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MLB WINTER MEETINGS

December 12, 2018

Brian Snitker

Las Vegas, Nevada

Q. How much different do these meetings feel, based on what you know from last year, the discussions? Give your thoughts as you plan.
BRIAN SNITKER: We've come a long way, that's for sure. These meetings -- last year, a year ago I was sitting here and we had no clue where we were -- we knew where we were going, but we didn't know what we were going to do. There was a lot of uncertainty. Our young players, pretty much. How they were going to respond, how they were going to act, what they would do.

So I think it was, it was a lot more uncertainty than there is now. I think we're confident that we're a pretty good team now. And some young guys didn't disappoint. And I think they're ready to continue to take those steps.

So it's been a lot better, I think, a lot more even optimistic than it was a year ago. We were optimistic, but there was some uncertainty coming into last year's meetings.

Q. What's the challenge to repeating? Last year you explained where you were. Now what's the challenge of getting the young kids to continue to take the steps?
BRIAN SNITKER: Someone asked me this morning when the season was over, the playoffs were over, I was sitting around, I'm like, those other teams aren't going to sit on their thumbs all winter. They're going to get better, they're going to do things to improve their clubs. And us included.

I think what we experienced last year, there was a lot of new things going on with our club last year, from Spring Training on. Just things like what Alex and his team brought to our club, the analytical side. We talked about that a lot last year at this time and how we were going to respond to it. It's something that was a lot more involved than we'd ever been exposed to in our organization as coaches and players. We're all getting a grasp of all that. A lot of new normals, I think, for our team, myself included, the coaches.

But now with the year behind us, the guiders, they're going to have a better idea what we're in for. In Spring Training when we talk about winning the division, we'll know how that feels. And I talked to players about that for the offseason. Remember what that felt like, that day we clinched. And when you're doing your offseason workouts and you're preparing, it's something that you never want to lose sight of. And now you know what the goal is.

We talked about it last year but it's kind of talk. Now it's kind of like we've experienced it and we know where we want to get and what we want to do.

Q. Do you think the addition with Mac and also Johnson, do you think Mac can fill that similar role for the leadership?
BRIAN SNITKER: I think Mac is going to bring a new dimension to that role. He and Josh. And get the experience. Both of those guys in talking to them, they're on fire. They're really excited about what we've got going on and being a part of this whole thing.

I talked to Mac prior to us signing him and just where he's morphed into as a player, and the experiences, the knowledge that he's got over his time in the Major Leagues and winning a world championship and being with Houston and the Yankees and everything that he brings or he's learned, he can bring it our young players. I told him it's not going to be just about you and the pitchers, you're going to have a lot for our young hitters, our young position players and how to approach this thing every day and how you have to show up every day for seven months that we play and be ready to leave it out there on the field at any given night.

And I think Josh is the same way in my conversations with him. He feels good. There's another guy that's been successful. He knows what it's like. And I think both with the intensity that I sense in both of those guys, the knowledge, the experience, it's going to be really, really good for our young team.

Q. (Inaudible.)
BRIAN SNITKER: Well, same thing, him, Ozzie, Carmargo, Dansby, all those young guys that have experienced the League now and been through a Major League season and been through September like they did in a pennant race. I think that was huge. Because going into September, No. 1, for the first year, you're a first-year Major Leaguer, it's 30 more games than you've ever experienced before. That's a big deal in itself, let alone being in a pennant race with how the games and the intensity and you have to win.

So I think all the experience that Ronald got, that Ozzie got, Dansby again, Carmargo, just experience and everything that they have is going to benefit them hugely in their development as Major League players.

Q. These other teams aren't going to sit on their thumbs, they've been busy. You have to leapfrog over all of those teams. Were they out and busy early?
BRIAN SNITKER: Absolutely. I thought that as soon as the offseason started that these clubs, they're going to go out and they're going to get better. They're going to do things to get better. And we have. We've gotten better I feel with our additions to this point. And I think we're going to be better with the year's experience, there's no doubt about that.

I firmly believe that there are layers in becoming a Major League player, and we peeled off a really big one in a lot of these guys. So we've got to keep working. We've got to keep approaching it like we have. The consistency in the approach and how we prepare for a game was a big reason why I think we got so much out of a lot of the young players that we did.

Q. Are you waiting for Spring Training to decide on lead-off?
BRIAN SNITKER: Yeah. And I've talked to Alex about that and we've talked. I said, I'm going to wait until I get down there the first of February and see who's on the paper. I play with it all the time. That's what managers do. They sit at home and doodle, you go out to dinner and you're writing on a napkin and things like that. And we envision it.

I'll talk to the coaches over the course of the winter and get their thoughts on different things and what we've got going on. But until we get there and see who is actually on the page. And it might be something we play with over the entire spring. I don't think we're going to -- when we open the grapefruit season, I don't think I'm going to have a lineup that's set yet.

Q. Talk bullpen.
BRIAN SNITKER: Yeah, and the Ronald thing is going to be a big deal. It's where if we continue hitting lead-off, drop him in the order, that's going to be up for discussion and to see what's going to make us the best club. And again, too, it's just like last year. You've got to start somewhere. The season plays out and you live it, things kind of have a way of -- with the changes that you make, it's just on the fly a lot of times and as to how you're going, how your players are, things like that and adjustments you have to make.

Q. When you talked about Acuna in the lineup it seemed like ideally you'd like him in the middle of the order, but seeing how he was at lead-off, has that changed?
BRIAN SNITKER: It's obviously a really good thing to have that. And it's something that knowing that going in it's kind of easy to stay that course with the success that he had. Especially until something else happens.

I like the fact of getting him up there a lot. He comes up a lot really quick. So that's just something we'll play with, talk about. Like I say, a year ago today we weren't having -- this is really good to have those options.

Q. You talked before about how hard it is to get some guys to take rest. Alex has been pretty good.
BRIAN SNITKER: I've talked to some of the players about that, too. It's probably going to be different. I don't think we need anybody to play 162. Because there's been a lot of talk, So and so slacked off. I'm the reason why. I'm the one that played their legs off.

But that being said, I felt like that's what we had to do to get where we wanted to go. And these guys, it's a tough sell, because these guys are ballplayers, they're wired for that, they train to do that. Do they need to? I don't think so.

Hopefully we get the depth back where we don't have to do that. I didn't feel like the depth was there maybe necessarily to do a lot of that last year, because it's kind of like you have a guy like Charlie who is great at that. He was playing every day for a lot of the season. It wasn't that he was even a utility guy that we thought we had. He was having to fill everyday voids. So I think as we put our team together and strengthen our bench it will be more of a realistic option to do that.

Q. Talking about the bench, there are a couple of ex-Braves that are free agents, Evan Gattis and Adams, would you like to have them on your team?
BRIAN SNITKER: I would like them both. All that kind of stuff is going to be up to Alex as he rounds out this team and things like that. I think the world of both of those guys.

Q. When you look around, some teams are rebuilding, four teams that are clearly going for it. You're being chased now.
BRIAN SNITKER: Absolutely. This is what we've been working for. Like I say, it's been a tough three years since I've been here. And that's exactly what you're striving for. This is where you wanted to be. This is what we've been working so hard in our Minor League system and going through the grind in the Major Leagues is to get to this position.

I don't think anything different than it was a few years ago when this organization was so successful. It was the same thing. Teams are going to continue to get better, that's the nature of the beast that we're in. And we're going to have to continue that, too. The work is just beginning for us. I don't feel we're a finished product at the Major League level. Our players are not finished products yet.

Q. A year ago you talked about how you'd been recognized a few times like in public, whatever. This offseason it must have been even more so, after being on TV.
BRIAN SNITKER: I think the bald head is a giveaway when I go in places. And it's all been good things. People are excited about the Braves, and rightly so. If they came out and watched our club play last year, they're going to be excited because they are a fun group of guys to watch. They enjoy playing baseball. What a novel idea that these young, talented players are having fun playing. And they did.

And I alluded to that in that September run. I looked in that dugout and it was like an American Legion team. The energy, the excitement, pulling for each other, caring about each other. And it's a team that the city should be excited about watching because they're very entertaining.

Q. (Inaudible.)
BRIAN SNITKER: I hadn't known -- I'd seen him across the diamond obviously for a number of years, but I'd never had the opportunity to meet him personally and to talk to him. I was very impressed, as was Alex and the front office. And I think it's going to be a great hire for us, with his experience. He's been through these wars, he's developed young pitchers. I think the team of he and Marty staying in the bullpen is going to definitely benefit our pitching staff and our whole game.

So I'm really excited about Rick being aboard. I told him, too, I said, You're going to fit right in with this group because that coaches room in there is just a bunch of baseball guys, old baseball grinders that like the game and like to work. He's going to fit in really good in that room.

Q. When you look back on the season after all the debuts you saw, the home runs, the wins, the championship, getting to October, is there one moment that stands out to you where you just kind of took it all in?
BRIAN SNITKER: I think I took the whole season in, from start to finish. You sit back and you reflect and I don't know that there's just -- obviously the day with the third outs made and we clinched the division is huge. I'm just like the players, I'll never forget that, because it's the first one in my tenure as a Major League manager, I've been part of it as a third base coach.

But that's pretty special when all the hard work, what a grind this season is. When that combination -- the culmination of that, all the hard work, everything you put into it kind of and winning, that's pretty special.

Q. If Riley has a good spring, how are you going to fit him in the lineup?
BRIAN SNITKER: I don't know, we'll decide that when the time comes.

Q. (Inaudible.)
BRIAN SNITKER: I don't think necessarily. I mean like I say, I trust -- for me, Alex is really good at what he does. He has put together championship teams before. I said the one thing I noticed, and now the year I've been with him, all he does is try and make this team better. He's working really hard every day to try and make this club better. And as a manager I so appreciate that. He's going to do everything he can to ensure that we try and go out and defend our title.

And are there players out there he'd like to have? Absolutely. Although I've been in this thing long enough to know that it doesn't always work that way. So I think whatever he does is going to be really good and we'll go down there and we'll work with the players that are on that list when we get to Orlando and compete and put ourselves in a position to win.

Q. You had a large number of rookie pitchers who got a taste of action last year. What did you learn from those short exposures? And with that, if some of those guys have to go in rotation, is that something they can go back and forth or if the guy goes to the bullpen, or is it possible to swing them back and forth?
BRIAN SNITKER: The biggest thing, the first part of the question is, that third deck doesn't phase these guys anymore. It used to be when I managed Triple-A, and the general manager would call and say, Is this guy ready? Well, he's got everything here to be ready in my eyes, but until you see that guy perform at that third deck out there, you don't know what they're going to do.

It doesn't phase these kids anymore. They feel they're right where they should be. The experience that those guys got is going to be huge this year, because we'll probably need a lot of these guys in the mix. We come out of Spring Training, we put one of them in the bullpen, there may be a time where they get unstretched out and have to go back and start a few games because we do want them to start. And maybe they sit in the bullpen and they provide an asset to us as a bullpen piece.

I mean, it doesn't mean to say they're going to be there the rest of their life. It doesn't mean they're going to be there all year. We'll stretch a bunch of them out in Spring Training and have them ready to start because it takes a lot of guys to get through a Major League season. I think the experience that Max Fried and Kyle, Bryce came out of the bullpen a couple of times, it's going to benefit them.

I think the fact that they experienced that full Major League season, even if some of them weren't used a lot is going to be really good for those young guys now. That was an invaluable experience for a lot of those guys, just being around the situation and the guys and the everyday intensity that it is, and the professionalism that it takes and the consistency in a workout program and in approach is going to be great for a lot of those young pitchers.

Q. You see a lot of these young guys come up, you might not be competing for a championship, a NL East title, so how different was the time for them to come up and play not in meaningless games, but in games that were so significant?
BRIAN SNITKER: You can't replicate that. It's a lot of times when we'll get a guy at the Major League level and it's like, do we send him back? We can't replicate what he's going to need in Triple-A. You've got to send them back, that's part of it. When you keep them in the Major Leagues and they're facing that competition, that's something that can't be replicated in the Minor Leagues.

So I think everything that they experienced this year, it's going to get them one step closer to being that consistent Major League pitcher or player that we think they're going to be.

Q. Ozzie came up as a shortstop. Any chance he'll play shortstop again?
BRIAN SNITKER: I'm sure that he's capable. Probably a better shortstop now than he was before. He's kind of playing shortstop now. In this game with the shifts and all, you better have a second baseman that's pretty athletic, and we do. He's a perfect guy, I think, in today's game with the shifting era that we're in and the athleticism that it takes to be a second baseman now. You need a kid -- we're very fortunate to have a young man that's played shortstop playing second base for us that has that skill set.

Q. How big do you think having a full season and maybe reflect on what happened, do you think he'll be able to avoid the disparity again?
BRIAN SNITKER: That's part of those layers that you peel off in becoming a Major Leaguer, you're not going to surprise anybody anymore. Everybody is going to be ready for you. Everybody has video, everybody knows what you've done. And you challenge the player to make those adjustments, the physical adjustments, the mental adjustments that he's going to make to do what we all feel like and know what this kid's capable of.

It's part of the growth. Part of the development that these guys go through is that. It's very rare to just -- some of those guys come up, a lot of them end up going to the Hall of Fame that don't have problems.

But what Ozzie went through, it's going to benefit him coming into this year, because he's going to know that he's going to have to do some things.

Q. The team probably wasn't focusing on him at all?
BRIAN SNITKER: No, they saw him briefly the year before but they make adjustments to you. We talk about adjustments constantly in this game. Making adjustments. Making adjustments. And that's what that is. That's all part of it. He's such an intelligent kid, with the skill set and the feel and instinct that he has, there's no reason to think that -- this kid has a chance of being really special.

Q. You mentioned the Hall of Fame, one of the reasons Harold Baines was elected was longevity. Omar Vizquel, same thing. How important is longevity when you're assessing a player's career?
BRIAN SNITKER: For them I think it's very important. All these guys, they want to play as long as they can. That's all part of learning how to do it, and if these guys are smart they look at a Nick Markakis, the longevity he has, the success he's had, how he goes about it.

And I'm still amazed by the boring pros that played this game for a long time and how much respect I have for them. And you watch those guys and you can't appreciate them until you see them on a daily basis and that steady, even-keel attitude that they bring to the game and their approach and their work ethic. And preparation.

And it takes a while for these young guys to go through that and learn how to do it and have their program or what they do. Because everybody is different. Their bodies are different, how they respond to different things. So it takes a while. But you look at a guy like Nick Markakis, a Freddie Freeman, guys like that, or guys like Chipper. I remember Edgar Renteria when he was with us, guys like that that played a long time that were successful Major League players, and how much respect that I had for those guys because it's tough to do. It's tough to maintain that over the long season that we play. And these guys, they learn how to do it. And it takes experience.

And I think all these guys want to play for a long, long time. I think it's very important to the players.

Q. There's a report that Brandon Hyde is going to be named the manager of the Orioles. He never played in the Major Leagues. You never played in the Major Leagues. What challenges -- I don't know if you know Brandon.
BRIAN SNITKER: I know Brandon, yeah.

Q. What are your impressions of him? Second of all, what challenges are there for a Major League manager who's never played in the majors?
BRIAN SNITKER: I don't know that it's as big a deal anymore. A guy like Brandon, he's been in baseball a long time. He's wore a lot of different hats. He's been with a very successful organization in a very important role for the last few years. He's a really good baseball guy. He gets it. I think understanding that this is a really tough game to play is probably one of the keys to a guy maybe, like myself, that hasn't played in the Major Leagues.

I played in the Minor Leagues. I've been with this thing for a long, long time. And I think understanding that these guys are really good and they make it look easy, and it's not. And I think that's a really important thing for guys to understand.

And I love that Brandon gets that opportunity, that's great. Like you say, he's a baseball guy. He's paid his dues, he gets it. And I'd be really pulling for him.

Q. There are three former Braves on the Hall of Fame ballot, your comments.
BRIAN SNITKER: I hope they all get in. Love all three of them. They all did really good things for this organization. I don't have a vote.

Q. With the young pitchers you were talking about before, what kind of message do you have for them on Spring Training, first day, where it's no longer just lip service?
BRIAN SNITKER: We tell all young pitchers, my first meeting I'll have with them: We're not out to make the team today. They have to pace themselves. I think a lot of these young guys that are coming in that have experienced that full season will get that a little more now than probably what they did last year. Because it is, it's such a long grind. They have more than enough time to get ready in Spring Training.

I think the biggest thing is just kind of -- our coaches do a really good job of that, of backing off the throttle and bringing them along the right way. So these guys are all young, they're all high-energy guys. They're all really strong kids. They like to work. The work part of it, the drills, the fundamentals, all of that aren't a problem with our guys, they love all that kind of stuff. They like playing baseball.

And I think probably on the pitchers, like I say, the pitching coaches do a really good job of taking it easy with the guys and bringing them along the right way.

Q. What's the biggest thing you look at for determining who is going to be starting?
BRIAN SNITKER: Well, we've got a pretty good idea going in, the candidates. And I think you have to -- I think coming in we're going to probably be 90 percent sure who our rotation is going to be when we start camp.

That being said, you know, you start out with five guys, and I don't even know how many we used last year, but when we give guys extra days rest, things like that as we rotate guys around, it takes a lot of guys. We'll get a number of guys stretched out and ready to start the season as starters. And then we'll look, if we have to put a starter in the bullpen, we'll do it. Guys came up and they broke in in the bullpen. And a lot of those guys experienced that last year, which is going to be good for them going forward, it's not going to be such a culture shock to do that.

But I really like the depth that we have in our system. We've got some really good, young pitchers, that we pushed them a little bit. And we did last year. We pushed some young guys through. And they probably, when they got that call, probably starting out February or March, I'm sure they all wanted to pitch in the Big Leagues, but probably in their minds it was like, I'm probably a year away before I get there, and they found themselves pitching in the Major Leagues.

Q. (Inaudible.)
BRIAN SNITKER: Yeah, I think with what he's went through and the improvement that I saw, he's continuing to get better, also. And he's a young guy that we've all loved. We loved everything. He took a big step forward this year. And there's a lot -- I think that goes into that, too. There's a lot of mental things that go in with young starters, young relievers, when you're pitching games. And I think prior to last year we started a game and we hoped to win it. We got to a point last year, and I felt this coming to the ballpark, where I expected to win. There's a big difference in that, in the mental grinds that players go through in getting to that position. And that's all part of the process, too, that mental expectation, themselves, the team, the city.

I think like I say, that's part of the layers that are pulled off in the development of a young Major Leaguer, and I think he just needs to keep getting better. He is. I love that kid.

Q. The opener, the phenomenon of putting a guy in for one inning, could that be a way to break a young pitcher into the Big Leagues, while giving him the idea of starting that day from the first inning on?
BRIAN SNITKER: I don't know. It worked for the team that did it. I don't necessarily think in our situation that's an option right now. The guys that we have, I think they're going to get better, they're going to develop, they're going to do all that by starting the game and pitching.

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