After a season so rough that the Miami Marlins leapfrogged them in the standings, the Atlanta Braves are acting like a team with nothing to lose and a 2026 plan to build. Atlanta’s most intriguing move wasn’t a blockbuster but a waiver claim. Ha-Seong Kim arrived from the Rays with a Gold Glove on his résumé, a battered body from a stop-start year, and a $16 million player option for 2026 that could solve Atlanta’s most persistent headache: shortstop.
A Low-Risk Claim With Significant Upside
Shortstop has cratered for Atlanta all year. Before Kim showed up, Braves shortstops ranked last in MLB in OPS, a black hole on a roster that still flashes star power elsewhere. That’s why Alex Anthopoulos pounced the second Tampa Bay cut bait, eating roughly $2 million for the rest of 2025 to audition a plus defender with league-average pop when healthy. If you’re punting on 2025 results, this is the exact kind of bet you make: low cost, absolute ceiling, instant information.
The early returns are the kind that turn an audition into leverage. Since joining the Braves, Kim has looked comfortable: contact to all fields, game-speed range, and the kind of internal clock that settles an infield. He’s already logged a homer and highlight-reel plays, the exact contrast to the revolving door that preceded him. Atlanta isn’t pretending this is a half-measure, either. Manager Brian Snitker wants Kim in the lineup as much as possible down the stretch to learn precisely what he is in this context—the player, the fit, the future.
This is also a cultural play. Kim’s close relationship with Jurickson Profar, reunited after their San Diego days, matters more than fans might think. Comfort can be the tiebreaker in a thin market. Atlanta tends to sell stability, role clarity, and competitive windows. That pitch reads well when you hand the position to a premium defender and say, “It’s yours.”
What The Option—And Market—Say
Here’s the money question: will Kim stay? Contractually, he holds the cards. The 29-year-old can pick up that $16 million player option for 2026—a number that looks like a bargain if he’s the 2023 version (Gold Glove utility, 4-win pace) and still reasonable if he’s solid while fully healthy again. He enters a free-agent class light on true shortstops if he declines the option. Bo Bichette’s bat attracts suitors, but his defensive metrics cratered this year. Trevor Story still carries significant money with uneven production. Beyond that, you’re shopping in a role-player aisle. Against that board, a glove-first shortstop with on-base and speed plays, especially for a contender that values run prevention.
League chatter already suggests Atlanta didn’t make this claim unthinkingly. Multiple outlets have framed the move as both a 2025 evaluation and a 2026 solution, with the Braves comfortable that Kim won’t walk away from the option. Even if Scott Boras decides to test a weak market, Atlanta can pivot to a short multi-year with an AAV at or above $16 million and dare the field to beat it. Given what they’ve endured at the position, that’s not overpaying, that’s paying to stop the bleeding.
Zoom out, and the logic is clean. The Braves had a glaring problem. The Rays offered an opening out of the race and managing payroll. Atlanta bought a month of exclusive access for about $2 million, gained a stabilizer at a premium spot. Atlanta positioned themselves to lock in a solution before the market scrambles. If Kim’s body holds and the glove looks like 2023 again, the Braves just turned a lost year into a win. A head start on 2026 with a shortstop who fits the way they want to win. That’s not a splashy headline, but it’s the kind of move contenders build on.
The bottom line is that Atlanta finally found competence—and maybe more—quickly. If Kim opts in, the Braves likely roll into 2026 with a steady defender. With a lineup that no longer hides its six-hole. If he doesn’t, they’ve still bought the inside track. Either way, the worst position on the roster just became a plan.
Braves Betting on Gold Glover to Fix Shortstop Problem in 2026