With the final game of the 2025 Atlanta Braves regular season here, it marks what could be the final game for some in a Braves uniform. We’ll take a moment to look at who we could be bidding farewell to in the season finale on Sunday.
Some key names could be calling it a career. Others could simply be playing elswhere
This list, for obvious reasons, only includes healthy players able to take the field on Sunday. So players such as Ozzie Albies will not be included. His season is already over, so if the Braves decline his club option, we have already seen his last game.
Players who joined the team this season and had never played for the team previously are also excluded from this. For example, Ha-Seong Kim, who has been with the team for a month, won’t be listed. There needs to be some weight to this list.
Members of the coaching staff, including a certain manager, can be included in this list too.
A stipulation in the criteria for the list was made specifically for Morton. He technically joined the team this season, but he’s not your typical late-season addition.
His send-off start on Sunday makes him a fitting name to lead this list off with. Just over a week ago, it was under the assumption that he had already played his final game as a Brave.
Once the Detroit Tigers designated him for assignment, the Braves jumped at the opportunity. He’ll open the game with Chris Sale set to come in behind him and pitch.
Morton is officially in his third stint with the Braves, the team he made his debut with back in 2008 and then pitched for from 2021 to 2024. In those five combined seasons, excluding Sunday, he has a 4.09 ERA in 140 regular-season games pitched. In the Braves’ run to the World Series in 2021, he had a 3.24 ERA in four starts.
The Braves designated hitter stuck around after the trade deadline, allowing him to finish out what could be his last season as a Brave. After two seasons receiving MVP votes and an All-Star nod in 2024, Ozuna’s performance dipped for much of this season.
His dry spell at the plate reached a point where manager Brian Snitker opted to use Drake Baldwin and Sean Murphy in a rotation between catcher and the designated hitter spot. A surge in August, along with Murphy struggling and going down with an injury, helped Ozuna get his spot in the lineup back.
He’s about to be an unrestricted free agent, giving the Braves a chance to move on and have a fresh start at the designated hitter position.
Entering Sunday, Ozuna has a .265 average with an .837 OPS, 148 home runs and 409 RBIs across six seasons in Atlanta.
Iglesias has actually pitched himself back into the conversation for sticking around. He might have gotten that chance due to poor performance putting a dent in his trade stock, but he showed, regardless, that he’s as good as he’s ever been.
He received the Reliever of the Month award in August and had a 0.36 ERA in his last 25 games. In that span he’s also picked up 17 of his 28 saves on the season.
What it comes down to, like Ozuna, is that he’s reaching free agency. He’s coming off making $16 million a season for the last few seasons, and the Braves might be looking for more cost-effective options. They also need to figure out how long they would want to have the 35-year-old Iglesias under contract if they were to re-sign him.
This could very well be the last time we see Brian Snitker manage a game. As he approaches 50 years with the Braves organization, he still has to decide if he can walk away satisfied or if there is still unfinished business.
He’s already won a World Series and the National Manager of the Year award, so the trophy case is good to go. However, going out on a season where the Braves finished below .500 and missed the postseason for the first time since 2017 isn’t ideal.
We lilkley won’t know today, but we’ll get a final decision in due time.
