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A fun topic that usually comes up each and every season is who or who hasn’t had their number retired by the Atlanta Braves. That was the subject that MLB.com’s Mark Bowman discussed in an article on Thursday examining who might be the next Braves player to have his number permanently retired. Bowman focuses on two names, one is Freddie Freeman and the other is Andruw Jones whom many believe should have already been given the honor.
Currently, the Braves have retired 10 numbers in their history. Nine of those are in the Hall of Fame. The only one who has not been inducted is Dale Murphy who was more than deserving of the team specific honor. However, from a numbers standpoint, Jones is equally deserving. As Bowman points out, Jones is eighth in the franchise’s all-time bWAR list and is ahead of both Tom Glavine and Murphy. He was also on par offensively with Murphy’s career numbers but it is his defense that sets him apart. You will be hard pressed to find another centerfielder as talented as Jones. He was certainly the best defensive outfielder I ever watched and he made it look so easy at times that we came to simply expect it.
Jones was inducted into the team’s Hall of Fame in 2016 alongside John Schuerholz. While Freeman is likely the safe bet at this point to be the next player to have his number retired, Jones is more than worthy and it is still a bit head scratching that his No. 25 hasn’t already been retired.
More Braves News
On the subject of retired numbers, Cory McCartney is currently examining every player to have their number retired by the Braves in his weekly Starting Nine column. Up this week is a look at former manager Bobby Cox.
MLB Pipeline compiled each team’s most hyped second base prospect of all time on Thursday. No surprise but Ozzie Albies gets the nod for the Braves as he rose to No. 11 on Pipeline’s Top 100 list in 2017.
Speaking of prospects, ESPN.com’s David Schoenfield went a step further compiling a list of each team’s most hyped prospect ever. For the Braves it was Andruw Jones who also made Schoenfield’s Tier 1 as one of the league’s most hyped prospects ever.
MLB News
Veteran slugger Mark Reynolds called it a career Thursday announcing his retirement during an appearance on MLB Network Radio on SiriusXM. Reynolds enjoyed a 13-year career playing with eight different teams while hitting 298 career home runs.
ESPN’s Jesse Rogers examines how minor league baseball is facing even bigger challenges than the majors when it comes to a potential 2020 season.