The Atlanta Braves just retired their 11th number after hanging up Andruw Jones's #25 for good on Saturday evening. Six of those numbers have been retired in the last 15 years.
But after retiring Andruw Jones's number, it might be a while before the next Atlanta Brave is honored. Here are the four players (and one manager) who will get the highest honor the Braves can give once their careers are over.
The 2 players with a 10%-50% chance to get their number retired by the Braves
Ozzie Albies - #1
It's hard to imagine Ozzie Albies in another uniform. After signing a seven-year, $35 million extension with two option years in 2019, the Braves 2B will likely spend at least 11 seasons with Atlanta.
In his seven seasons to date with the club, Albies has been excellent. He's been worth 18.3 fWAR (roughly 3.2 fWAR per season if you exclude 2017 and 2020) and has a 108 career wRC+ (.270/.322/.474).
By fWAR, he's already the third-best 2B in franchise history, and the two players ahead of him (Bobby Lowe and Ross Barnes) were both dead before the team even moved to Milwaukee.
At the same time, the Braves have been resistant to retiring non-Hall-of-Famers, with Andruw joining Dale Murphy as the players to get their number retired by the team who aren't in Cooperstown.
Still, Albies has become one of the faces of the current franchise. He's gone from being one of the young players on the 2018 team to being one of the leaders on the 2023 team.
If #1 gets retired, it's because Albies spends his entire career with the team and doesn't have a serious decline in his 30s. If Albies can ride 3 fWAR seasons for the next eight years, then he could cement himself into Braves history.
Austin Riley - #27
After getting the largest contract in Atlanta Braves history, Austin Riley is here for the long term. When the Braves 3B's contract expires, he will have spent at least 15 years with the Braves.
Since his breakout season in 2021, Riley has been worth 14.5 fWAR (roughly 5 fWAR per season). If he continues this for the next decade, he could find himself in the Hall of Fame.
However, expecting a decade's worth of 5+ fWAR seasons would be foolish. Riley could as easily become Kris Bryant in his 30s as he could become Jim Thome.
If Austin can continue his level of production for the next several years, he very easily could be the last Brave to ever wear #27.