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The Braves are experiencing a large amount of upheaval at this particular moment in time. It is no secret that the recent investigations into the Braves’ international signing “methods” in addition to some potential misdeeds involving the domestic MLB draft could result in the loss of more than just general manager John Coppolella and special assistant Gordon Blakeley (both of whom resigned) from the front office. It is safe to say that all members of the Braves’ front office are under a microscope from the league office and we should have a good sense of where those dominos will fall in a week or so.
However, another subplot to this offseason is the state of the coaching staff. The fate of manager Brian Snitker seems to be set as he was given another year both to see how he would perform with an improved roster as well as to provide stability to an organization that currently has little of it. The rest of the coaching positions for the Braves, on the other hand, have not been given that vote of confidence. First base coach Eddie Perez and bench coach Terry Pendleton in particular have been rumored to be leaving the team and that is looking more and more likely by the day.
As of now, it still looks like Walt Weiss will replace TP as bench coach and Eric Young Sr. will replace Eddie Perez as first base coach. https://t.co/9jCVGhEOwE
— Mark Bowman (@mlbbowman) November 3, 2017
Though their front office changes might not yet be resolved, the Braves could announce their coaching changes next week.
— Mark Bowman (@mlbbowman) November 3, 2017
The Braves have seemed to indicate that they would prefer to have a bench coach that would be able to add some gravitas and provide support to Snitker in implementing scouting reports and data and Weiss is an interesting choice to fill that role. Weiss played 14 seasons in the majors with the Athletics, Marlins, Rockies, and Braves before serving as the manager of the Rockies from 2013 to 2016.
As for Eric Young Sr., after a long career in the big leagues that saw him play for eight different clubs, he has previously served as an outfield and baserunning instructor with the Astros before serving as the first base coach for the Diamondbacks as well as the Rockies (interestingly....he was Weiss’ first base coach during a large chunk of his tenure in Colorado).
As for TP and Perez, Pendleton has been a coach with the Braves since 2001 where he has served as hitting coach, first base coach, and bench coach for the team after a 15 year career in the majors that saw him win the NL MVP Award in 1991. Eddie Perez was a long-time catcher for the Braves before becoming the bullpen coach in 2007 and then being named first base coach shortly after Fredi Gonzalez was fired by the Braves last season.