Mauricio Dubón Gives Atlanta Two Very Different Offseason Paths

Ride with him at shortstop and hunt power, or land a shortstop and unleash Dubon everywhere else?

Martín Prado was a fan favorite utilityman who spent seven years in Atlanta, hitting .296/.345/.436 while twice picking up MVP votes, being an All-Star in 2010, and playing six different defensive positions. Overlapping with Prado was Omar Infante, who spent only three seasons in Atlanta (hitting .309/.353/.411) but also played six different positions while doing it.

And after fourteen years, the Braves finally have a true successor to some of the franchise’s favorite utilitymen. Wednesday’s acquisition of Mauricio Dubón from the Houston Astros has the potential to supercharge the Braves lineup, with the two-time Gold Glove winner having played every defensive position but catcher and being above-average at all of them.

But with the organization still looking for a shortstop, do they sign one and let Dubón rotate around the field, or let him play shortstop and add a big bat?

Let’s talk about it.

Let Dubón eat all over the field

The argument for signing a true shortstop is mainly due to one significant factor in recent Atlanta seasons: injuries.

In the last three seasons, the Braves have needed to utilize an injury replacement at every defensive position but first base. Third baseman Austin Riley has missed 115 games, while second baseman Ozzie Albies has missed 82, centerfielder Michael Harris II has missed 78 and 2023 MVP Ronald Acuña Jr. has missed 183.

Mauricio Dubón has not only played every defensive position but catcher in the last few seasons; he’s won the American League’s utility Gold Glove in two of the four years of the award’s existence. On Statcast, he grades out as above-average at every defensive position, having put up a +40 Fielding Run Value and +45 Outs Above Average in his career.

Unfortunately, several of those injury backups for Atlanta have been sub-standard. The Braves have used DFA’d veterans like Whit Merrifield, Gio Urshela, and Cavan Biggio to cover for injured starters in the infield, as well as free agent Jarred Kelenic and veterans Adam Duvall, Alex Verdugo, and Sam Hilliard in the outfield.

Dubón, by contrast, has a history of performing with the bat. He’s a career .257 hitter, although his bat has regressed in recent seasons from 2023’s .278 batting average to a more pedestrian .241 last year. He’s more gap power than homers, with a career .117 ISO and just 39 homers in 664 career games.

Signing a true shortstop, like Ha-Seong Kim, would give the Braves two main advantages.

The first is allowing Dubón to play four or five days a week, rotating him through different defensive positions while giving the everyday starters either an entire day off or a ‘half-day’ as the designated hitter. Whether baseball purists like it or not, ‘load management’ has become a thing in modern baseball, with even such superstars as Bobby Witt Jr. (157 games), Shohei Ohtani (158) and José Ramírez (158) getting occasional days off.

Is it possible that occasional days off, which isn’t really a thing that the Braves have done in the past but something Walt Weiss has signaled will start under his leadership, will help stave off some of the numerous injuries that have decimated Atlanta’s offense in recent seasons?

It can’t hurt, right?

Having a full-time shortstop will also allow the Braves to strategically deploy Dubón. He’s a career .283 hitter against lefties but ‘only’ a .246 against righties, with a .762 OPS off of southpaws that is more than 130 points better than what he has put up against righties.

Get a big bat and let him hit bombs

His poor 2025 season has led people to forget how integral Marcell Ozuna’s bat has been to the Atlanta Braves over the last few seasons.

Manning designated hitter on an everyday basis in 2023 & 2024, Ozuna hit 79 homers and 204 RBI while hitting .289 with a .916 OPS. It’s a lot of production to replace and as much as Atlanta’s 2025 season was doomed by the injuries to the entire starting rotation, Ozuna’s hip injury and the subsequent drop in his production (.232 average, 21 homers, 68 RBI in 145 games) didn’t help. Not having that baseline of production prevented the offense from weathering the injuries to the starters and the adjustment period under Tim Hyers and his more patient offensive approach.

But if Dubón were deployed as a full-time shortstop, it would free up the Braves to add a big bat.

Atlanta is confident in Dubón’s ability to hang defensively at shortstop, with President of Baseball Operations Alex Anthopoulos telling the media that he’s comfortable with Dubón manning the position, a conclusion backed by the team’s internal defensive data.

And the opportunities that are freed up to add offense can’t be overstated. Whether it’s a full-time designated hitter known for power like free agent Kyle Schwarber or even a surgically-repaired Marcell Ozuna, a full-time outfielder like Cody Bellinger or Ryan O’Hearn, or a platoon bat like Miguel Andujar or Rob Refsnyder, adding an offensive threat has the potential to lengthen Atlanta’s lineup and bring them closer to 2023’s league-leading purveyor of slug.

What is Atlanta’s plan?

As you can imagine, Anthopoulos is being non-committal on what’s in store for Dubón in 2026. “I told him, I said, ‘I don’t know what your role’s gonna be yet’. Walt (Weiss, new Braves manager) talked to him as well, but the fact that we have the flexibility to do all kinds of things with him. He could play all over the infield, play all three outfield spots. So we’ll just see how the rest of the offseason goes.”

But looking at the way that the offseason’s unfolded, it feels pretty apparent to me that Plan A is to sign a shortstop and use Dubón as a utility option.

The Braves got themselves some roster flexibility with Thursday night’s signing of Vidal Bruján to a split contract for 2026. This is technically a minor league deal which features a pay raise if he makes the Major League roster, so the default position is now that he’s NOT going to be on the bench to start the season.

This gives Atlanta more options. If the MLB bench is Dubón, Eli White and infielder Brett Wisely, there’s room to add a big bat for designated hitter or carry a third catcher so that running a two-catcher lineup (one at DH) is possible.

My assumption here is that the Braves are going to wait and see what comes to them in the market. They have both the money to take advantage of an opportunity and the defensive flexibility to not be forced out of their comfort zone for any specific signing.

It’s an enviable place to be on November 21st.