exactly what we want here. And we expect great things going forward.”
It had been weeks since Weiss’ name was mentioned as a top candidate, if it was mentioned at all. No one outside the team knew that Weiss and Anthopoulos had discussed the job in recent days. Still, Weiss also knew there were rumors out there; he heard the conversations and knew the Dodgers were finally done with the World Series. That meant Lehman was finally available, which was hard to ignore.
“I had prepared myself,” Weiss said. “I didn’t want to get my hopes up. I prepared myself that, OK, this probably isn’t going to happen. So you can imagine how excited I was when he told me it was going to happen.”
So when Anthopoulos called, Weiss and his wife, Terri, were relieved and overjoyed.
“My wife even shed a tear,” Weiss said. “I’m not ashamed to say that. … I couldn’t be more excited. When I got that call from Alex, I mean, (it’s) tough to explain. There’s a lot of responsibility here, with this brand, this franchise. But I embrace it.”