Atlanta Braves: 6 Legendary One-Year Braves players
These players may have not been here for the long time, but they were here for the good time.
The Atlanta Braves have had a lot of good players over the years. While they've had so many long-term greats who could fill about four Mount Rushmores, they've also had a handful of players who left big impressions in the short time they had.
These are the six players who became legendary with the Braves, despite only spending a year (or in some cases even less) with the team.
6. Ervin Santana
#SMELLBASEBALL. This is what Ervin Santana began tweeting shortly before signing with the Atlanta Braves in 2014. He continued to tweet it again and again and again.
For the first month of the season, Santana kept tweeting away without explaining, leaving fans wondering what the new starter could mean.
Eventually he explained it was all about keeping the passion for the game.
Santana certainly showed his passion for the game while he was with the Braves, as he went on to have a 3.2 fWAR season with a 3.95 ERA in 196 innings. After the season, he signed a four-year deal with the Minnesota Twins, but the Braves were able to get a compensation pick, which they turned into Michael Soroka.
5. Josh Donaldson
Coming off an injury-riddled 2018, the 2015 AL MVP needed a prove-it deal for 2019, and his former GM was willing to give it to him.
Donaldson got off to a slow start, but after getting into a scuffle with Joe Musgrove, the Bringer of Rain turned into a tropical storm.
From the beginning of the season until June 10, the day of the scuffle, Donaldson was slashing .237/.357/.419 (104 wRC+). After, he slashed .272/.394/.587, good for a 148 wRC+.
Around midseason, Donaldson began breaking out the umbrellas on several of his 37 homers that year. He won the NL Comeback Player of the Year and got the big contract he was looking for. Unfortunately (or fortunately?) it wasn't with the Braves, as he left for Minnesota.
I'm bringin' in the rain
— Atlanta Braves (@Braves) September 7, 2019
Just bringin' in the rain! pic.twitter.com/8xpPM8QDwM
4. Shelby Miller
Shelby Miller's legacy with the Braves will always be complicated. Acquired in the Jason Heyward trade, the trade that started the Braves rebuild after the 2014 season, the then 24-year-old still had four years of control left. Meant to be a staple to shorten the rebuild, Miller broke out with the Braves.
Unfortunately, no one helped him out. Despite having a 3.02 ERA in 205.1 innings, Miller had a 6-17 record. He was the Braves only All-Star in 2015. The highlight of his season was his near no-hitter against the Marlins.
Although he was supposed to anchor the Braves rotation for years to come, Atlanta got an offer they simply could not refuse during the Winter Meetings that December, and the Braves traded him to Arizona for Ender Inciarte, Dansby Swanson, and Aaron Blair.