Ha-Seong Kim’s Player Option Has the Braves in a Holding Pattern

Until Kim decides, Atlanta’s offseason plan is basically “hurry up and wait"

The Atlanta Braves have several things to get done this winter: Upgrade the rotation, add to the bullpen (including finding a closer), and find a way to reinforce an offense that disappeared too often in 2025.

But they cannot do any of that until they figure out shortstop.

Ha-Seong Kim, who they claimed off waivers in early September, has a $16M player option for the 2026 season. And the Braves can’t really do anything substantial this winter until he makes that decision.

Let’s talk about it.

The decision for Kim

Players who have an expiring contract officially become free agents the day after the World Series. Kim’s not in that group, however.

Any player with an option year on their contract has a different deadline: Five days after the World Series. It’s also the first day of unrestricted free agency, coincidentally, but it’s the day on which all contract option decisions need to be made and reported to the league office.

And Kim’s not the only player from the 2025 roster that is in limbo until then - several Braves players have club options that the organization will need to decide on exercising between now and then. Most clubs, and Atlanta is in that group, likely already know what they plan to do but wait to officially submit the decision until after the World Series, just to be protected from something unexpected (car accident, etc) happening.

Starter Chris Sale ($18M), second baseman Ozzie Albies ($7M), and relievers Pierce Johnson ($7M) and Tyler Kinley ($5.5M) are all waiting on their club options to officially be picked up. (Atlanta is expected to pick up all four options, although one of the relievers being bought out wouldn’t be the most surprising result if the team’s worried about money.)

But Kim’s contract contains a player option, not a club option. There are a few ways this can go - let’s break them down and why he’d make each of these decisions, as well as what it means for Atlanta’s offseason.

Scenario 1: Picks up the $16M player option

In the simplest and most straightforward of the three possibilities here, let’s say Kim picks up his 2026 player option and returns to Atlanta on a one-year deal for the 2026 season. This gives the Braves a shortstop for next year, Kim’s age-30 season, but nothing after that.

The decision here from Kim would be deciding that $16M with a team he knows and a chance to put together a platform year before seeking a long-term deal would be the most advantageous outcome from a financial perspective.

Why it might happen:

If you thought this year’s free agent class was thin, next year’s is practically non-existent. J.P. Crawford would be the only real starting shortstop on the market, and he’d be heading into his age-33 season. Kim, with a healthy season behind him, would likely be able to command a multi-year deal with an AAV in line with several of the other prominent shortstops who have signed in recent years like Dansby Swanson ($25.2M AAV) or Trea Turner ($27.2M).

Why it might not happen:

One of the advantages of changing teams this season for Kim is that he’s not eligible for a Qualifying Offer. If he played all 2026 for the Braves, they could hang the QO on his neck on the way out the door and receive a draft pick in compensation if he signed somewhere else. There’s a significant number of teams that are loathe to sign a QO player due to this additional cost - the Braves themselves have only done it once under Alex Anthopoulos, sacrificing a draft pick to sign reliever Will Smith prior to 2021.

Another reason to hesitate is the labor uncertainty. Baseball’s owners are widely expected to lock out the players next winter at the expiration of the Collective Bargaining Agreement in an effort to pressure the players to accept a management-slanted deal. As we saw with the 2021 offseason, one that was marred by a lockout that lasted through the expected start of spring training, players who hadn’t signed prior to its start were caught in a mad rush to find contracts and homes as spring camps were opening. Enough players complained and/or disliked the situation enough that it’s believed that agents are advising current free agents against taking one-year deals, a situation that would have them repeating the stress of a post-lockout signing next offseason.

For what it’s worth, I’ve maintained for most of Kim’s tenure with Atlanta that he would decline the option and head to free agency.

Scenario 2: Atlanta signs him long-term

There are two ways this could happen: either with the Braves signing him during their exclusive negotiating window or once he reaches the open market.

Kim’s final month with the Braves reportedly went well, with the shortstop telling Korean reporters he “enjoyed playing baseball” in Atlanta. And that was the entire point of claiming Kim off waivers from the Rays. President of Baseball Operations Alex Anthopoulos told reporters at the time that Kim’s final month of the season here was essentially the team paying $2M (his prorated 2025 salary) as a recruiting visit, to differentiate themselves during the free agency process.

“I always believe comfort and familiarity can only help, especially having been here and lived here and had multiple players tell me how much they love playing here and being here. I feel this is an asset. Truist (Park) is an asset, the fan base is an asset, our clubhouse culture is an asset. Our manager, coaches, ownership group, management is an asset. So I think whatever exposure they get to that, maybe it can break a tie.”

In that same Korean language interview, Kim admitted that the Braves were “making some movements” towards a 2026 deal but declined to go into specifics, so it’s possible they’ve already tried to sign him to an extension and weren’t able to reach an agreement.

Why this might happen:

That comfort and familiarity with Atlanta, not only with the Braves but the city at large. Atlanta’s Korean population is reportedly the seventh-largest of any major city in the country, with the Atlanta Regional Commission telling Braves Today that many of them live north of downtown proper in Cobb, DeKalb, and Gwinnett counties. A robust support system of Korean-owned and/or servicing businesses has arisen north of downtown proper, including quite a few regular and upscale Korean grocery stores.

It also might happen because of team fit. Kim is reportedly happier playing just shortstop as compared to multiple positions, with the Braves being able to offer everyday playing time at shortstop instead of using him all over the diamond, as the San Diego Padres did in 2023.

Scenario 3: Kim signs somewhere else

The worst-case scenario for Atlanta is that they can’t reach a deal with Kim before he heads to free agency and someone else ends up wooing him to sign with their team. It would essentially leave the Braves scrambling to figure out a plan B, else they go back to playing offensively-challenged Nick Allen at shortstop next season and hope the rest of the lineup hits around him.

Why this could happen:

There are two main reasons I see that could cause Atlanta to lose out on the free agent sweepstakes for Ha-Seong Kim.

The first comes down to money. If we’ve said it once, we’ve said it a thousand times: If you try to be rational on every free agent, you’ll finish third on every free agent.¹ And the Braves under Anthopoulos have never been irrational on any free agent they’ve pursued, to public knowledge.

With several teams potentially looking for shortstops this winter, including high-spenders like the New York Yankees and Toronto Blue Jays, the likelihood of Atlanta being left behind financially if it reaches this point is pretty high.

But the other reason could be Scott Boras.

Baseball’s uber-agent is known for both maximizing the money for his clients in free agency as well as getting them favorable contract terms. Boras-negotiated deals often have incredibly large Average Annual Values, typically achieved through deferrals, as well as no-trade clauses, player and/or vesting options, and even opt-outs early in the deal if the player has outperformed the first few years of the contract and wants leverage to re-negotiate it.

The Atlanta Braves under Alex Anthopoulos do none of those things. No free agent or extension under Anthopoulos has made more than $22M AAV, none have had deferred money, none have been given no-trade clauses or opt-outs, and the only options present in their deals are typically club options tacked onto the end.

What’s more likely, that Atlanta budges on these or that Boras does? It just feels very unlikely that, if Kim reached the open market sometime next week, he would return to the Braves in 2026.² Someone will offer more money or a better contract structure, almost guaranteed, because several teams (like the Yankees) are known quantities to Boras that have done that in the past.

No, Atlanta's best bet is re-signing Kim sometime in the next five or seven days to a long-term deal, one that perhaps overpays a bit in order to get over the ‘suboptimal’ contract structure to Kim’s agent and keeps him for trying to hit the market to match it. And even that’s unlikely - Kim hired Scott Boras for a reason, and it wasn’t to sign an extension just days before finally hitting free agency as a healthy shortstop for the first time in his career.

And look, I’m the wrong person to ask about this, as I’m prepared to not be rational here. While the Braves loaded up on shortstops in last summer’s draft, none of them project to be ready until at least 2027, at which point Ozzie Albies will be out of team control. I’m prepared to overpay for Kim to ‘solve’ shortstop for the first time since Dansby Swanson left, knowing that the Braves have flexibility here as he ages. If his arm strength, which was lower than his career norms coming off of last year’s shoulder surgery, were not to return, he could slide over to second base once one of the shortstop prospects is ready.

A deal from three to five years, coming in at somewhere from $18M to $20M per year, is likely what it takes to get Kim back in the fold. Remember, contract negotiations are not just the topline number; it’s also money per season, total years, and any sort of modifiers (like options, deferred money, etc).

Is going five years the most rational length for Kim to receive? It’s not. But look at what the Yankees gave Max Fried last winter, signing him through his age-38 season at $27.25M per with a full no-trade clause.

Is going up to $20M AAV the most rational amount to offer Kim? It’s not. But look at what the Chicago Cubs gave Dansby Swanson after 2022, guaranteeing him $177M over seven years ($25.2M AAV) when the Braves wouldn’t budge off of the “Atlanta Max” of $22M AAV. (He also got a full no-trade clause.)

I’ll put it as simply as possible: If the Braves attempt to be rational here, Kim’s wearing a different uniform next season. But either way, they’ll at least be able to get going with their offseason once he decides what he’s going to do.

1. Technically, Andrew Friedman of the Los Angeles Dodgers said it first, but we’ve used it to criticize the “Atlanta Max” of $22M enough that it’s kinda one of our things now.

2. Freddie Freeman didn’t, exactly as Chipper Jones warned him about