Atlanta Braves has announced that current manger Fredi Gonzalez will be staying with the team. The news came in unexpectedly for Gonzalez.
Less than a week after a disappointing season for the Braves, interim GM John Hart made an announcement to inform that Gonzalez will still be the teams' manager for 2015.
Gonzalez said "I'm excited to get going again. Obviously, I think the organization giving me another opportunity is terrific. We'll see if we can get back to our winning ways."
The Braves finished 79-83, a daunting 17 games behind Washington in the NL East and only their third losing season in the last 24 years.
Gonzalez added "I guess they felt it was good to keep me, give me another year, and work from there."
Although there are still no talks of any contract extension, Gonzalez believes that the current setup does not put him in an awkward situation.
He said "All of my coaching career, other than my managing career, I was always on one-year contracts, that doesn't bother me one bit."
While Gonzalez gets to keep his position, his staff will have some changes. Two coaches were removed from their slots, third-base coach Doug Dascenzo and assistant hitting coach Scott Fletcher while Hitting coach Greg Walker announced his resignation.
Dascenzo only lasted a year under Gonzalez in which the manager commented "Sometimes people get caught in situations that are not under their control. I don't think Dougie did anything wrong. He's a hell of a third-base coach."
What's left from Gonzalez' team was pitching coach Roger McDowell, bench coach Carlos Tosca, first-base coach Terry Pendleton and bullpen coach Eddie Perez. Aside from that, an additional staff to replace Dascenzo has been announced and that is former Houston Astros manager Bo Porter.
According to Gonzalez of Porter "I have a rapport with him. I think he's a very good third-base coach and base-running guy who will help us get back to the playoffs."
Gonzalez has a strong support especially coming from Bobby Cox. Cox said "There was no quit at all. I'm very familiar with the clubhouse, and it was as high energy as you could get under the circumstances. I think Fredi has done a remarkable job since taking over for me."
