There have been some impressive names who’ve come through the Atlanta Braves organization and left for “greener” pastures. No matter how successful a Braves player’s career has been from its genesis, there comes a time when the organization has to make tough decisions to move on from players – or the players decide they want a change of scenery, no matter what Atlanta has to offer.
Unfortunately, Braves fans know this all too well over the last few seasons, as they’ve lost fan-favorite players from the ranks. There have also been a few departing players who the team was 100% right to move on from. It shows you never know what will happen each season.
Let’s check out three former Braves the team wishes they’d held on to, and two they were right to move on from.
3 former Braves making Atlanta regret letting them go
Max Fried
This one is the most painful and obvious choice among players the Braves wish they’d held on to. Fried was an important staple in Atlanta’s rotation for eight years, and he’s showing everyone why he was worth the eight-year, $218 million investment from the Yankees (there’s still a long way to go, but he’s off to a ridiculous start).
Fried leads Major League Baseball in wins (7), ERA (1.29), games started (11), and ERA+ (306). He has allowed just 10 earned runs over 70 innings with 16 walks and 67 strikeouts. His walk and ground ball rates are absolutely impressive at 5.8% and 53.2%. It could be an historic season for Atlanta’s former southpaw.
Griffin Canning
Canning was acquired when the Braves traded Jorge Soler to the Angels. It seemed like he was an easy candidate for Atlanta’s rotation, but the front office decided to non-tender him and Canning landed with the Mets instead. He signed a one-year, $4.25 million contract and he’s been worth every penny so far.
So far, Canning has a 2.88 ERA over 50 innings pitched with 21 walks and 47 strikeouts. He has an incredible 54.2% walk rate this season, and is doing what you’d expect a backend starter to do. However, the Braves are getting similar production out of Grant Holmes, so it isn’t a huge loss.
Dansby Swanson
It’s the third year Swanson has suited up for the Cubs, and with the recent departure of Orlando Arcia, I’m sure the Braves would like to have Swanson back. He’s having a solid season for Chicago with a .256/.317/.463 slash line, including seven doubles, 11 home runs, 29 RBI, and a 117 wRC+.
He’s a great leader and it would be wonderful to have him back in the clubhouse. His chase rate is very impressive this year, but he continues to struggle with strikeouts. His defense has also taken a bit of a decline. Nick Allen’s offense isn’t nearly as good, but he doesn’t swing and miss as often and he has the best OAA (11) among all MLB shortstops and the second-best DRS at 7.
2 former Braves players we’re glad are gone
Charlie Morton
Morton is having one of the worst seasons of his career, with no wins and a 7.68 ERA through 41 innings pitched. He has 24 walks to 40 strikeouts and his ground ball rate isn’t as good, as usual. Teams are crushing his secondary pitches, and it’s forced him to depend way more on his fastball and curveball. It’s tough to see him struggle, but that’s why the Braves parted ways.
Travis d’Arnaud
d’Arnaud is another player that fans would love to bring back to the clubhouse, in theory. However, he hasn’t been very good this year, and if he was still in Atlanta, Drake Baldwin would be blocked. It was time to move on from TDA. He has an atrocious line of .200/.263/.314 through 22 games with one homer and four RBI. Because the Braves moved on from him, Atlanta continues to have the best catching tandem in baseball, and it isn’t even close.
