When the Atlanta Braves landed Ha-Seong Kim after thinking for weeks that the team was really going to enter 2026 with Mauricio Dubon as their everyday shortstop, fans were thrilled. Shortstop has been a concern off and on since Dansby Swanson left town and while Kim isn't a long-term replacement at the moment, he at least has a pulse and should make Atlanta appreciably better especially if his bat rebounds. However, there are some ripple effects here that many may not realize.
We are now in the middle of December and the Braves have Kim at short...but they also have Dubon around who isn't making the league minimum. Conventional wisdom suggests that Atlanta will just use Dubon as a utility infielder playing all over the place.
However, an alternative path is one that Braves fans won't love. With Kim installed at shortstop, the possibility of sliding Dubon over to second and making Ozzie Albies available in a trade may never be more likely than right now.
Braves may have forecasted their trade intentions for Ozzie Albies after signing Ha-Seong Kim
Now, Albies trade rumors are not new, but nothing has ever felt particularly close. Albies has dealt with injuries and underperformance the last couple of years which has blunted his trade value a bit and Atlanta has him on such a cheap, flexible deal that they have not seemed motivated to move him.
That could be changing now. Albies is only has one club option year after 2026 and it doesn't feel like an oversight that there has been no public discussion of an extension. As popular a player as Albies has been in Atlanta, there is no denying that he has been trending his way out of town for a little while now and he needs a good 2026 to convince the Braves to renew that partnership.
He may not get that chance this coming season, however. Kim is the shortstop in 2026. We know that for sure. As for Dubon, he is particularly good defensively at second base where the Astros used him a lot once they moved Jose Altuve to the outfield. His bat may be suspect, but Albies' defense has dropped off as the injuries have piled up. There is a world where the best team Atlanta can field right now doesn't include Ozzie as painful as that is to say.
It doesn't hurt that the Braves could really cash in on Albies if they were to trade him. He has one of the better contracts in baseball if you think he has anything left in the tank. In a recent piece from The Athletic's Ken Rosenthal, one MLB executive was quoted as saying, "No team wants prospects. If you’re willing to take prospects, you’ll get more on the dollar than you will for major-league players.” Given the state of the Braves' farm system, being the one team willing to take prospect talent on this offseason when you have a realistic infield alignment without Albies isn't all that crazy.