Atlanta Braves Fire Fredi Gonzalez In Highly Unsurprising Move

With a MLB-worst 9-28 record, the Atlanta Braves are definitely already looking toward the future. Rumors about manager Fredi Gonzalez‘s job status lingered in recent weeks, and he was finally fired on Tuesday morning.

The #Braves have fired manager Fredi Gonzalez.

— David O’Brien (@DOBrienAJC) May 17, 2016

Braves Triple-A manager Brian Snitker will come up a level to replace Gonzalez as the interim manager, and there are other coaches who have been replaced or promoted as well.

O’Brien passed along the interesting note that Gonzalez is the first Braves manager to be fired since June 1990, when Russ Nixon was let go and replaced by Bobby Cox. Cox remained in the job through his retirement after the 2010 season, and he was replaced by Gonzalez, who had a 434-413 record over five-plus seasons as Braves manager. Over 10 seasons as a big league manager (four with the Florida Marlins), Gonzalez has a 710-692 record.

Two straight late-season fades in 2014 and 2015, and one of the worst starts in franchise history this year, doomed Gonzalez as the manager in Atlanta. He is hardly the only one deserving of blame as the Braves head toward a possible 100-loss season, but the cliche about not being able to fire all the players is clearly apt. Gonzalez could easily land on another major league coaching staff before 2016 is over, or he will surely find an opportunity somewhere heading into 2017.