Why a Trade Might Be the Braves’ Best Path to a Shortstop

Free agency options are limited if Ha-Seong Kim doesn't come back, which means Atlanta may need to deal to fill its biggest hole

We are now officially in the postseason, and we’ll get clarity soon.

By this Thursday at 5 PM Eastern, shortstop Ha-Seong Kim is required to make a decision on his $16M player option for the 2026 season. We broke down the reasons he would or would not pick it up last week. We also discussed the reasons he could or could not return to Atlanta on a multi-year deal.

But if Ha-Seong Kim’s not the starting shortstop for the Atlanta Braves next year, what options do they have? Let’s talk about it.

Sparse pickings in free agency

If you’re looking for a free agent to slot into the lineup in place of Kim or incumbent Nick Allen, it will not take long to review the options.

At the top end is Bo Bichette of the Toronto Blue Jays. He’s an offensive force, with a career .294/.337/.469 line and 111 home runs in his seven seasons. He’s also a defensive liability, however, sitting on a -32 Outs Above Average mark in his career, including -13 OAA in 2025, last place among all shortstops.

He’s also dealt with soft tissue injuries in recent seasons, mostly in the lower body. His 2023 season was cut short due to quad and right knee injuries, with the right calf ending his 2024 campaign and missing the end of 2025’s regular season with a left knee sprain. Teams are generally more wary of these types of injuries than they are broken bones, which can be fluky.

The pros and cons list is rather balanced in this one, honestly:

Pros: Best offensive threat in FA class; still young (will be 28 next year); track record of elite performance at the plate
Cons: Worst defender in the FA class; will decline a qualifying offer and require a lengthy, expensive contract; aggressive approach with high chase and low walk totals

Fit: You can see the logic here, right? AA finally comes off the “Atlanta Max” of $22M a year to add a top-tier bat at the position, using the fact that he reset the CBT to minimize the penalty for signing a qualifying offer player. Atlanta learns to live with his substandard defense at shortstop during the remainder of the Ozzie Albies tenure in Atlanta, with Nick Allen checking in late for defense and Bichette replacing Ozzie at second base. Once someone from the platoon of minor league shortstops is ready for the majors, Bichette transitions over to the keystone, and his job is to rake.

You can also see how it could go poorly, though - Bichette tends to chase a lot (12th percentile in 2025), making his offensive production highly contingent on not only making a lot of contact, but using his flat swing to make quality contact. If any of that slips, his bat becomes substandard and then he’s also not providing any defensive value for you, either. It’s Tim Anderson all over again, except this time while also saddled with a seven-year (or longer) contract.

After Bichette and Kim are some utility types or older veteran backups, highlighted by multi-position maestro Willi Castro and the veteran duo of Isiah Kiner-Falefa and Miguel Rojas. None of these options makes sense as a starting shortstop on a team with playoff and/or World Series aspirations, but they do have value as utility-types that can cover several different positions.

Unless veteran Trevor Story opts out of the remaining two years and $55M left on his contract with the Boston Red Sox, that’s about it for the options in free agency. (And even if Story does opt out, I’m not very convinced that he’d be worth the contract required to bring him in, as he’ll be looking to exceed those contract terms from his new team.)

That leaves the trade market. Let’s look at who might be available.

Which path do you want to take?

When looking at trading for a shortstop, there are a few options - are you taking on a bad contract, or are you trading for a player that is looking to get paid? Because the compensation drastically differs depending on which route you’re taking. The young player will likely take more in prospect capital to acquire, although the financial outlay for them might end up being lower than the contract you’d be acquiring with a veteran addition.

Young player

CJ Abrams, Nationals

Listed at #23 on the MLB Trade Rumors “Top 40 Trade Candidates” list, Abrams has three years of arbitration remaining and is projected for a 2026 salary of $5.6M.

He’s also saddled with the unfortunate reality of being in the same division as Atlanta and not being very good defensively. Both of those obstacles could theoretically be worked around, however; new Nationals president of baseball operations Paul Toboni may not be opposed to intra-division moves, while Atlanta may be able to mitigate Abrams’ defensive limitations.

In his career, Abrams has committed 74 errors, holding a .964 fielding percentage. Of those, 46 have been throwing errors, mostly to first base. Does the presence of Gold Glove winner Matt Olson mitigate some of those poor throws? Additionally, of those 74 errors, a whopping 14.9% of them (11 of the 74) have been committed against Atlanta.

Abrams was born in Alpharetta and went to Blessed Trinity Catholic School in Roswell, GA. He’s a local kid and it’s clear that he tries to do too much at times when facing the Braves. Could playing for the team allow him to be freer and relaxed, or does he just get into his head and spiral? It’s an interesting question, but he does fit the Matt Olson ‘demographic’ of the local kid that the Braves have acquired via trade and extended.

Luisangel Acuña, Mets

If trading for Abrams felt like a long shot due to the intra-division thing, this one feels even harder to imagine. But David Stearns, who runs New York’s front office, does have a history of at least minor trades within his own division, both with the Mets and while he was running the Milwaukee Brewers prior to his move to New York.

While Acuña has not played a ton of shortstop at the major league level, spending just 125 of his 580 MLB innings at the position, he’s graded out okay at shortstop (+2 OAA) and has over 2600 minor league innings there. Having the defensive versatility to cover centerfield and both second and third base is helpful, as well.

Additionally, being Ronald’s little brother feels like it has the potential to help the clubhouse and increase the chances of signing the former MVP to an extension after his club options expire after the 2028 season.

Jordan Lawlar, Diamondbacks

I saw folks suggest this in-season and dismissed it, knowing that Arizona intended to give their now-vacated third base job to Lawlar for the 2026 season.

But the way he finished the season has led to re-visiting the suggestion, as his struggles came on both sides of the ball. Offensively, he hit .182/.257/.288 with 26 strikeouts in his final 74 plate appearances. With the glove, he committed four defensive errors in just 76 innings (one of which led to a collision at first base that injured teammate Tyler Locklear), prompting manager Torey Luvillo to use him solely as a DH or pinch-hitter down the stretch. In a sign that the Diamondbacks may not believe in him as the heir apparent at third base, Lawlar’s first reps in winter ball with Tigres del Licey were in centerfield, not third base.

It’s possible that Atlanta reaches out and attempts to make a deal, offering Nacho Alvarez Jr. as the centerpiece of the deal due to his ability to play third base at a high level (including a .315/.464/.500 line out in the desert during Arizona Fall League action). While the Braves would likely need to include at least one high-level pitching prospect, it’s not the worst idea in the world and is at least worth pursuing. Bryce Elder could also be a fit here for a Diamondbacks squad that already traded away Merrill Kelly at the deadline, has Zac Gallen likely walking in free agency, and is faced with Corbin Burnes missing all of 2026 due to Tommy John surgery. Would Alvarez, Elder, and Owen Murphy get this deal done? Would the Braves need to replace Murphy with Arizona native Cam Caminiti to acquire Lawlar? It’s an interesting conversation.

Other potential “this guy’s going to need to get paid” targets: Jeremy Pena, Houston Astros; Zach Neto, Los Angeles Angels

Taking on a contract

There are a few options here on the type of contract you’d be acquiring: do you prefer the underperforming young player that signed an early extension, or would you rather take on the aging veteran with big money hanging over their head?

Ezequiel Tovar, Colorado Rockies

Tovar signed a seven-year, $63.5M extension with the Rockies at the age of 22, back in 2024. Since then, he’s had two healthy seasons (2023 & 2024, combined .261/.291/.440 with 41 homers, 162 runs, and a Gold Glove) and one injury-shortened season (2025, .253/.294/.400 with 9 homers, 44 runs). He’s owed another $57.5M for the next five seasons, plus either a $23M club option for 2031 or a $2.5M buyout. While the Rockies don’t yet have a leader for their front office, all reports are that they’ve narrowed the job down to just a few names and they should be making a hire soon. Does that player want to move a contract as they begin the arduous task of getting Colorado back to respectability?

Trevor Story, Boston Red Sox

The veteran Story could end up on the market himself, as we alluded to earlier, but it’s unlikely he can beat the 2/$55M remaining on his current deal. He finally returned to health this season after three injury-shortened years in Boston, playing in 157 games and hitting .263/.308/.433 with 25 homers.

That being said, his 2025 production feels a bit fluky - he was in the 20th percentile for whiff rate at 29.3% fueled by a 12th percentile chase of 35.3%, while striking out 26.9% of the time (12th percentile) and walking just 5.0% of the time (10th percentile). To top it off, his defense was atrocious, with Story finishing at -8 Fielding Run Value (10th percentile) and -9 Outs Above Average.

Similar to the Chris Sale deal, any trade with Boston would be contingent on the Red Sox keeping some of the $25M owed in each of the next two seasons to Story, but I could see a scenario where the Sox elect to add pitching and free up infield spots for Marcelo Mayer and Kristian Campbell, especially if they’re able to bring third baseman Alex Bregman back on a long-term deal.

Corey Seager, Texas Rangers

This normally wouldn’t have even been on my radar, but Atlanta’s own CJ Nitkowski (who used to call games for the Rangers) discussed it after the season when talking about potential shortstop trade targets under the guise of Texas cutting payroll.

Seager’s contract is massive and clearly would be the hurdle here, with the veteran owed $31.5M in each of the next six seasons, taking him through 2031, when he’d be 37. He’s still one of the best hitters in baseball when healthy, hitting .271 with a .487 slug this season but with expected numbers of .298 (BA) and .591 (SLG). While both his arm strength and sprint speed are below-average at this point in his career, he’s still a capable shortstop defensively, finishing at +4 Fielding Run Value and Outs Above Average in 828 innings in 2025. The ability to move him to second base later in the deal (and potentially first towards the end) means the contract can successfully age, although just the remainder of the deal alone (six years and $189M) would be the largest free agent deal Alex Anthopoulos had ever given out in Atlanta by over $120M dollars.

For a more in-depth discussion on this one, we covered a potential Corey Seager trade on a recent episode of the Braves Today podcast. Here’s a clip:

Other “overpaid veteran” targets: Javier Baez, Detroit Tigers