The Braves have moved on from the the last major pieces of Bobby Cox’s final coaching staff, parting ways with franchise mainstays Terry Pendleton and Eddie Perez with Friday’s announced changes.
Pendleton, who served as manager Brian Snitker’s bench coach, will no longer be in that role, replaced by another former Atlanta All-Star in Walt Weiss. Perez’s position goes to Eric Young Sr, while Sal Fasano was also added to the staff as catching coach.
Returning are pitching coach Chuck Hernandez, hitting coach Kevin Seitzer and assistant Jose Castro, third base coach Ron Washington and bullpen coach Marty Reed.
Per the Braves, Pendleton and Perez have both been offered posts within the organization.
Weiss, 53, played for the Braves from 1998-2000 and managed the Rockies from 2013-16. He went 283-365 before stepping down in October 2016.
He gives the Braves two former MLB managers on Snitker’s staff, as ex-Rangers/Athletics head man Washington was added as third base coach before the 2017 season.
Young, 50, was a member of Weiss’ staff in Colorado for three seasons, first as first base coach, while also overseeing the outfield and base-running instruction from 2014-16. He has also worked as first base coach with the Diamondbacks and was a minor league outfield and base-running instructor for the Astros.
Young played 15 years in the majors wth seven different teams, beginning with the Dodgers in 1992. His son, Eric Jr., spent 35 games with the Braves in 2015.
Fasano, 46, spent the 2017 season as manager of the Angels’ Double-A affiliate in the Southern League. He played 16 years, 11 of which were spent in the majors with nine different teams.
With these changes to Snitker’s staff, Atlanta is removing two beloved former players from its on-field product.
Pendleton, the 1991 National League MVP, spent five years in a Braves uniform as a player. He has been a part of Atlanta’s coaching staff since November 2001 when he was hired as hitting coach. He held that position until 2010 when he was moved to first base coach.
The 57-year-old became bench coach upon Snitker’s ascension to manager following the firing of Fredi Gonzalez in May 2016.
Another callback to the Braves’ 1990s heyday, Perez had two stints with Atlanta (1995-2001 and 2004-05) before serving as a player-coach for Double-A Mississippi in 2006. Cox added him as bullpen coach the following season, serving in that role until he was named first base coach after Gonzalez’s firing.
Pendleton’s name has come up many times over the years for managerial jobs, with Washington in 2006, the Braves in 2010 before they hired Gonzalez, and in ’11 with the Cardinals.
Like Perez — the manager of Aguilas del Zulia of the Venezuelan Winter League the past two seasons — Pendleton was believed to be among the internal candidates to lead the Braves for 2017 before they hired interim manager Snitker for the full-time job.
Follow Cory McCartney on Twitter @coryjmccartney and Facebook. His books, ‘Tales from the Atlanta Braves Dugout: A Collection of the Greatest Braves Stories Ever Told,’ and ‘The Heisman Trophy: The Story of an American Icon and Its Winners.’ are now available.
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