MLB WINTER MEETINGS

December 5, 2023

Brian Snitker

Atlanta Braves

Press Conference

Q. Alex talked about in left field now that you got the kid from Seattle -- not a kid anymore, but now with him involved --

BRIAN SNITKER: He kind of is. Only 24.

Q. You feel good about that arrangement?

BRIAN SNITKER: I do. I would say we're going to Spring Training just like we did last year.

We have 30 games to kind of see what it looks like and where we're going to go, but I know I just am excited about seeing this kid.

Just talked to a few of my scouting buddies here and people that have seen him, and it sounds like he is a tooled-up really nice-looking player. He is a kid.

Q. You guys have always had a pretty successful hitting program, and I'm curious, have you talked to Seitzer at all and just his excitement to get to work with him?

BRIAN SNITKER: No. No, I haven't.

Q. Do you remember him facing you guys?

BRIAN SNITKER: No, I don't remember him at all. I can't remember what I had for breakfast, let alone -- no, I just know just talking to people how talented the kid is.

You know, it will be good for him to get in with our group, I think. And like you say, our program and what we do and how we approach things. I think it will be really beneficial for a young, talented player.

Q. How beneficial was it just to have a lot of the power arms back with Pierce Johnson and then add Reynaldo Lopez?

BRIAN SNITKER: It's great. I talked to Pierce. After the season was over, he came in, and I was, like, you know, don't be surprised if Alex doesn't act kind of quick on you. Because he did such a good job.

Lopez, I remember seeing him, watching him. I'm excited. Really excited to get him into our system.

Bummer also talked to him. He's ecstatic about being here.

I think what we bring too, the defense, the game-planning, everything that we do I think is beneficial to a new player that we get.

Q. If I'm looking at that coaching staff, that's been so important just to have. Do you feel good about where you're going to fill those voids?

BRIAN SNITKER: Yeah. We're in discussions and doing our due diligence. We don't feel pressured to do anything. It's just like the players that we lost. These guys were -- all three of them were very beneficial in our success, but I just always feel like we're not ever -- we've created a situation where we're not defined by one player, one coach. We're going to fill those voids. It will still continue to be really good.

I told Alex. That's the price of success. I mean, people want your people, which is great opportunities for all those guys.

Q. The decision to have Ronald go and play the full, winter ball season down in Venezuela, to have him go play somewhere else?

BRIAN SNITKER: Ronald wanted to play, pretty much.

Q. Have you been following what he has been doing?

BRIAN SNITKER: Yeah, I see it on some of the highlights and all that kind of stuff. He is a baseball player. You know, he likes to play baseball.

Q. By the same token Grissom going to Puerto Rico to play left field, have you seen enough of his athleticism to feel confident?

BRIAN SNITKER: No. It will be interesting. That was kind of his -- he wants to go do that. And the versatility and what he has going on, we all know the kid can hit. It will be interesting, because I think he actually starts the next couple of days. It will be nice to see him down there and running around the outfield.

Q. The sad news about Paul Snyder last week, I'm wondering, do you still see his influence on the organization in terms of consistent winning and --

BRIAN SNITKER: Absolutely. Paul's stamp will never be erased on this organization and who he was, what he did for this organization, the man that he was.

I was lucky. Right before the season ended, I spoke to him on the phone. Petie was in the background. I said, you know, guys like he and Phil Niekro, there wouldn't be any bigger supporters of the Atlanta Braves than guys like that. Again, I say I was blessed to be raised by Hall of Famers and him being one of them.

Q. What did you think of Alex coming out and being really adamant about people knowing that you're not trading any of these young players that sign these long-term extensions before they --

BRIAN SNITKER: It's good. Probably it's as much for those guys to hear that as anything. It's a quality group of guys. It's a pretty good core to build around and to have. Like I say, it's probably more beneficial for those individual players. Because it's a business. Things happen. It was nice that Alex did that.

Q. Nice of them not to have to even look over their shoulder and wonder?

BRIAN SNITKER: It is. It's like guys we've lost to free agency and trades and everything. It's part of the business.

Q. Not saying who you might be pursuing, but when you look at that roster, how could you improve that roster over the next --

BRIAN SNITKER: I think you can always probably improve or make changes that are beneficial to you. If we went to Spring Training tomorrow, I would feel really good about who we got in tow right now. I feel really good about our team again. And this is a group of driven guys. I say the only thing Alex is ever guilty of is working tirelessly to make this thing better.

Q. How important was it to you and as long as Charlie wanted to pitch again that he brought him back?

BRIAN SNITKER: The fact of not having Charlie is scarier than -- you know, so I'm glad. What he is doing is just amazing. I mean, he had one of his better years this year. It makes you feel good that you don't have to go out and replace him because it's hard to find Charlie Morton out there in a trade or in the open market.

Q. How about just knowing that Mattson is coming back. He's one that I can think of that will be helpful there.

BRIAN SNITKER: It's great. I'm sure he can't wait to get to Spring Training and get this thing going. He loves to compete. He was around -- in all his absence, he wasn't absent. He was there with the guys every day, and that's a presence that you can't replace.

Q. How excited are you to see the strides that Smith-Shawver continues to make and maybe Waldrep in Spring Training?

BRIAN SNITKER: As they pitch and the more innings they get, the better they're going to be. They're figure things out. Love A.J., everything, the upside, what he brings.

I'll be excited to see Waldrep also. I've heard a lot of great things about him. I had a brief meeting with him when he signed. It will be cool to see those guys in Spring Training.

Q. What was the biggest asset that Drew French brought to your staff? What made him so valuable?

BRIAN SNITKER: Man, I'm so happy for Drew. He's ready for this. I think his time with Kranny just helped him develop more. But the guy was a tireless worker. I told Brandon this when they hired him. You're not going to out-prepare this guy. He's going to be ready every single day.

The biggest thing that stuck out for me is in his first year -- it's not easy to be a bullpen coach. That's a surly group. And how those guys gravitated to him, I think was really what impressed me. With the veteran guys like Will Smith and Darren O'Day and guys like that and Matzek and Minter, all those guys, how they took to him. They knew he knew what he was talking about.

I talked to him yesterday. I'm excited for him to get this opportunity because he is ready for it.

Q. I'm not going to seem to be kind of dismissive of Elder's making the All-Star team because of the second half fade. Do you look forward to him having a season now that committee --

BRIAN SNITKER: Any time -- I kind of talk about going tee to green. They don't know until they do it and make those starts. I guarantee you that his preparation this winter will be different than it was the winters before because he knows what he's in for.

I think he is just going to continue to build on the experiences that he had last year.

Q. How happy were you for Jim Leyland?

BRIAN SNITKER: Oh, it was awesome. Awesome. I texted him right after I heard. I feel a kindred spirit there with him and where he came from. He's always been a guy -- I know in Spring Training that we'll sit and talk for -- I could sit and talk to him forever, because I know he's been through everything that I'm experiencing.

He's a guy that -- I used to have Bobby I could call. I could call him, I know, tomorrow and he would pick the phone up if I had something I wanted to bounce off of him. I'm really happy he's being recognized like that. That's awesome.

Q. There was a lot of talk during the postseason about some of the teams with the most regular season wins that got knocked out. Everyone said they wanted to think about it and had some ideas. What do you think? Was there a theme or thread to that?

BRIAN SNITKER: I just think it's hard when you shut this thing down for five days. We're an industry and a sport. The biggest thing is -- because I thought two years ago, we did one thing. Last year I thought we did the best we could as far as keeping the guys ready. They were engaged. Everything was great. But you know what? That adrenaline and all that baseball players play by is hard to ramp back up.

You know what? We're going to go to Spring Training trying to win the division and put ourselves in the same position this year. We'll just have to try and figure out a abort way to get things -- keep these guys prepared.

It's what it is. Anything can happen in playoff baseball, as we know, and I tell the guys, until you get a seat at the table, you don't know what's going to happen. You could take a day off and play and have the same thing happen. There's just no rhyme or reason to the whole thing. We just have to do a better job of trying to stay ready.

Q. You guys had an historic offense, but you remember that Philly brought in the high velocity relievers as the series set in. In the weeks after, how much of that was a take-away of the type of arms --

BRIAN SNITKER: It was really good. They did a good job of stocking that bullpen. That was one of their sticking points the couple of years before. They did a great job.

That's one of the things that I think is -- a hitter's timing, it's hard to replicate that in a playoff situation. As we know, runs are hard to come by in a playoffs, and they have a good formula for it because they hit a lot of long balls and have velocity. Which I think, you know what? Our bullpen did a great job also in the playoff series. We're in good shape for all that too.

Q. Can you see Alex kind of building something similar? You had a great bullpen the last few years, but adding the high velo guys that he has?

BRIAN SNITKER: I think it's great because we know how important that bullpen is. Over the course of the summer too, I love the arms that we've added.

I kind of feel like Joe Jimenez having a normal offseason and getting him -- because how he finished was really, really good. And I think we're going to see a six-month product out of him that's really, really good also.