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Atlanta Braves All-MLB Team nominees

By Alan Carpenter

Atlanta Braves first baseman Freddie Freeman with outfielder Marcell Ozuna. Mandatory Credit: Dale Zanine-USA TODAY Sports
Atlanta Braves first baseman Freddie Freeman with outfielder Marcell Ozuna. Mandatory Credit: Dale Zanine-USA TODAY Sports /
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It’s really an attempt to keep baseball relevant a bit longer, but it’s also a chance to honor some standout Atlanta Braves.

We’re seeing award announcements pour out of the woodwork on a daily basis, it seems.  For this particular round, it’s a fan vote to decide the “All MLB Team”, and six members of the Atlanta Braves are on the ballot.

They are:

We’ve already talked about some other honors that these players have garnered consideration for, but this is the first post-season award set being decided via a fan popularity contest.  So take it for what that’s worth, but as you can see, the Atlanta Braves are certainly making a push for their guys.

If you are looking for Ozzie Albies among those nominees, though, you’ll need to know that he fell short of the qualification point due to his wrist injury.  He needed 186 plate appearances to qualify, but had just 124 in the 29 games he was able to play.

The Competition

  • FREEMAN is up against Jose Abreu (CWS), Brandon Belt (SFG), Paul Goldschmidt (STL), Dominic Smith (NYM), and Luke Voit (NYY).
    • In a normal world, this is easily a Freeman win, but it’s more a contest between the Braves and Yankees respective fan bases.
  • SWANSON has an uphill battle against Tim Anderson (CWS), Xander Bogaerts (BOS), David Fletcher (LAA), Jose Iglesias (BAL), Corey Seager (LAD), Trevor Story (COL), and Fernando Tatis Jr. (SDP).
    • If Swanson wins this, it will be a statement about the power of Braves Country and Braves twitter, both.
  • D’ARNAUD is listed first on his ballot with Yasmani Grandal (CWS), Sean Murphy (OAK), Austin Nola (SDP), Salvador Perez (KCR), J.T. Realmuto (PHL), and ‘the other’ Will Smith (LAD).
    • Lots of “names” here, though d’Arnaud should be very close to winning this.
  • OZUNA is on the ballot as designated hitter, and how weird would it be for a National League player to win this?  Also on this ballot:  Michael Brantley (HOU), Nelson Cruz (MIN), Franmil Reyes (CLE), and Jesse Winker (CIN).
    • I’d say Ozuna has a real shot here.
  • ACUNA should be one of the top five here, but with Mike Trout and Mookie Betts leading the way, that doesn’t leave a lot of room for error among 14 nominees.
  • Is FRIED one of the best 5 pitchers this season?  This will also be tough for him to win since he’s facing such players as Jacob deGrom, Shane Bieber, Clayton Kershaw, and Gerrit Cole… just to throw out a few names.

So this ‘award’ is really more of a test of the power of fan bases than it is actual talent, but the Atlanta Braves will at least make a good run at this.

Here’s the voting link:  you have between now and Friday, November 13 to mark your ballots.

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