3 Players That Won't Be Returning to the Braves Next Season

The Atlanta Braves' dream of becoming back-to-back World Series Champions ended when they were eliminated in four games by the Philadelphia Phillies in the NLDS. Now, it's back to the drawing board for Brian Snitker's club as they try to find a way to bounce back.

As solid as the Braves are, their relatively quick postseason exit shows that offseason improvements must be made ahead of 2023. General manager Alex Anthopoulos must figure out any way that he can improve the team, meaning there's a chance that some players have already played their final game in an Atlanta uniform.

Here are three Braves players who likely won't be returning for the 2023 MLB season.

Braves Offseason Rumors

1. Jake Odorizzi, SP

The Braves acquired starter Jake Odorizzi from the Houston Astros at the trade deadline, but things didn't go as planned. Odorizzi went 2-3 with a 5.24 ERA and 1.554 WHIP in 10 starts with Atlanta. Furthermore, he gave up three walks and two runs on one hit in his sole postseason appearance, which ultimately led to a 9-1 loss to the Philadelphia Phillies. While Odorizzi has a $6.5 million player option for the 2023 campaign, it makes sense for the Braves to buy him out at $3.25 million. His play with Atlanta hardly warrants that sort of cash, plus he could make even more money by signing with another team on top of that buyout money. All in all, it makes sense for both sides to part ways this winter.

2. Dansby Swanson, SS

Dansby Swanson enters the offseason after having one of the best campaigns of his career. The 28-year-old suited up in each of the Braves' 162 games, mashing 25 home runs with 96 RBIs while slashing .277/.329/.447, earning his first MLB All-Star appearance. However, Swanson is set to become a free agent and he's talked with the Braves about a potential extension, the fact that talks have been going on since August and nothing's been settled isn't exactly great news. There's no doubt that Swanson would fetch a ton of attention on the open market and securing even more money in a bidding war might appeal to him. After last year's free-agent debacle with Freddie Freeman, there's at least somewhat of a chance that Swanson has played his last game as a Brave.

3. Adam Duvall, LF/1B

Adam Duvall's performance was quite disappointing over his 1.5 seasons with the Braves. The former All-Star recorded 12 HRs and 36 RBIs in 86 games this season, while his slash line (.213/.276/.401) was noticeably below his career average (.230/.289/.465). On top of that, his -0.1 WAR was the third-worst mark of his career. It also didn't help that Duvall couldn't escape the injury bug for a good portion of the year. At the end of the day, the Louisville, KY native's second stint with the Braves hasn't gone as planned. Maybe he has some better baseball days ahead of him, but he's a free agent and it seems like a fresh start would be beneficial for both sides.

Devon Platana is not a FanDuel employee. In addition to providing DFS gameplay advice, Devon Platana also participates in DFS contests on FanDuel using his personal account, username PepeSilvia0. While the strategies and player selections recommended in his articles are his personal views, he may deploy different strategies and player selections when entering contests with his personal account. The views expressed in their articles are the author's alone and do not necessarily reflect the views of FanDuel.