The Braves have one middle infield problem that gets all the attention, but the other side of the dirt might deserve a closer look too.
Shortstop is the obvious headache. Mauricio Dubón and Ha-Seong Kim are both headed for free agency, and Jim Jarvis is the top in-house fallback.
Atlanta could bring Dubón back on a two-year deal, though he fits best as a super-utility piece. If the Astros ever decide to make Jeremy Peña available before his year of club control is up, the Braves should be in that mix.
They’ll also be tracking younger shortstops who could become available from their current teams, with Anthony Volpe and Brayan Rocchio mentioned as examples.
But second base isn’t exactly settled, either. Ozzie Albies has been the Braves’ regular at the position for nearly a decade, starting 1117 games at the keystone over the past nine seasons.
No one else on the roster has even started more than 44 there. He has long been one of the steadiest fixtures in the lineup, and for years he outplayed the $35MM extension he signed in April 2019.
Through the ’23 season, he was a legitimate star.
The last three years have told a different story. In 2024, Albies hit .251/.303/.404, a league-average line that could be chalked up in part to the broken toe and wrist fracture he dealt with that season.
He opened ’25 badly, then looked more like himself in the second half before a hamate fracture ended his year a week early. He finished at .240/.306/.365, but Atlanta still had little reason not to exercise his $7MM option for 2026.
Because that option came with a $4MM buyout, the net choice was really just $3MM.
Even with the uneven finish, Albies gave the Braves a full season’s worth of innings in the field, starting all but two of his 162 games played. He also made the All-Star team after a strong first half, batting .267/.320/.439 with 14 home runs. That wasn’t peak Albies, but it did look like a player who had gotten back to being one of the better all-around second basemen in the National League.
Then the season turned hard. After the break, Albies posted a .575 OPS, a bottom-10 mark among hitters with at least 200 plate appearances.
September was especially rough, as he hit .136 with a .189 on-base percentage. He did at least deliver a few moments in October, finishing with five extra-base hits and a pair of homers in seven playoff games, but the regular season line settled at .237/.293/.392 over 683 plate appearances.
The numbers at the position paint a middling picture. Among second basemen with at least 400 plate appearances, Albies ranked 25th in OBP and 15th in slugging.
He tied for fourth in home runs with 22, though that owes something to volume; only Nico Hoerner and Fernando Tatis Jr. had more at-bats. Defensively, he has generally graded out around league average for most of his career.
For Atlanta, that creates a different kind of question than the one at shortstop. Second base has not been as severe a problem as left field or the two left-side infield spots, but it also hasn’t been a clear strength. And compared with the rest of the roster’s needs, it may be the easiest place for the Braves to make a change.
They can bring Albies back for 2026 on another $7MM option, this time without a buyout attached. That is probably the likeliest outcome.
It is the kind of salary that free-agent utility types like Isiah Kiner-Falefa, Kiké Hernández and Willi Castro have gotten, and Albies offers more than that as an everyday player. It is also hard to imagine Atlanta moving on from a player who still carries so much weight in the clubhouse just to save that amount.
Still, a retention decision doesn’t rule out a trade. The Braves should be able to find interest in Albies on a one-year, $7MM deal, especially in a market where they could be looking for a partner with pitching to spare.
That’s a much easier setup than trying to move Austin Riley, who’s signed for another six years and $132MM. Sean Murphy, Jurickson Profar and Mike Yastrzemski would also be tough to unload without the Braves eating money.
Atlanta doesn’t have a farm system answer ready to step in, but unlike shortstop, it would at least have free-agent options if it chose to reset at second. Brandon Lowe, Jazz Chisholm Jr., Gleyber Torres and Luis Arraez are all headed for the open market.
If the Braves did decide to explore a deal, there are a few clubs that could make sense as speculative trade partners. Cincinnati, Tampa Bay, Boston and Texas are all mentioned as possible fits.
The Reds’ Nick Lodolo is projected for a $5.7MM salary in his final arbitration year and could fit the “change of scenery” label. Boston might not have an opening in its Opening Day rotation for Tanner Houck, Johan Oviedo or Kutter Crawford.
Tampa Bay has just one year of club control left on both Shane McClanahan and Griffin Jax, and while neither would be a straight one-for-one match for Albies, a broader multi-player framework could be discussed.
Nothing there is concrete, and the source makes that clear. But the point stands: if Atlanta ever chooses to change course at second base for the first time in a decade, the possibilities are real enough to imagine.
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