"Not a whole lot went right for the Atlanta Braves as a whole in 2025, as evidenced by the fact that they ended up missing the Postseason for the first time since 2017. However, despite all of the muck and mire that this team had to trudge through during the past season, one thing that definitely went right was Matt Olson's performance. Atlanta's star first baseman had himself a lovely season in 2025 and now it's time to take a deeper look into how that ended up happening."
"The Braves picked up Matt Olson in a trade with the Athletics in exchange for then-prospects Ryan Cusick (now with the Phillies), Joey Estes, Shea Langeliers (both still with the Athletics) and Cristian Pache (currently with the Mets). Immediately after the trade, the Braves signed him to an eight-year, $168 million contract extension. The move made Olson Atlanta's new first baseman for the foreseeable future as he replaced some guy named Freddie Freeman, whom you may have heard of once or twice."
Matt Olson emerged as a primary offensive bright spot for Atlanta in 2025 while the team missed the postseason. The Braves acquired Olson from Oakland in a multi-prospect trade and promptly signed him to an eight-year, $168 million extension, positioning him as the long-term first baseman after Freddie Freeman. Olson entered Atlanta off a career-high 5.0 fWAR and a major-league 133 wRC+ average but endured a disappointing 2024 with a 117 wRC+ and .339 wOBA. Expectations centered on a bounceback toward his elite 2023 levels, and Olson’s 2025 play answered many of those concerns.
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