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Ha-Seong Kim

MLBTR Podcast: The Mets Sign Jorge Polanco, And The Braves, Blue Jays And Royals Make Moves

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The latest episode of the MLB Trade Rumors Podcast is now live on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and wherever you get your podcasts! Make sure you subscribe as well! You can also use the player at this link to listen, if you don’t use Spotify or Apple for podcasts.

This week, host Darragh McDonald is joined by Steve Adams of MLB Trade Rumors to discuss…

Check out our past episodes!

  • Winter Meetings Recap – listen here
  • An Agent’s Perspective with B.B. Abbott – Also, Cease, Williams, Helsley, And Gray – listen here
  • Some “Classic Baseball Trades,” Nimmo For Semien, And Ward For Rodriguez – listen here

The podcast intro and outro song “So Long” is provided courtesy of the band Showoff.  Check out their Facebook page here!

Photo courtesy of Nick Turchiaro, Imagn Images

A’s Made Four-Year Offer To Ha-Seong Kim

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Ha-Seong Kim is back in Atlanta after signing a $20MM deal to remain the club’s starting shortstop. He took a one-year contract that’ll allow him to get back to free agency after what he hopes to be a healthy season. ESPN’s Jeff Passan reported last night that Kim had declined multi-year offers.

Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic writes that the A’s proposed a four-year, $48MM deal. It’s unclear if that would have included any opt-out opportunities, though it seems safe to assume they wouldn’t have risked a four-year commitment that allowed him to opt out after just one season. The A’s have a franchise shortstop in Jacob Wilson but are looking for second and/or third base help.

Kim bet on himself with a straight one-year deal at a higher rate. Gleyber Torres accepted a qualifying offer, while Jorge Polanco commanded $20MM annually on a two-year contract from the Mets. The A’s certainly aren’t going to sign Bo Bichette or Alex Bregman to contracts north of $150MM. Rosenthal writes that NPB stars Munetaka Murakami and Kazuma Okamoto are also expected to be out of their price range. Eugenio Suárez might be a long shot, as he command a similar annual salary to Kim and Polanco over two or three years.

There’s a significant drop from there in free agency. Willi Castro, Isiah Kiner-Falefa, Yoán Moncada, Luis Rengifo and KBO hitter Sung-mun Song are all one-year deal candidates. Song and Castro are probably the best bets to command a multi-year contract. The former at least comes with some intrigue as an upside play after consecutive strong seasons in Korea, but scouting reports raise questions about his pure hitting ability. The market for Song has been quiet publicly, but he’ll need to sign by Sunday or stay with the KBO’s Kiwoom Heroes for the ’26 season.

The second base trade market has gotten more attention. Ketel Marte and Brendan Donovan are the prizes, but the A’s aren’t great fits in either case. Marte’s six-year, $102.5MM contract is well below market value but would easily be the largest deal in A’s history. Donovan is affordable for any team, but the Cardinals are prioritizing controllable starting pitching. The A’s have a few talented arms (e.g. Luis Morales, Jacob Lopez, Braden Nett) who might appeal to St. Louis, but a lack of rotation depth is already the roster’s biggest flaw.

The Rays are open to offers on Brandon Lowe, who’ll make $11.5MM in the final year of his contract. Rosenthal writes that Tampa Bay isn’t interested in accepting a lowball offer merely to shed the salary. President of baseball operations Erik Neander said at the Winter Meetings that the Rays would be happy carrying Lowe and Yandy Díaz into the season. The Mets are shopping Jeff McNeil, but they’d probably need to eat a portion of the $17.75MM remaining on his deal. Impending free agents Nico Hoerner and Jazz Chisholm Jr. have come up loosely in trade rumors yet seem unlikely to move.

Speculatively speaking, Jake Cronenworth could be a potential fit. The Padres owe him $12MM annually through 2030. That’s a year longer than the A’s were willing to go on Kim but matches the average annual value they offered over four. A willingness to spend $12MM per season on Kim doesn’t necessarily mean they’d do the same for Cronenworth, who is a superior hitter but not as good a defender. Still, the Padres have looked for ways to clear payroll space to free money for their own rotation needs, so it’d make sense for the teams to explore trade scenarios.

Braves Re-Sign Ha-Seong Kim

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The Braves are bringing back Ha-Seong Kim on a one-year, $20MM contract, per a club announcement. The team designated right-hander Osvaldo Bido for assignment to open the necessary 40-man roster spot. Kim, a Boras Corporation client, had declined a $16MM player option and earns a $4MM raise to return as Atlanta’s starting shortstop.

Kim spent the final month of the 2025 season with the Braves. They claimed him off waivers from the Rays, who were happy to get out from under the player option. Atlanta was long since buried in the playoff picture. The move was solely about building a relationship with Kim in the hope that he’d return next year. They preferred it’d be on the player option but felt that a few weeks within the clubhouse might give them an edge in re-signing him even if he opted out.

The righty-hitting Kim made a solid impression on his new club. He reeled off a 10-game hitting streak in the middle of September and recorded at least one knock in 15 of his first 19 contests. Kim finished in a 1-19 skid over his final five games, dropping him to a middling .253/.316/.368 line in 98 plate appearances. That was still quite a bit better than the .214/.290/.321 mark he’d put up in a similar amount of playing time over an injury-riddled few months in Tampa Bay.

Overall, Kim is coming off a .234/.304/.345 slash in 48 games. The Braves certainly feel that’s not representative of his true talent. Kim had been an above-average everyday player with the Padres between 2022-24. He was a slightly better than average hitter who played plus defense throughout the infield. Kim’s time in San Diego ended when he tore the labrum in his right shoulder diving into first base on a pickoff attempt in August ’24. He required surgery that led the Padres to opt against issuing him a qualifying offer.

The Rays surprisingly won the bidding for Kim last offseason, signing him to a two-year, $29MM deal with an opt-out. It was always a baffling move for a low-payroll club. The Rays signed Kim to a $13MM salary for the first season despite knowing he was unlikely to be a factor until a few months into the year. He didn’t make his season debut until shortly before the All-Star Break. Calf and back issues resulted in subsequent minimal injured list stays. While the Rays managed to offload the final few weeks of Kim’s salaries thanks to the waiver claim, they still paid a little more than $11MM for 24 games of replacement level production.

Kim should enter the 2026 season at full health. While his results were down this year, he posted career-high marks in average exit velocity and hard contact rate. That seems to bode well for his shoulder strength, at least in the batter’s box. There may be a little more cause for concern on defense. Kim’s arm strength was down around four miles per hour this past season, according to Statcast. His arm was closer to average than the plus weapon it had been in prior years, though it hasn’t dropped to a point where the team would have any concerns about his viability on the left side of the infield. Even the post-injury version of Kim threw harder on average than Mookie Betts, Corey Seager or Taylor Walls — all of whom were Gold Glove finalists at shortstop in 2025.

The Braves aren’t the only team that viewed Kim as a solid rebound candidate. ESPN’s Jeff Passan reported that the 30-year-old rebuffed interest from clubs willing to go multiple years in order to get back to the market next winter. The Tigers were the only other team publicly linked to Kim this offseason, though clubs like the Giants and Pirates are known to be pursuing infield help. MLBTR had predicted Kim would receive a two-year, $30MM contract with an opt-out after the first season. He opts for the straight one-year deal at a higher salary to bet on himself.

Kim slots back in as Atlanta’s everyday shortstop. That’ll push trade pickup Mauricio Dubón into a utility role. The Braves were unable to make Kim a qualifying offer this offseason because they’d acquired him during the season. Assuming they don’t trade him midseason, they would have the ability to make the QO next winter. That’d entitle them to draft compensation if he plays well enough to reject and sign elsewhere.

Atlanta has been one of the most aggressive teams in the first couple months of free agency. Kim joins Robert Suarez, Raisel Iglesias and Mike Yastrzemski as significant free agent pickups. They took on Dubón’s final arbitration season, which costs $6.1MM. They have more than $245MM in guaranteed commitments for next season. They’re already well beyond this year’s approximate $208MM Opening Day mark.

The Kim signing also pushes them beyond the $244MM base luxury tax threshold, as calculated by RosterResource. They’re at roughly $255MM in CBT obligations. Atlanta had paid the luxury tax in 2023 and ’24 but stayed below the line this year. That reset their payor status going into 2026. They’re taxed at a 20% rate on their first $20MM above the line. For the moment, they have a minimal tax payment (roughly $2.2MM). That figures to climb throughout the offseason and into next year. The Braves still need to solidify a rotation that had been wrecked by injuries, and they’re certainly hoping to find themselves in position to add around the trade deadline.

With Kim staying at Truist Park, the shortstop market is essentially down to top free agent Bo Bichette. Depth types Isiah Kiner-Falefa and Willi Castro are the next-best options in free agency. There aren’t any obvious trade candidates at the position, which played into Atlanta’s decision to acquire a utilityman in Dubón to give them cover in case Kim priced himself out of their comfort zone.

Jon Heyman of The New York Post first reported that the Braves were re-signing Kim to a $20MM contract, which The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal specified was for one year. Image courtesy of Jordan Godfree, Imagn Images.

Tigers Interested In Ha-Seong Kim

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The Tigers are interested in free agent infielder Ha-Seong Kim, reports Evan Petzold of the Detroit Free Press. It was reported last week that the Tigers have renewed interest in free agent Alex Bregman, though Petzold reports this week that the club’s interest in Bregman has been lukewarm so far this offseason.

Kim would be a very different addition than Bregman. Kim’s ability to play multiple positions is nice but Bregman would be a much better surefire upgrade in the 2026 season. Bregman spent 2025 with the Red Sox and slashed .273/.360/.462 for a 125 wRC+, roughly in line with his career numbers. He also received solid grades for his third base defense. FanGraphs credited him with 3.5 wins above replacement even though injuries limited him to just 114 games. He had been a 4-6 WAR player in the previous three seasons and would have been in that range again in 2025 with a bit more health.

There would be much more uncertainty with Kim. He was once capable of 3-5 WAR seasons a few years ago, mostly based on his defense. From 2022 to 2024, he hit .250/.336/.385 for a 106 wRC+. He stole 72 bases and got strong marks for his glovework at second base, third base and shortstop. He was credited with 10.5 fWAR over those three seasons.

However, he required shoulder surgery at the end of 2024 and didn’t bounce back in 2025. He only got into 48 games with a tepid .234/.304/.345 line and 82 wRC+. In his 361 shortstop innings, he was given a minus-3 grade by both Defensive Runs Saved and Outs Above Average. His arm strength was only in the 45th percentile, according to Statcast, after being closer to 70th in his previous seasons.

Bregman is a more reliable upgrade for any team needing infield help but that should also be reflected in the eventual contracts for both players. MLBTR predicted Bregman could secure a $160MM deal over six years, whereas Kim was pegged for $30MM over two years.

The Tigers were willing to give Bregman a deal in range of that prediction last winter. They reportedly put a six-year, $171.5MM deal on the table, though with some deferrals knocking down the net present value. Bregman instead went to the Red Sox on a three-year, $120MM deal, though there were also notable deferrals in that pact. He had opt-outs after each season of his Boston deal and took the first one.

There are some reasons the Tigers may be less willing to do that kind of long-term deal now, one year later. The left side of their infield is still fairly open, with multi-positional guys like Javier Báez, Zach McKinstry, Colt Keith, Trey Sweeney and Jace Jung in the mix. However, shortstop prospect Kevin McGonigle is now lurking more than he was a season ago.

The 37th overall pick from the 2023 draft, McGonigle finished his 2024 season with 14 games in High-A and still seemed far away from the big leagues. In 2025, he tore through High-A and was promoted to Double-A, getting into 46 games at the latter level. He hit 12 home runs there and slashed .254/.369/.550 for a 162 wRC+. Basically every outlet now considers him one of the top three prospects in the game. He’s still just 21 years old and isn’t on the 40-man yet but he could be in Triple-A and pushing for a big league tryout in 2026.

If McGonigle is the long-term answer at short, perhaps the Tigers would opt for more of a short-term addition in Kim. On the other hand, despite the huge praise for his bat, some prospect evaluators feel McGonigle is stretched at short and doesn’t have the arm strength for third. If he is destined for second base, he could take over for Gleyber Torres there after 2026, as Torres is on a one-year deal. In that scenario, the Tigers would still be left with a hodgepodge of utility guys like Báez, McKinstry and Keith covering shortstop and third. With 2026 set to be the final year with Tarik Skubal, there’s an argument that’s Detroit should be more all-in and make the best short-term upgrade it can.

The position player market is expected to heat up now that Kyle Schwarber is reportedly going back to the Phillies. Kim’s market has been relatively quiet so far. He has been connected to Atlanta, who claimed him off waivers late in 2025. But he opted out of that deal, walking away from a $16MM player option. Atlanta then pivoted to acquire Mauricio Dubón from the Astros. That’s not expected to stop them from signing Kim but they have a better fallback plan now. As for Bregman, the Red Sox are interested in bringing him back but the Cubs appear to be involved as well.

Photo courtesy of Jordan Godfree, Imagn Images

Braves Focused On Shortstop, Rotation Early In Offseason

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There’s not a whole lot of mystery surrounding the Braves’ offseason needs. Ha-Seong Kim declining his player option leaves them back at square one at shortstop. They need more depth in a rotation that was battered by injury. They’re potentially losing three high-leverage relievers (Raisel Iglesias, Pierce Johnson and Tyler Kinley) to free agency.

President of baseball operations Alex Anthopoulos said on Tuesday that starting pitching and shortstop will take precedence early in the offseason. “We’re going to focus on those spots,” he told reporters (relayed by David O’Brien of The Athletic). “We’ll see where those lead us, what the acquisition costs are and all that, and then we’ll turn our attention to the bullpen.”

The Braves more or less telegraphed that course of action when they declined their club options on Johnson and Kinley. The latter was particularly surprising, as Kinley could have been retained for $5.5MM. That seemed a bargain price for a pitcher who’d turned in a 0.72 ERA over 25 innings after a deadline deal with the Rockies. Johnson seemed a slightly easier cut given his rocky finish to the season, but he’d still been a generally effective high-leverage arm over two and a half seasons with the Braves.

Cutting Kinley and Johnson saved the Braves $11.5MM. Another $16MM came off the books once Kim opted out. Some of that is offset by raises for Ronald Acuña Jr., Spencer Strider, Aaron Bummer and Reynaldo López. The Braves have $176.5MM committed to 12 players, though they’re likely to have one of the sport’s lightest arbitration classes. Dylan Lee and Nick Allen might be the only two arbitration-eligible players whom they tender contracts, and they’d project for less than $4MM between the two of them.

The Braves opened last season with a player payroll around $208MM. They should have a decent amount of spending capacity to at least make middle-tier free agent additions akin to last winter’s Jurickson Profar pickup. Their claim of Kim in the first place indicated they were willing to pay him $16MM. He’s presumably still their main target at shortstop, where there simply aren’t many alternatives.

Bo Bichette is the only other free agent regular at the position. He’d obviously be far more expensive than Kim would. The trade market looks barren, especially if the Nationals don’t want to trade CJ Abrams to a division rival. Maybe there’ll be a long shot trade option like J.P. Crawford or Ezequiel Tovar, but the likelier outcome is that the Braves would either need to stick with Allen or trade for a similarly low-upside stopgap if they don’t get a Kim deal done.

The rotation currently projects as Sale, Strider, López, Spencer Schwellenbach and Hurston Waldrep. That’d be an excellent group if all five pitchers made 30+ starts, but that’s not realistic. All but Waldrep missed time last season. López made just one start before undergoing season-ending shoulder surgery. Schwellenbach broke his elbow and missed the second half. Sale is going into his age-37 season. Grant Holmes may or may not be able to pitch through an elbow sprain. The Braves can’t run things back with only Bryce Elder, Didier Fuentes, and maybe Alek Manoah as their depth arms.

Atlanta has not spent big on free agent pitching under Anthopoulos (though they reportedly made a run at Aaron Nola before he re-signed with Philadelphia on a seven-year deal). Could that change this offseason? Georgia native Dylan Cease, Framber Valdez, Michael King and Zac Gallen are among the more notable free agent starters available.

Luke Weaver and Brad Keller are candidates for the mid-tier “reliever to starter” conversion contract which the Braves tried with López. The Braves have one of the weakest farm systems in MLB, which would put them at a disadvantage in a bidding war for a top controllable trade candidate like Joe Ryan. They could accommodate a decent-sized salary on the trade market, though, which perhaps brings someone like Sonny Gray, Luis Severino, Robbie Ray or Jack Flaherty into play if they’re looking for a mid-rotation source of innings.

Emphasizing the rotation and shortstop could leave them looking for cheaper bullpen targets later in the winter. Lee, Bummer and Joe Jiménez (who missed all of last season rehabbing knee surgery) are their top internal options at the back end. They’ll need to add at least one right-hander who can pitch in leverage spots while overhauling the middle innings group.

MLBTR Podcast: Offseason Preview Megapod: Top Trade Candidates

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The latest episode of the MLB Trade Rumors Podcast is now live on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and wherever you get your podcasts! Make sure you subscribe as well! You can also use the player at this link to listen, if you don’t use Spotify or Apple for podcasts.

This week, host Darragh McDonald is joined by Steve Adams and Anthony Franco of MLB Trade Rumors to discuss…

Check out our past episodes!

The podcast intro and outro song “So Long” is provided courtesy of the band Showoff.  Check out their Facebook page here!

Photo courtesy of Jeff Curry, Imagn Images

Ha-Seong Kim Opts Out Of Braves Deal

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Middle infielder Ha-Seong Kim is opting out of his deal with the Braves, reports Jon Heyman of The New York Post. He passes on a $16MM salary to return to the open market.

It’s a disappointing but not entirely unexpected development for Atlanta. The Braves claimed Kim off waivers from the Rays at the beginning of September. They weren’t competing but hoped to lock in their starting shortstop for the ’26 season. They instead wound up taking on the remaining $2MM of Kim’s 2025 salary for the final month of a lost season.

Maybe that’ll still turn out to be a worthwhile decision. President of baseball operations Alex Anthopoulos said in September he hoped that getting Kim acclimated with the Atlanta organization and clubhouse would give them a leg up even if the infielder decided to head back to free agency. They’ll certainly make an effort to bring him back, but Nick Allen is atop the depth chart at shortstop for the time being.

For the second straight winter, Kim hits free agency with significant questions. He had an outside shot at a nine-figure deal over the 2024-25 offseason until he suffered a labrum tear in his right shoulder in August. Kim required season-ending surgery, leading the Padres to decline to issue him a qualifying offer. He signed a two-year deal with the Rays that guaranteed $29MM and allowed him to retest the market after one year.

Kim’s rehab from the shoulder procedure carried into July. He’d wind up going back on the injured list twice more as he battled lower back issues. Those stints were brief, but his time in Tampa Bay consisted of 24 games with a .214/.290/.321 batting line. It’s certainly not what the Rays wanted for what amounted to nearly $11MM on their part. They were happy to shed the contract in the final month, getting them off the hook for the ’26 option.

The brief stint in Atlanta was a little more encouraging. Kim played 24 games with the Braves. He hit three homers with a .253/.316/.368 slash in 98 trips to the plate. That included a 10-game hit streak in the middle of September, though he recorded only two hits in 25 plate appearances in the final week of the season. He concluded with a .234/.304/.345 line across 191 trips to the plate.

Kim’s camp nevertheless feels he’ll be able to find a multi-year contract that is preferable to the $16MM option. They’ll be aided by the lack of middle infield alternatives on the open market. Assuming Trevor Story doesn’t opt out of the two years and $55MM remaining on his contract with Boston, Kim would be the second-best free agent shortstop after Bo Bichette.

He’ll hit the market without any draft compensation, as the Braves are not permitted to make a qualifying offer because he changed teams midseason. Kim could try to max out on a three-year deal or look for another two-year pact with an opt-out similar to the one he got from Tampa Bay. His old team in San Diego could look for a shortstop to push Xander Bogaerts back to second base. The Giants, Tigers, Royals, Pirates and Brewers are other clubs that look for help at one or both middle infield positions.

Poll: Will Ha-Seong Kim Opt Out?

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It wasn’t long ago that infielder Ha-Seong Kim looked like a strong bet to land a nine-figure deal in free agency. Last September, Kim was wrapping up a season in which he had hit .233/.330/.370, good for a league average wRC+ of 101. He combined that with strong defense at shortstop and 22 steals on the base paths, and it was actually the weakest of his last three seasons in the majors. Since the start of 2022, Kim had hit .250/.336/.385 with 72 steals, a 17.9% strikeout rate, and a walk rate of 11.0% with 13.0 bWAR and 10.5 fWAR accumulated.

A player who was consistently worth three to five wins per season entering his age-29 season looked like a slam dunk for a sizable deal, but that was derailed when he underwent shoulder surgery 364 days ago. He wound up signing a $29MM guarantee with the Rays that spanned the 2025 and ’26 seasons, though it gave him the opportunity to opt out of the final year and $16MM of that deal if he so chose. Kim’s campaign this year was not an especially robust one, as he appeared in just 48 games and hit .234/.304/.345 in 191 plate appearances. The Rays were concerned enough about the possibility of having Kim on payroll in 2026 that they exposed him to waivers last month, at which point he was claimed by the Braves.

On paper, that might make the decision to opt in and try to bounce back next year an easy one for Kim. It’s hard to say that a 191 plate appearance sample size where he posted an 82 wRC+ with middling defensive grades would improve his stock in free agency much, after all. With that being said, it may not be an entirely foregone conclusion. Kim did manage to look much more like his former self down the stretch with Atlanta, hitting .253/.316/.368 (91 wRC+) with a 16.3% strikeout rate and some of the strongest expected numbers of his career. His overall production remained below average due in part to a BABIP of just .271, but it suddenly became much easier to see Kim returning to the average to slightly above average bat he once was after his performance in the Braves organization.

Of course, that time in Atlanta represents just 98 plate appearances, which makes it difficult to draw any significant conclusions. The Braves themselves certainly appear satisfied with Kim’s progress, though, as president of baseball operations Alex Anthopoulos has made no bones about his desire to keep the infielder in the fold for next season. With a relatively barren market for shortstop-caliber players outside of Bo Bichette, it’s not hard to imagine other teams seeing Kim’s upside and being willing to spend a good bit more than the $16MM guarantee Kim would be opting out of, even if that would come in the form of a similarly short-term, opt-out laden arrangement as the one he signed last winter.

There’s certainly risk in opting out of a guaranteed $16MM payday coming off an injury-marred season, and it would be entirely understandable if Kim preferred to simply stick with the Braves and hope to bounce back enough in 2026 that he puts himself in line for a lucrative contract next winter. With that being said, it must be considered that Kim is represented by the Boras Corporation, and agent Scott Boras is known for preferring his clients to test free agency when possible. That’s not a hard-and-fast rule, however; Boras clients Cody Bellinger and Gerrit Cole both had the opportunity to test free agency via opt outs last winter and ultimately declined to do so, though Cole did initially opt out before mutually agreeing with the Yankees to remain in the organization on the terms of his original contract.

How do MLBTR readers expect Kim to handle his impending option? Will he test free agency and try to take advantage of a weak shortstop class, or is he more likely to stick with Atlanta on his current deal? Have your say in the poll below:

Alex Anthopoulos Discusses Managerial Vacancy, Offseason Plans

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Atlanta president of baseball operations Alex Anthopoulos spoke to reporters (including David O’Brien of The Athletic) yesterday in an end-of-season press conference yesterday and covered a variety of topics. Much of the focus, however, was on Brian Snitker’s decision to step down as manager and the impending hunt for a new manager.

Anthopoulos made sure to emphasize that Snitker’s departure from the role was in fact the veteran manager’s own decision, and that if he had wanted to remain in the dugout for an 11th season Anthopoulos would not have stood in the way of that. He spoke glowingly of the relationship and trust the two of them had built, and went on to reveal that Snitker is actually under contract with the organization through the 2030 season.

That’s because, Anthopoulos revealed, Snitker’s January 2023 contract extension that was announced as a three-year deal that ended in 2025 was actually an eight-year contract where he would serve as manager through the end of the 2025 season before shifting into a senior advisor role for the final five years of his deal. It was left to Snitker to decide whether that latter portion of the extension would be announced at the time, and Snitker opted against that. It’s an interesting reveal that makes clear Snitker’s move out of the manager’s chair is not related to Atlanta’s disappointing 2025 season, and lends credence to the idea that the Braves would have been happy to bring him back for an 11th season as manager if he was inclined to pursue one.

Snitker ultimately opted to step aside, however, and that’s left Anthopoulos to begin his first search for a new manager since joining the Braves in November of 2017.  Anthopoulos told reporters that he had not yet even made a list of potential candidates for the role in deference to Snitker, though he added that doing so was the next item on his offseason to-do list. Anthopoulos noted that the next manager doesn’t necessarily need to follow in the footsteps of Snitker, a 49-year veteran of the organization, and have deep roots within the organization. That should allow Anthopoulos to cast a wider net in finding the right partner to bring playoff baseball back to Atlanta.

Former Braves players like David Ross and Walt Weiss have been popular speculative picks for the job among fans and in the media, and while O’Brien notes that someone like that cannot be ruled out there’s been no indication of who Anthopoulos may be looking at as a candidate. Anthopoulos told reporters he hopes to keep it that way, though he also acknowledged that with as many managerial vacancies as there are in baseball at the moment even his notoriously leak-free front office may have trouble keeping the team’s plans completely under wraps.

Regardless of who is ultimately leading the Braves from the dugout next year, it’s clear that some changes will be necessary on the field. The first major decision point of Atlanta’s offseason (aside from finding Snitker’s replacement) will not actually sit with Anthopoulos at all, as Ha-Seong Kim will be able to decide whether to exercise his $16MM player option for 2026 or return to free agency. Kim had a tough year between the Rays and Braves this season, appearing in just 48 games and slashing just .234/.304/.345 overall. Atlanta was quite impressed with his work after they claimed him off waivers, however, and he posted a respectable 91 wRC+ across his 98 plate appearances with the organization.

Anthopoulos was candid with reporters (including Gabe Burns of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution) about the fact that the Braves hope to keep Kim in the fold, though it remains to be seen if he’ll simply exercise his player option or if he’ll instead look to test free agency. O’Brien suggests that the club could look to preempt Kim’s opt-out decision by negotiating a contract with him before he reaches the open market, as the Royals did with Michael Wacha last winter. That would make plenty of sense given Anthopoulos’s proclivity towards extensions, even for recently-acquired players like Sean Murphy and Chris Sale. At the same time, Kim’s combination of an impressive ceiling and difficult 2025 season could make him a difficult player to find the proper value for on a longer-term deal.

Keeping or replacing Kim isn’t the only priority of the team’s upcoming offense, of course. Burns notes that Anthopoulos highlighted both the bullpen and the starting rotation as areas he hopes to upgrade this winter in addition to shortstop. The loss of Max Fried to the Yankees last offseason was badly felt in the Atlanta rotation, and while talented arms like Sale, Spencer Strider, Reynaldo Lopez, and Spencer Schwellenbach all remain under team control, that entire group faces questions headed into 2026 whether those concerns are about age, health, or performance. Bringing in a stable arm who can provide reliable, mid-rotation or better innings would make plenty of sense, and a bullpen that stands to lose Raisel Iglesias and could also see Pierce Johnson head into free agency if Anthopoulos does not exercise his $7MM club option after losing A.J. Minter last year will also need significant reinforcement.

The free agent market looks to be littered with quality options in both regards, but the Braves have typically resisted spending large sums of money in free agency and have long preferred to get creative on the trade market when looking to bring in new talent. Perhaps that could change this year after 2025’s disappointing finish, and Atlanta will go out and sign someone like Dylan Cease or Edwin Diaz to a sizable contract. It seems more likely, however, that the Braves will instead look to be opportunistic in free agency and focus their more aggressive pursuits on the trade market, which has brought them success when adding players like Sale, Murphy, and Iglesias over the years. Joe Ryan, Sandy Alcantara, Pete Fairbanks, and JoJo Romero are among the players who could theoretically be available this winter who would fit Atlanta’s pitching needs.

The Changing Landscape Of The Offseason Shortstop Market

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For much of the 2025 season, it's looked as though Bo Bichette will be the only notable shortstop in free agency -- and it's been plenty fair to debate whether he's a shortstop at all. The 27-year-old has bounced back -- and then some -- at the plate, largely quieting concerns about his anemic performance with the bat in an injury-ruined 2024 season that saw him slash just .225/.277/.322 with four homers in 81 games. But whatever good will Bichette has regained with a resurgent performance in the batter's box has at least partially been offset by a career-worst year with the glove -- and now yet another lower-half injury.

Elsewhere in free agency, what once looked like an otherwise-barren class has now begun to show some potential upside. Narratives surrounding several potential free agents have begun to shift -- enough that it bears taking a lengthier look at what the winter might bring.

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