Top-5 Atlanta-Era Braves Players All Time According to WAR

It's time to rank the top five best Atlanta-era Braves players of all time, and we're doing it in a very polarizing manner

The Atlanta Braves have had some stellar players in their history - let's rank them. Mandatory Credit: Brett Davis-Imagn Images / Brett Davis-Imagn Images

There have been some legendary players come through Atlanta during their careers. Some of them made their mark as the best in franchise history and arguably all of baseball’s history. 

Here we’re going to rank the best players in Atlanta Braves history. This will done in order by Baseball Reference WAR. No bias. It’s just straight numbers determining the order here. 

We know the WAR statistic is a pretty polarizing stat, and that only makes this list more fun.

Most of these names shouldn’t surprise you in any way. However, the order caught me by surprise and it will likely be the same for you. 

Honorable Mention - Hank Aaron (1966 to 1974) - 54.0 WAR 

If this was all of Braves history, this wouldn’t even be a contest. When you include his Milwaukee-era numbers, Aaron’s WAR balloons to 142.6 during his time with the organization. He has the seventh-best career WAR all-time. 

Keep in mind that by the time the Braves arrived in Atlanta, Aaron was 32 years old. He was still a great ballplayer for a lot of years after the move, but his age started to show by the end. In his last three seasons with the Braves, his best season by WAR was 4.9. It’s still a great season, but not by his standards. His gold glove seasons being far behind him didn’t help those numbers either. 

For those reasons, he drops outside the top five. He’s actually seventh in the Atlanta era. Andruw Jones, who isn’t on this list, is ahead of him at sixth. Aaron gets the honorable mention over Jones for being the best player by WAR in the franchise's overall history and one of the best ballplayers period.

5) Tom Glavine (1987 to 2002, 2008) - 63.6 WAR 

It’s no surprise that Glavine is in the top five after 17 stellar seasons as a Brave. During his Atlanta career, Glavine won two Cy Young Awards and was a finalist four other times. He also made eight all-star teams, including the year Atlanta hosted in 2000. 

Glavine was the World Series MVP in 1995 when the Braves took down the Cleveland Indians in six games to clinch their first title in Atlanta. He took the mound in the game-clinching game, pitching eight shutout innings and allowing just one hit. 

He’s second all-time in Braves history in wins (244), innings pitched (3,408), shutouts (22) and is third in strikeouts (2,091) and seventh in ERA (3.41) among those who pitched at least 800 innings for the team. 

4) Greg Maddux (1993 to 2003) - 67.3 WAR 

The Professor managed to edge out his teammate for the fourth spot on this list in six fewer seasons with the team. 

Maddux took home three Cy Young Awards, made eight all-star appearances and won 10 Gold Gloves. His 2.63 ERA is the best in the Atlanta era among those who pitched at least 800 innings for the team. His 61 complete games are the second most in the Atlanta era. 

He was also clutch on the greatest stage with a 2.09 World Series ERA 

3) John Smotlz (1988 to 2008) - 69.5 WAR

Of the three Hall of Fame starters the Braves had in the 90s, Smoltz ranks the highest. His 20 seasons in a Braves uniform is the second most in the Atlanta era. 

He did everything he could to help this team. He was in the rotation for a decade. Then, he went and was the Braves closer for four seasons before switching back to the starting rotation. 

He’s third all-time in wins (210), fourth in ERA (3.26) among those who have pitched at least 800 innings with the team, and is third in ERA+ (127). Smoltz was also an eight-time all-star, the 1996 NL Cy Young Award winner and the 1992 NLCS MVP. 

2) Chipper Jones (1993 to 2012) - 85.3 WAR

Jones is the only position player in the top five. If there was going to be a single hitter on this list, he is a pretty fitting one. Jones played with the Braves for 19 seasons. 

In the Atlanta era, he’s the leader in home runs (438), hits (2,726), plate appearances (10,614) and RBIs, (1,623). He’s the leader in batting average (.303) and second in OPS (.930) among those who have played at least 1,000 games with the franchise. 

It’s hard to imagine anyone edges him out for the No. 1 spot, but one last longtime pitcher did just that. 

1) Phil Niekro (1966 to 1983, 1987) - 88.5 WAR

Niekro just edged out Chipper for the top spot on this list. Despite not breaking out until he was in his 30s, the knuckleballer managed to earn five all-star appearances and five Gold Glove Awards. 

He’s the Atlanta-era wins leader (266), started the most games (594), pitched the most innings (4,523 1/3), and is top-three in ERA (3.20) and strikeouts (2,855). His 21 seasons are the most in an Atlanta Braves uniform. He even made an appearance for the Braves at 48 years old. 

Since the Braves arrived in Atlanta in 1966, no player has provided more value, according to WAR, than Niekro. Are other players on this list arguably higher if ranked in other ways? I mean, yeah. But Niekro is hands down a top player in the team’s history regardless and this is a reflection of that.