In fact, within a few years I think the four big legends of the last 20 years could serve this ballclub very well.

Chip knows average and power from both sides of the plate, also knows how to attack an at-bat and how to adjust to get out of/avoid slumps. He’d make a fine hitting coach.

Maddux, the resident baseball supergenius, needs to be coaxed out of retirement to manage and succeed Bobby. His knowledge of the game is effing uncanny, and i think if he decided to take the job and stick at it he’d eventually go down as one of the best, on top of being a fantastic pitcher.

Smoltzie I think could be a great pitching coach (though McDowell certainly hasn’t done a poor job, and I’m not advocating running out and replacing him like I do Bobby and Terry, but down the line I’d like to see him get a shot). He knows starting and closing, so he could legitimately benefit an entire staff (and yes, I know we’d still have a bullpen coach). He’s also very good at taking a little off when the innings are going smoothly and ratcheting it up to escape jams and can help convey that approach well to future young guns to prevent them from getting in trouble by trying to blow everyone away (assuming the future young guns actually listen to him- he tried to mentor Jo-Jo but Jo-Jo ignored his advice, and we all know how well THAT worked out…)

Lastly, I think Glavine could wind up as a GM one day, and I hope when that day comes the Braves will have patched up relations with him and he won’t still have a sour taste in his mouth from his departure this year. He is a former Player’s Union rep, and over the course of his career he’s worked out big and small contracts, extensions, etc. He knows the business side of the game well, and was fortunate enough (and unfortunate in a couple of cases) to have really experienced every side of it in his day, from working for the minimum to the first big contract, to leaving your original team for a more lucrative contract, to a homecoming at a discount. And he knows what it’s like, sadly, to be dicked around at the end. He always conducted his business with respect and dignity, and I believe he’d do the same as a GM and would go to extra lengths to ensure that what happened to him never happens to anyone he works with.

It’ll be interesting to see what all these guys do post-playing career, but in particular I want Maddux and Chipper as the manager and hitting coach. The sooner the better.