Braves’ Off-season Agenda Revealed: Atlanta Eyes Shortstop Upgrade to Bolster World Series Hopes
The Atlanta Braves‘ transition to Orlando Arcia at shortstop after the departure of Dansby Swanson worked very well for one season. But it didn’t look like such a great move in its second year, and a lot of baseball analysts have argued the Braves shouldn’t give Arcia a third season.
On Tuesday, Bleacher Report’s Tim Kelly ranked Atlanta as one of the top five potential landing spots for free agent shortstop Ha-Seong Kim.
“Though he hit 17 home runs, Arcia batted just .218. He posted just a 73 OPS+, well below the league average of 100,” Kelly wrote. “Arcia is signed to a team-friendly deal that will pay him just $2 million in 2025, so he could return to a utility role or be traded to another team looking for infield help. But the Braves are hardly stuck guaranteeing him a starting role next season.
“Kim would be a clear upgrade over Arcia, and just feels like the type of shrewd signing that president of baseball operations Alex Anthopoulos would make. If Kim goes to the Braves, he’ll probably wind up starting at shortstop for the NL All-Star team.”
Kelly added that the Braves could then extend Kim a qualitying offer next offseason and allow him to leave in free agency should he seek a multi-year deal.
Kelly ranked Atlanta as the No. 4 best landing spot for Kim. The teams ahead of the Braves on Kelly’s list were the Los Angeles Dodgers, Detroit Tigers and Seattle Mariners.
Two years ago, Kim received MVP votes in the National League. But he underwent shoulder surgery in October and may not be ready for 2025 Opening Day.
The Braves might not want to acquire another player that won’t be healthy by the end of March. They already have former MVP winner Ronald Acuña Jr. and ace Spencer Strider battling back from injury. Those two players won’t be ready for the start of the 2025 campaign.
But because of Kim’s surgery, Kelly argued Kim could be willing to sign a 1-year deal to “rebuild his value” on the open market. For the Braves, he could essentially be a 1-year rental without having to pay the rental fee of a prospect to another team.
Spotrac projected Kim’s market value to be about $12.3 million on an average annual salary basis. Given the big contracts shortstops have signed over the past few years, I doubt whether Kim would agree to a multi-year deal that pays him that little on an average annual basis.
As long as he’s reasonably price, Kim would be a worthwhile investment for the Braves. Arcia had more home runs than Kim last season, but Kim posted a .233/.330/.370 slash line. Arcia had a .218 batting average, .271 on-base percentage and .354 slugging percentage during 2024.
Kim’s OPS was 75 points better than Arcia’s this past season.
Perhaps Arcia returns to his 2023 form when he made the NL All-Star team. But in 2023, Kim was better too, posting a .749 OPS with a Gold Glove award.
Kim can play anywhere on the infield too, so the Braves could shuffle him around the infield if injuries occur to Ozzie Albies or Austin Riley again as they did in 2024. But with everyone healthy, the Braves could sign Kim to be their everyday shortstop and move Arcia into the utility role.
