5 current MLB stars who played for legendary Atlanta Braves manager
It's been almost 14 years since the Braves Hall of Fame skipper hung up the spikes, but there are still five of his former players who are still active in the league.
The Braves are in their 14th season without Bobby Cox leading the team from the dugout, but his legacy is far from forgotten. In fact, five players who played under him are still in the league. One player is still among the best in the league, two others still play for the Braves.
However, compared to the expectations that these five players had back in 2010 (or even just a few years ago), it might be surprising which play for the Braves today.
Let's take a look at the final five MLB players to have ever suited up for the legendary Bobby Cox.
5 current MLB players who played for former Braves skipper Bobby Cox
Charlie Morton
Charlie Morton's first tenure with the Braves came to an end months before Bobby Cox even announced that he was retiring.
The righty made his Major League debut for the Braves on June 14, 2008, as a 24-year-old. He made 15 starts and struggled, finishing the season with a 6.15 ERA in 74.2 innings.
The next season, the Braves put Morton in Triple-A, where he pitched very well in 10 starts. However, he wouldn't get another shot with Atlanta for over another decade, as the team packaged him to the Pirates in exchange for Nate McLouth on June 3, 2009. Bobby Cox announced he was retiring after the 2010 season three months later on September 23, 2009.
Of course, Morton is one of the two current Braves to have played for Bobby Cox and is also one of the two remaining Braves to have played home games at Turner Field.
Although he has not formally announced he is retiring after the 2024 season, it is widely speculated that this is Uncle Charlie's last ride. Thankfully, the 40-year-old's second tenure with the Braves has been much more successful.
Jason Heyward
In 2010, a 20-year-old named Jason Heyward dominated the Grapefruit League and made it impossible for Bobby Cox to keep him off the Opening Day roster. In his very first Major League at-bat, he did this:
Heyward finished second in Rookie of the Year voting, was an All-Star, and looked like his name would be mentioned alongside Hank Aaron, Eddie Mathews, and Chipper Jones when talking about the greatest Braves of all time.
Unfortunately, that didn't happen. Although Heyward's had a solid MLB career, he's been far from the greatest. His Braves tenure ended after the 2014 season when the club shipped him off to St. Louis in exchange for Tyrell Jenkins and Shelby Miller. As a Brave, Heyward averaged nearly 4.0 fWAR per season, although much of that value came from his outstanding glove.
The lefty had a solid season with the Cardinals and parlayed that into an eight-year, $184 million contract. During his seven seasons, he only had a wRC+ above 100 once, and it was during the shortened 2020 season. He was released after the 2022 season, joined another player on this list out in LA, and had his best hitting season since he was a Cardinal.
Among the players on this list, Heyward certainly had the highest expectations, and while playing 14 MLB seasons is certainly an accomplishment, it's easy to argue that his career has been somewhat of a disappointment.
Craig Kimbrel
The Braves first called up Craig Kimbrel in May of Bobby Cox's final year. The righty went up and down several times, but was brought up for good in September. On the entire season, Kimbrel was excellent in the 20.2 innings he pitched, striking out 40 batters and only allowing one run.
Cox turned to Kimbrel in the postseason after Billy Wagner went down with an injury, and unfortunately the Braves couldn't win either game he appeared in the 9th.
The following season, Kimbrel continued his dominance and took home the Rookie of the Year. Alongside Eric O'Flaherty and Jonny Venters, the trio headlined one of the most unstoppable bullpens in baseball.
The flame-throwing closer is still the franchise leader in saves but his tenure with the Braves ended shortly after Heyward's. Although he was with the Braves in Spring Training of 2015, the club traded him along with B.J./Melvin Upton to the Padres in a prospect package that also included the pick that became Austin Riley.
Since leaving the Braves, Kimbrel has played for the Padres, Red Sox, Cubs, White Sox, Dodgers, and Phillies. He is currently on the Orioles roster for the 2024 season.
Despite his journeyman nature, Kimbrel has remained a somewhat elite reliever. Last season, he became eighth player in MLB history with 400 saves, which he unfortunately accomplished at the Braves expense in Atlanta.
Freddie Freeman
For a while, it seemed like Freddie Freeman would be the last person who played for Bobby Cox to wear a Braves uniform.
When Freeman first came up, he was a high-ranking prospect but did not have the same expectations as his friend and teammate, Jason Heyward. However, as the seasons progressed, it was Freeman who became the face of the franchise, not Heyward.
The first baseman signed an eight-year extension in 2014, but months later, the Braves decided to rebuild. and the Braves also immediately ensured Freeman was the one player the team kept. Freeman suffered through three straight losing seasons but remained the one link from the old days when the club started making the playoffs again in 2018.
In 2020, Freeman won the MVP in the shortened season, and in 2021, the final year of his eight-year deal, he finally got his championship.
If you surveyed Braves fans after the 2010 season and told them that 14 years after Bobby Cox retired, the team would still have two players on the 2024 squad who played with the skipper, the first player fans would likely have guessed Jason Heyward first, and Freddie Freeman second.
If you had asked this question in 2015, 2016, 2017, even at the beginning of 2021, fans would have said, "100% Freddie Freeman is one of those players, no doubt."
Alas, Freeman is not one of the two. After winning the World Series, he went into free agency which ended with him firing his agent and in a rival team's uniform.
Fortunately, in addition to Charlie Morton, the two players have become incredibly valuable to the team and highly appreciated by fans and players alike. And who is the second player who played with Cox and is still with the Braves?
Jesse Chavez
Unlike Freddie Freeman, who most people would have probably guessed would still be with the Braves in 2024 had they been asked a decade ago most Braves fans likely forgot Jesse Chavez even existed in 2014.
Chavez first came to Atlanta in a trade with the Tampa Bay Rays in the 2009-2010 offseason. The righty had just been traded to Tampa Bay from Pittsburgh a month earlier. He made the Braves Opening Day roster and pitched 28 games with a 5.89 ERA before being traded to the Royals along with Tim Collins and Gregor Blanco in exchange for Kyle Farnsworth and Rick Ankiel.
Chavez's trade from Atlanta was already the fourth time he had been traded. He'd be traded six more times in the next twelve years and become the most traded player in MLB history.
Chavez played for the Royals, the Blue Jays, the Athletics, the Blue Jays again, the Dodgers, the Angels, the Rangers, the Cubs, and the Rangers again in between his Braves stint and he was with the Angels in 2021 Spring Training before he was released.
Chavez found his way back on the Braves in 2021 and helped them to their first World Series championship since 1995. Although he's pitched with Atlanta every season since 2021, he's had four different stints, which included two trades in 2022.
And yet, he's still with the Braves, and making him one of two current Atlanta Braves to have played for Bobby Cox. Everyone in Braves Country loves Jesse Chavez and it feels good to see him with the team for one last ride.
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