The decision to fire Fredi Gonzalez has left the Atlanta Braves with interim Brian Snitker to manage the team. Now, perhaps the Braves are planning on using the rest of the 2016 season as something of an audition for Snitker but really, what sense does that make?
You could generate some amalgamation of the best 10 managers in MLB history and they wouldn’t be able to do anything with this team. There’s really only one man for the job.
Joe Mikulik.
Atlanta needs to call the Texas Rangers and do whatever it takes to get permission to hire Texas’s Double-A manager for the rest of 2016. He’s the only man that can salvage this season.
Learning the fundamentals
The Braves are a young team and in many ways are still learning the game. Whether trying to avoid a tag or break up a double play, one of the basic elements of baseball is sliding into second. As we can plainly see Mikulik is quite capable of a flawless side into second.
Mind you, this is a 52-year-old man we’re talking about. Could you imagine what kind of skills he could teach to players that in many cases, aren’t even old enough to buy a beer yet?
Bang for your entertainment buck
Atlanta is 12-32. It’s certainly not the way that the franchise wanted to send Turner Field out in its final season before moving into the new SunTrust Park in 2017 (zip lines, anyone?).
It’s perhaps no surprise that the Braves are 24th in average attendance. Really, who wants to spend their time and money watching a team that’s likely going to lose more than 100 games? Logically, the attendance is only going to get worse as the season progresses and the weather gets hotter. Nobody wants to be uncomfortable at the park, especially while watching a bad team.
So, the final games at Turner Field will be played in front of a lot of empty seats. Who wants that?
What can be done? Well, the team can’t get much better this year in terms of talent, so that’s out. But people will come to the park if there’s a chance that they will be entertained. Say what you will about Mikulik but he is, first and foremost, an entertainer.
Actually, with the MLB’s replay rules, the entertainment value would only go up. If a replay went against the Braves, a guy like Mikulik might just pick the headset up to yell at the replay officials in New York.
Atlanta can’t salvage this season from a baseball perspective, but they can make it a productive one. They need to look outside of the box. When they do, they’ll find the most logical option to manage the team for the rest of the season. Nobody makes more sense than Joe Mikulik.