Despite retiring after the 2010 season, Bobby Cox’s legacy has stayed strong with Atlanta Braves players. In fact, with the exception of 2020, Atlanta has had at least two players from the Bobby Cox era every single season.

However, as 2025 approaches, the organization currently does not have a single player who played under Bobby Cox or even Fredi Gonzalez. But will 2025 be the first season since 1977 that the Braves are officially under a new era?

The Braves might be officially out of the Bobby Cox era

For the first few seasons after Bobby Cox’s retirement, it wasn’t shocking that there were still holdovers from the previous era. After all, the then-rookie sensation Jason Heyward had just finished his rookie year with the team, while Craig Kimbrel and Freddie Freeman had their first cups of coffee.

However, once the Braves decided to tear down the roster and rebuild following the 2014 season, it was more surprising that Freddie Freeman wasn’t the only player on the roster who had played for Cox.

In 2015, Kelly Johnson and Peter Moylan kept Freeman company. The following season, Johnson returned along with Jeff Francoeur and Eric O’Flaherty. Only O’Flaherty remained after the 2016 trade deadline, but he returned in 2017 as the sole non-Freeman Cox-era player.

In 2018, Peter Moylan rejoined the Braves at the start of the season, while Jonny Venters was acquired midseason to join Freeman from the Cox-era. In 2019, Venters returned, along with Brian McCann, but neither would be on the Braves 2020 roster.

After the shortened 2020-season, which looked like Freeman could be the only player from the Cox-era for the forseeable future, both Charlie Morton and Jesse Chavez rejoined Atlanta in 2021. After Freeman’s departure to the Dodgers, these two pitchers have been the sole link to the former era.

Interestingly, neither Morton or Chavez played under Fredi Gonzalez, which meant that while the team continued to have Cox-era players on the roster, the ties to the Fredi Gonzalez era left with Freeman. Since Dansby Swanson left for the Cubs, these two have also been the only players to have played home games at Turner Field as well.

Now, with both free agents, it’s looking more and more likely that 2024 marked the end of an era. There are five active players who played under Cox. Freeman is currently locked in with the rival Dodgers for the next three seasons, while the team seemingly hasn’t shown any interest in reuniting with Jason Heyward and Craig Kimbrel. Morton is still looking to play, but Chavez heavily hinted last season that 2024 would be his last.

The Braves have not shown interest in re-signing Morton to this point, meaning that it is highly likely that when the 2025 season begins, the Atlanta Braves won’t have a single player who played for Bobby Cox on their roster for the first time since 1977, the year before he took over the reigns of the team.

For a manager who retired 15 seasons ago, that’s quite the legacy.