message<\/a> from Bowman on X specified that Gibbons, Ross, and DeRosa were the names he felt could be \u201cconfidently removed\u201d from the running.\u00a0 His initial report didn\u2019t eliminate bench coach Walt Weiss or coach Eddie Perez from consideration, but Bowman downplayed the idea of either man being elevated to the manager\u2019s chair, writing that \u201ctheir potential candidacies seemed to die when the Braves didn\u2019t persuade [Brian] Snitker to manage at least one more year.\u201d\u00a0 This implies that a succession plan might\u2019ve been the initial concept for the team, but Snitker\u2019s decision to step away from the job after the 2025 campaign might have the Braves leaning towards bringing an entirely fresh voice into the dugout.<\/p>\nGibbons had the most MLB managerial experience of any of the names rumored to be involved in Atlanta\u2019s search, as Gibbons logged parts of 11 seasons as the Blue Jays\u2019 skipper over two separate tenures with the club.\u00a0 Anthopoulos was the Jays\u2019 assistant GM during Gibbons\u2019 first stint, and then after becoming general manager himself, made the unusual move of rehiring Gibbons back prior to the 2013 season, when Toronto was looking to replace John Farrell.\u00a0 Gibbons has spent the last two seasons as the Mets\u2019 bench coach but stepped down from the job last month, creating speculation that he might emerge as Anthopoulos\u2019 choice once more in Atlanta.<\/p>\n
Ross seemed to be a natural candidate, as a Georgia native who both played for the Braves for four seasons and has four years of Major League managing experience on his resume.\u00a0 DeRosa is another former Brave who played seven seasons with the club from 1998-2004, and he has stuck mostly to broadcasting since his playing career ended in 2013.\u00a0 DeRosa hasn\u2019t coached or managed in the majors or minors, though he was Team USA\u2019s manager during the 2023 World Baseball Classic.<\/p>\n
In terms of which names might be on the Braves\u2019 radar, Bowman writes that Dodgers bench coach Danny Lehmann\u2019s \u201ccandidacy has seemingly strengthened over the past couple weeks.\u201d\u00a0 The fact that the Dodgers are on their way to the World Series could be a complicating factor, though Lehmann could interview with the Braves during the interim periods between playoff rounds.\u00a0 This does mean that Atlanta might not announce a new hire until November, or at least until after the World Series is completed.<\/p>\n
The 40-year-old Lehmann has been Dave Roberts\u2019 bench coach for the last three years, and he has spent the last decade in the L.A. organization in such roles as a game planning\/communication coach, a special assistant within the front office, and an advance video scout.\u00a0 Lehmann\u2019s time with the Dodgers overlaps with Anthopoulos\u2019 two-year (2016-17) tenure as the Dodgers\u2019 vice-president of baseball operations, so there\u2019s plenty of familiarity between the two men.<\/p>\n
Cubs bench coach Ryan Flaherty and Tigers bench coach George Lombard are two other \u201cpotential candidates,\u201d in Bowman\u2019s words.\u00a0 The two have each been popular names in managerial searches in recent years, as Flaherty was a finalist for the Padres\u2019 job in 2023 (before Mike Shildt was hired) and has been speculated as a candidate for the Padres\u2019 current vacancy, as well as the Orioles\u2019 and Twins\u2019 open managerial positions.\u00a0 Lombard interviewed with the Marlins and White Sox last winter, and he was also in the running for past managerial vacancies with the Tigers and Pirates.<\/p>\n
Lombard is an Atlanta native, and he also has some past L.A. history with Anthopoulos since Lombard was the Dodgers\u2019 first base coach during the 2016-20 seasons.\u00a0 Both Lombard and Flaherty are former Braves players \u2014 Lombard during the 1998-99 seasons, and Flaherty in 2018.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Rangers and Angels each have new managers in place for 2026, but that still leaves seven other…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":232842,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[558],"tags":[64,63,139945,119872,10999,139946,139947,139948,591,139949,85,46458],"class_list":{"0":"post-232841","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-mlb","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-danny-lehmann","11":"tag-david-ross","12":"tag-eddie-perez","13":"tag-george-lombard","14":"tag-john-gibbons","15":"tag-mark-derosa","16":"tag-mlb","17":"tag-ryan-flaherty","18":"tag-sports","19":"tag-walt-weiss"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/232841","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=232841"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/232841\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/232842"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=232841"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=232841"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=232841"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}