BRAVES NEWS
What is your grade for the hiring of Brian Snitker?
A few days have passed since the Braves made the decision to keep Brian Snitker on as manager for the 2017 season, and now we’re hearing from you all when it comes to how you feel about this decision from the Braves. Did Atlanta make the right decision by keeping Snitker? Judging by the results of the poll, it seems like y’all think that the Braves made a good choice.
Ron Washington was convinced that he had the managerial job
Meanwhile, Ron Washington gave the baseball world a bit of a shock when he surprisingly made a lateral move from Oakland to Atlanta as a third base coach. He explained his reasoning behind the move to John Hickey of the San Jose Mercury News, and he also told Hickey that he was convinced that he was going to be the new manager of the Braves following his interview.
“I thought my interview was good to the point I got that I had the (manager’s) job, no doubt in my mind,” Washington said. “But you never know what the other side is thinking and how it will go. They offered me a different job in the organization.
“They really liked the job Brian Snitker did as their interim guy, which is good. But I felt taking this job was good for me and my family. This is all me and Geri (wife Geraldine) making the decision. It’s important to both of us that I be closer to home. It’s a seven-hour drive and a plane flight of 1:15.
Jim Johnson will make $10 million with new contract
The financial numbers have finally been released after Jim Johnson signed a two-year deal on the final day of the 2016 season. He’ll be making at least $10 million over the life of the contract, and he can make nearly $2 million more in incentives to boot.
MLB NEWS
Dodgers utilize long relief from Jansen and Kershaw as closer to move on
By the tail end of Game 5 of the NLDS between the Dodgers and Nationals, it came down to the managers utilizing their bullpens. While Dusty Baker spent what ultimately ended up being the decisive seventh inning (due to the Dodgers scoring all four of their runs in this frame) just burning through relievers, Dave Roberts played a master stroke by letting his two best pitchers carry his team to victory. He brought in Kenley Jansen for a high-leverage situation in the bottom of the the seventh and kept him in to pick up seven outs. The final two outs of the game were recorded by Clayton Kershaw, who punched the Dodgers’ ticket to the NLCS with a filthy curveball to end the game. There may be questions about how the Dodgers will be able to use both Jansen and Kershaw in the early stages of the NLCS, but I’d say that they’re happy to have those questions because that means they get to play more games in October.