The Rangers and Angels both have new head coaches in 2026, but that still leaves seven other teams looking for new leaders in the dugout. In the recent news and rumors surrounding all of these simultaneous front office searches, there hasn’t been a lot coming out of Atlanta, and that’s intentional. The Braves’ operations are typically more secretive than most clubs, as president of baseball operations Alex Anthopoulos told reporters at his year-end press conference, “If we do our job the way I want you to do your job, you’ll have nothing.“About his club’s search for a new captain.
Mark Bowman of MLB.com revealed a few details, but more on some speculative names that might be able to be removed from consideration. Bowman has learned from sources that former Blue Jays manager John Gibbons is not a candidate and there is “no indication” that former Cubs manager David Ross or MLB Network and former player Mark DeRosa are being considered for the head coaching job.
Bowman’s follow-up message on X noted that he believed the names Gibbons, Rose and DeRosa could be “safely removed from the campaign.” His initial report did not rule out bench coach Walter Weis or coach Eddie Perez from consideration, but Bowman downplayed the idea of either man being promoted to head coach, writing: “Their potential candidacy seemed to evaporate when the Warriors didn’t convince them.” [Brian] Snitker will have to manage for at least another year. That means succession planning may have been the team’s original concept, but Snitker’s decision to step down after the 2025 season could leave the Warriors leaning toward bringing in a fresh voice on the bench.
Gibbons has the most MLB managerial experience of any player rumored to be involved in Atlanta’s search, having served as captain for parts of 11 seasons with the Blue Jays during two different tenures. Anthopoulos served as the Jayhawks’ assistant general manager during Gibbons’ first tenure, and after becoming general manager, he made the unusual move of rehiring Gibbons before the 2013 season as Toronto searched for a replacement for John Farrell. Gibbons served as the Mets’ bench coach the past two seasons but resigned from that role last month, fueling speculation that he could be Anthopoulos’ option again in Atlanta.
Rose seemed like a natural candidate, as a Georgia native who played four seasons with the Braves and had four years of major league managerial experience on his resume. DeRosa is another former Braves player who spent seven seasons with the club from 1998 to 2004 and has primarily worked in broadcasting since his career ended in 2013. Although DeRosa serves as Team USA’s head coach during the 2023 World Baseball Classic, he has not coached or managed in the majors or minors.
As for names the Braves might be looking at, Bowman wrote that Dodgers bench coach Danny Lehmann’s “candidacy appears to have strengthened over the past few weeks.” The fact that the Dodgers are about to reach the World Series could be a complicating factor, although Layman could be interviewed by the Braves in the interim between postseason games. This does mean Atlanta likely won’t announce a new hire until November, or at least not until after the World Series.
Lyman, 40, has served as Dave Roberts’ bench coach for the past three years and has spent the past decade with Los Angeles in roles including game planning/communications coach, front-office special assistant and senior video scout. Lehmann’s time with the Dodgers overlapped with Anthopoulos’ two-year tenure (2016-17) as the Dodgers’ vice president of baseball operations, so there’s a lot of familiarity between the two.
Cubs bench coach Ryan Flaherty and Tigers bench coach George Lombard are two other “potential candidates,” in Bowman’s words. Both men have been popular names in managerial searches in recent years, with Flaherty a finalist for the Padres job in 2023 (before Mike Shildt was hired) and speculated as a candidate for the Padres’ current vacancies as well as vacant managerial positions with the Orioles and Twins. Lombard interviewed with the Marlins and White Sox last winter, and he was also involved in past managerial openings with the Tigers and Pirates.
Lombard, an Atlanta native, also has some history with Anthopoulos in Los Angeles since Lombard served as the Dodgers’ first base coach from 2016-20. Lombard and Flaherty are both former Warriors — Lombard in 1998-99 and Flaherty in 2018.
