5 Atlanta Braves who definitely won't be back next season after laying postseason egg

The MLB Postseason has certainly not been kind to the Atlanta Braves since they captured the organization's first World Series victory since 1995 three years ago in the 2021 playoffs. In the past two years, the club fell short in the NLDS to the rival Phillies. This time around, however, they were trounced in the NL Wild Card on the road against the San Diego Padres.

Atlanta's offense was ice-cold in the pair of playoff games that the played (and lost), which ultimately paved the road to an early exit. Now, they're going home and they also have plenty of big changes to consider as they move forward as an organization.

Specifically, as this team aims to get back more firmly (and healthily) into the World Series mix, it won't be with these five players as, for a variety of reasons, they've now played their last game with the Braves.

5. IF Whit Merrifield's time with the Braves will ultimately be brief

Injuries were an unfortunate refrain for the 2024 Braves and that ultimately left their position players and pitching alike quite depleted. So before the trade deadline, one of Alex Anthopoulos' genius moves was to bring in veteran utilityman Whit Merrifield to fill in for Ozzie Albies and, ultimately, around the rest of the infield to try and keep the postseason pace.

Atlanta, obviously, made it into the playoffs regardless and Merrifield certainly played a role in that. Over 42 games, the veteran slashed .248/.348/336 and was a solid band-aid addition who helped this snake-bitten roster survive.

However, the hope that Anthopoulos and the Braves have this offseason is that they don't have to weather similar circumstances next season. While they may somewhat prepare with better overall depth, they will ultimately look for younger, higher-upside and perhaps simply better options than Merrifield would be in the 2025 campaign.

4. OF Adam Duvall may have worn out his welcome in Atlanta

Adam Duvall made his return to Atlanta after spending the 2023 campaign with the Red Sox just before Opening Day when it became apparent, at least at the time, they Brian Snitker would be looking to platoon righties and lefties in left field with offseason acquisition Jarred Kelenic. The addition of the veteran Duvall, unfortunately, did not go to plan.

After clobbering 28 home runs for 81 RB across 141 games with Atlanta in 2021 and 2022, Duvall was a disaster in the 2024 campaign. In 104 games and 330 plate apperances, he slashed the worst marks of his career at .182/.245/323 while hitting only 11 home runs with 99 strikeouts. Frankly, it was tough to watch and hard not to think that the 35-year-old might be at the end of the line.

Now it will at least surely be the end of the line for Duvall with the Braves. It was a well-intentioned and well-thought-out addition at the time but the results just weren't there. That's not something that Atlanta can ultimately bank on moving forward, especially if they're eyeing World Series chances with a healthy roster.

3. SP Charlie Morton will call it a career after the 2024 season

Before the 2024 season ever started, it felt like it was going to be the swan song for veteran Charlie Morton. Uncle Chuck has been a stalwart for the Braves since his first season with the club in 2021. And even at 40 years old in this campaign, he continued to be exactly what Atlanta has seen from him over his tenure with the club who he also played his rookie year with.

Morton, for the fourth time in as many seasons with the club, made 30 starts this season while posting a solid 4.19 ERA and 1.325 WHIP. For a veteran expected to be a back-of-the-rotation innings-eater and steady presence, it doesn't get much more ideal than exactly what he delivered to this Braves team.

If he wanted to come back, especially with some uncertainty overall around the team's rotation for the 2025 season, there's a chance that the Braves would consider it. However, all indications are this was the end of the line no matter what happened, so we've almost surely seen the last of Uncle Chuck in the Battery.

2. RP Jesse Chavez will walk away a fan favorite

Describing Jesse Chavez as an unlikely MLB journeyman almost doesn't do his career justice. He turned 41 years old this season after playing with nine teams over his career that began in 2008, which was unlikely in itself after entering the league as a 42nd-round pick by the Texas Rangers in 2002. Oh, and the 2024 season also represented the third year of his third separate tenure with the Braves, which tells you a lot as well.

But perhaps more surprisingly, his age still didn't totally show this year. While he wasn't quite as dominant as he was in his remarkable 2023 campaign, Chavez still finished the season with a 3.13 ERA and 1.247 WHIP over 46 appearances for the club out of the bullpen this season.

Much like Morton, though, we knew coming into the 2024 campaign that Chavez was likely calling it a career after it was over, though he was even more forthright with that information. So now that the end of the season is upon us, it's a safe bet to say that he won't be back with the Braves or any other team beyond this year.

1. SP Max Fried will take the payday with someone other than the Braves

Despite how beloved Morton and Chavez (and even Duvall previously) have been in Atlanta, it's going to be the toughest pill to swallow when star southpaw Max Fried doesn't return to the Braves for the 2025 season.

Fried is a free agent after the 2024 campaign and indications for more than a year have been that the Braves would have had to sign the lefty to an extension prior to the final season under club control if they wanted to retain him. No such deal came to fruition and, as such, the general assumption and belief has remained that another club could swoop in and take him away from Atlanta.

Now, there might be some Braves fans who are ultimately a bit happier than you might think about that. After all, Fried put Atlanta behind the 8-ball in a do-or-die Game 2 against the Padres in this year's postseason, continuing a trend of playoff failures from him on the mound. So perhaps some fans think he's not worth the money if he can't get it done in October.

Having said that, Fried has been a bonafide ace outside of those playoff outings, which means more than nothing. Replacing the southpaw will be a primary order of business for Anthopoulos in the offseason but it will be an order that they have to account for because Fried is surely heading somewhere else for the next chapter of his career.