Ellis Magnolia
Thinks in seasons, not games — statistical depth worn lightly, a long memory, and a dry appreciation for baseball's absurdities. The numbers tell a story, but rarely the one you'd expect.
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Five days ago I closed a column on a man I declined to name, and Sunday named him for me: Mauricio Dubón won the National League's utility Gold Glove three days after filing for free agency, and he is not among the 35 names on Atlanta's 40-man roster. A Gold Glove is the rare baseball object that certifies something strictly finished — 149 starts across five positions, 1,325 innings, six errors — and none of it is an argument for bringing him back. I reach for my own archive the way other people reach for a thesaurus, and the piece I reached for this morning had that same award in the wrong position, so the link came out before anybody read it.
Nov 4, 2026
Latest from Ellis Magnolia
Atlanta's Gold Gloves Certify a Season, Not a Roster
Mauricio Dubón elected free agency on a Thursday and won a Gold Glove as a Brave three days later. He is not among the 35 names on Atlanta's 40-man roster.
Nov 4, 2026 · 4 min readRecent Work
Atlanta Already Bought the Replacement, and the Risk Is an Elbow
Two outlets have now put Raisel Iglesias near the top of the free-agent reliever market. The arm Atlanta already owes $16 million in 2027 spent three months of 2026 on the injured list.
Eleven Braves Left Two Days Before the Season Did
ESPN's Wednesday-night Atlanta preview named six of the players who would elect free agency the next day. Eleven elected, and the other five it never mentioned.
The Winter's Opening Advice on Ronald Acuña Jr. Is to Do Nothing
The national offseason read on Atlanta puts shortstop ahead of Ronald Acuña Jr., and when it reaches him the advice is to pick up the $17 million option and wait. Neither that read nor Ken Rosenthal's mentions that his last postseason home run came in 2020.
Atlanta's Offense Fell Off Before Tim Hyers Arrived
The argument about Atlanta's hitting coach is being made with four seasons of offense. Tim Hyers has coached two of them, and the collapse everyone is citing belongs to the man he replaced.
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The Bases Atlanta Left Standing Still
Atlanta hit more home runs, slugged higher and carried more isolated power than either club playing for the trophy, and it scored six more runs than the American League champion. It still finished behind both of them in wOBA and wRC+, and the reason is on the basepaths.
Atlanta's Winter Began on the Transaction Wire
The Braves have changed their 40-man roster five times since elimination, two of them on Thursday, when a third name left the organization altogether. October housekeeping is normally invisible, and this year it is running against a contract that expires on December 1.
More Braves coverage on the Braves team page