4 Players (and 1 Manager) Who Will Have Their Number Retired by the Atlanta Braves

After retiring Andruw Jones's number, whose number will the Atlanta Braves retire next?

St. Louis Cardinals v Atlanta Braves
St. Louis Cardinals v Atlanta Braves | Kevin C. Cox/GettyImages
2 of 2

1 Manager

Brian Snitker
World Series - Atlanta Braves v Houston Astros - Game Six | Bob Levey/GettyImages

Brian Snitker went from being the interim manager, the stopgap before the Braves hired a "real manager," to becoming that real manager and leading a team to the championship. Since taking over for the team in 2016, Snitker has won five division titles (soon-to-be six!), a Manager of the Year award, and, of course, the 2021 World Series.

Snitker, whose job was in jeopardy in 2017 until Nick Markakis threatened to fight John Hart, will likely be the Braves manager for at least 10 seasons. Currently, only Bobby Cox and Frank Selee have more wins, and both managers are in the Hall of Fame.

Snitker likely won't have time to reach Cooperstown, but he still has plenty of time to win more championships. If the Braves skipper can bring home one or two more World Series victories, it would be hard to imagine the Braves not retiring #43.

The 2 players with a 50%-100% chance

Ronald Acuña Jr. - #13

According to Baseball-Reference, Ronald Acuña Jr. has been most similar to Frank Robinson through his age 25 season. Robinson, if you didn't know, is one of the greatest players in MLB history.

Even before this season, where he's fighting for the NL MVP and creating records, Acuña had an impressive resumé: a Rookie of the Year award, three All-Stars, two Silver Sluggers, and a World Series ring. The RF has averaged 4.25 fWAR per season, despite the shortened 2020 season and missing half of the 2021 season.

If he can average this for the next five seasons after this season, he will have put up 46.8 fWAR, which would place him fifth all-time in the Braves franchise production, behind Hank Aaron, Eddie Mathews, Chipper Jones, and Andruw Jones.

Of course, as we've seen this season, he's capable of much more than a 4 WAR season. It would not be surprising if Acuña has a few more 6 and 7 WAR seasons.

Freddie Freeman - #5

Freddie Freeman
World Series - Atlanta Braves v Houston Astros - Game Six | Tom Pennington/GettyImages

I never said these were current Braves. As much as I like to pretend this man isn't in a Dodgers uniform who will likely finish third-place in this year's MVP race, I have to acknowledge Freddie Freeman will likely never put on a Braves uniform in another game.

At the same time, Freddie's tenure as a Brave was nothing short of outstanding. In his 12 seasons with Atlanta, Freeman appeared in five All-Star Games, won three Silver Sluggers, and the 2020 MVP.

Freeman was the sole continuous member from the 2013 division-winning team to the 2018 team that kicked off the streak of the soon-to-be six straight division titles.

His 43.3 fWAR puts him at seventh in franchise history, right behind Brian McCann. McCann's number will likely never be retired, but he never quite had the face of the franchise reputation that Freeman did.

Braves fans will have to deal with four more years of watching Freeman in a Dodgers uniform but we've likely already seen the last player wear #5 for the Braves.

Schedule