William Contreras keeps giving Braves fans a reason to revisit one of the most frustrating moves in recent memory, and a recent hint from Braves insider Mark Bowman may have pointed the finger in a new direction.
Contreras, now thriving with the Brewers, has been impossible for Atlanta fans to ignore this postseason. The regret attached to the trade that sent him to Milwaukee only grows louder every time he delivers for his new club. That reaction got tangled up again when his appearance on Ronald Acuña Jr.’s podcast went viral, with the two of them taking shots at an unnamed former coach.
At first, plenty of people assumed the criticism was aimed at former manager Brian Snitker. But Bowman’s reporting suggests the story may be more about former catching coach Sal Fasano, who was with the Braves from 2018 through 2024 before being let go after the 2024 season.
Fasano’s exit was a surprise at the time. Atlanta had gotten strong work from its catchers over the years, and even with Contreras gone and Sean Murphy dealing with injury issues in 2024, the move still landed as an unexpected shakeup. The organization never really laid out a clear explanation for why Fasano was dismissed, leaving fans to fill in the blanks.
Bowman now appears to be connecting that decision to Contreras’ rise in Milwaukee. “It wasn’t a coincidence that Sal Fasano’s days as Atlanta’s catching coach ended after Contreras thrived with both the bat and glove during his first two seasons in Milwaukee,” Bowman writes.
This isn’t the first time Bowman has tied Contreras’ improvement to being away from Fasano. Last summer, he responded to a fan with, “Ask Grok, why Baldwin has gotten better with Perez’s help, but Contreras got better defensively after he left Fasano and the Braves.”
Bill Shanks added another layer earlier this week, tweeting that the Braves did not value Contreras as a catcher and that Fasano convinced Alex Anthopoulos of that, which led to the coach’s firing. If that’s accurate, it would help explain why Contreras might still carry some bitterness about the whole episode, especially since he has said multiple times, including on the podcast, that he loved Atlanta and would have signed a team friendly extension.
That still doesn’t completely settle who Acuña and Contreras were talking about. But it does sharpen the picture, and it may shift some of the blame toward one of the more regrettable decisions the Braves have made.
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