The Atlanta Braves and Ozzie Albies, technically, don’t have a guaranteed future together beyond this season.
About a year ago, as Albies went through some serious struggles, it wasn’t clear just how long this pairing would stay with each other.
Now, though, it’s actually quite clear.
Ozzie Albies Free Agent Update
Albies’ contract is up at the end of the season, sort of.
But the diminutive second baseman has a club option for the 2027 season that costs just $7 million.
If it’s not obvious just from your intuition, the Braves will almost certainly pick that up.
ESPN’s Jeff Passan noted Albies’ contract in a new article on Thursday, writing that this option is “likely to be picked up” — and that’s an understatement.
It would be a total shock if the Braves didn’t keep Albies around for 2027, which is the final possible year on this deal.
Albies is already playing on a club option year for $7 million in 2026, which believe it or not wasn’t a sure thing midway through last summer. Albies and the Braves were struggling in 2025 to the point that there was walk of potentially trading Albies or even declining his quite cheap option.
In the end, though, the Braves exercised the option and now will likely do so again.
Ozzie Albies Contract
The 2027 season, assuming the option is picked up, will end what has been one of the team-friendliest contracts in baseball history.
Albies signed early in his career for security, and the Braves did it for the chance of having a key player for less than his true value for a long time.
The deal at the time it was signed was denoted as a seven-year, $35 million contract. In the context of today’s deals, and the player Ozzie has become, it’s an incredible bargain.
Ozzie Albies Stats
The Braves have been right about Albies from the beginning.
Listed at just 5-foot-7, they found the native of Curacao as a teenager and signed him as an international free agent.
The man who originally entered the system known as Ozhaino Albies quickly became beloved and fast-rising Ozzie.
This is his 10th season with the Braves, and he’s a career .264 hitter (.767 OPS) with 261 doubles, 178 home runs and 101 stolen bases.
Albies almost never takes a day off. When his manager Walt Weiss gave Albies a rest day earlier this season, Weiss joked that it probably meant he wouldn’t be getting a Christmas card from Albies now.
He also has a World Series ring in his time with Atlanta, and Albies has represented the Braves at the All-Star Game on four different occasions.
He’ll turn 30 in January, and it remains to be seen what his contract beyond 2027 might look like, whether with the Braves or another team.
But for next season, assuming no major trouble with a potential lockout, Albies will almost certainly be in an Atlanta uniform for at least one more year.
Braves’ Ozzie Albies Free Agent Decision Seems Clear