The 2025 regular season has mercifully come to an end and Atlanta Braves fans likely cannot wait to forget it ever happened. After a slew of injuries and a numbers of stars underperforming, the Braves put together one of the more disappointing seasons in recent memory and will almost certainly mean Alex Anthopoulos and the rest of the front office are going to get right to work remaking this roster. Unfortunately, that means some players are going to get their walking papers.
Several of the Braves' departures are widely expected and won't come as much of a surprise to anyone. However, there are some that come down to some tough choices Atlanta has to make amongst a pool of players that are a bit tougher to predict.
Here are the Braves players that almost certainly won't be back next season
There is a lot of uncertainty with regards to a few players on the Braves roster. As a result, we are going to be somewhat bold in assuming that guys like Ha-Seong Kim and Raisel Iglesias are coming back even if both players are far from locks to return. If they don't, we can still live with making that bet given the Braves' current needs. The goal here is to identify the most likely players to not come back next season even if there are several others that are viable candidates for trades or getting nontendered. Make of that what you will.
Marcell Ozuna
This is an easy one. Ozuna probably should have been traded at the deadline, but it sounds more and more like there was very little interest in him which speaks to how poorly Ozuna played this season. Atlanta could certainly use an open DH spot to rotate their catchers as well as Jurickson Profar in and out of and Ozuna looks like age has finally caught up with him. Unless he wants to re-sign for a bargain bin price, he is as good as gone.
Nick Allen
Allen was a great defender for the Braves this season which kept playing him regularly from being a total disaster. However, Atlanta finally realized they need offense at shortstop and claimed Kim off of waivers which immediately cost Allen playing time. Whether or not they keep Kim beyond 2025, it is clear that Allen just isn't a major league bat and the Braves need a real shortstop. It wouldn't be completely shocking to see the Braves keep Allen as a bench infielder because of his glove, but a divorce seems more likely.
Charlie Morton
Again, another easy one. Morton has already said he is retiring after this season and that rejoining the Braves to end the season is going to be his farewell. The Braves famously couldn't quit Morton for a long time, but it does feel like he is going to hang his cleats up for real this time. Enjoy retirement, Charlie. You have absolutely earned a nice, long rest.
Joel Payamps
There are a number of Braves relievers that are in realistic contention for getting cut heading into next season. We'll go with Payamps to start as he was an incredibly late addition to the roster and he occupies a bullpen spot that has been in flux all season long. Expect a lot of changes to the bullpen, but Payamps is definitely one of the easiest cuts to make.
Vidal Brujan
Brujan has had a couple fun moments here and there, but his bat just has so little upside due to a complete lack of power and he doesn't move the needle defensively beyond some versatility. With Ozzie Albies constantly getting hurt and the current lack of real infield depth, expect the Braves to go out and sign a legitimate infield bench piece for safety. That, unfortunately, means Brujan needs to go.
Jarred Kelenic
Again, no surprise here beyond the fact that Braves fans may have forgotten that Kelenic was around at all. He couldn't hit in the majors when given an opportunity and he has struggled to do much of anything at Triple-A as well. Kelenic is entering his second year of arbitration and it would be a major upset if the Braves didn't nontender him at this point.
Jose Suarez
Again, a lot of choices when it comes to swapping out relievers, so we will go with the guy that never solidified a spot in the bullpen and who is set to enter his last year of arbitration in Suarez. While Suarez probably won't command much in arbitration and that could help his case, we're betting the Braves know they need better bullpen depth and Suarez is an easy player to upgrade over.