Kenny Lofton - 1997
Another infamous acquisition, Kenny Lofton's time with the Braves was tumultuous after Atlanta sent Marquis Grissom and David Justice (who were both owed big money) to Cleveland to acquire him. He wasn't happy about being traded and clashed with manager Bobby Cox on several occasions during his lone season with the Braves. However, no one can say that he didn't play well during that 1997 season.
While his stolen base numbers did decline that year, Lofton still slashed .333/.409/.428 and put up a 5 WAR season in 1997. Unfortunately, that would be his only season with the Braves as he headed back to Cleveland immediately after becoming a free agent. Lofton's exclusion from the Hall of Fame remains inexplicable beyond the fact that he could be a difficult guy to deal with at times, but the Braves did get one good year out of him and got some salary relief along with him.
Josh Donaldson - 2019
Alex Anthopoulos has garnered a well-earned reputation as being a guy that thinks outside the box for ways to make the Braves better. Case in point is Josh Donaldson. Donaldson was coming off a stint with Cleveland where he dealt with calf issues, but AA was very familiar with him from his days in Toronto and inked Donaldson to a one year, $23 million deal for the 2019 season.
Donaldson hardly came out of nowhere. He won a MVP award with the Blue Jays and had been among the league's best hitters for years. However, his 2019 season with the Braves would prove to be his last truly good season as he posted a .900 OPS in 659 plate appearances with 37 homers before signing a a four year deal with the Twins after the season. As it turns out, AA was smart to not only sign him that year, but to not keep him around long-term as Donaldson quickly faded into obscurity after he left Atlanta.