There are plenty of reasons for the Atlanta Braves’ struggles this year. Michael Harris II has looked lost at the plate with no real end in sight. The bullpen’s struggled in key spots all season long, causing the Braves to lose a lot of close game. Injuries have taken their toll on both sides of the ball.
But one of the biggest reasons for those struggles can be traced back to shortstop, where Nick Allen has been one of the worst players at the position this year. And while it’s clear the Braves need to make an upgrade at the position, there’s no clear path for them to do so at this year’s trade deadline.
The Braves need a shortstop upgrade, but will struggle to find one on the trade market at the deadline
There’s no reason to beat around the bush — Allen has been dreadful this year. While he’s an above-average defender, the former Athletic has posted a .234/.304/.268 slash line this year with 14 RBI. Very rarely do you see a player have an average and slugging percentage that are nearly identical, but here we are.
His OPS+ of 63 is the seventh-worst in all of baseball among players with 200+ plate appearances (Harris’ mark of 58th is the third-worst). It’s also the worst mark among full-time shortstops. With all that in mind, it shouldn’t come as a surprise that Atlanta’s shortstops have combined for a wRC+ of 56, which is the second-worst mark in baseball, ahead of only the lowly Rockies.
But it’s not like there’s an easy fix available. Earlier this week, ESPN’s Jeff Passan and Kiley McDaniel put out a list highlighting the top 50 trade deadline candidates who could be available this year, and Pittsburgh's Isiah Kiner-Falefa was the only shortstop to make the list.
Kiner-Falefa is a solid player who has played every position except for catcher in his career, but he’s not going to fix Atlanta’s problems at shortstop. He’s posted an OPS+ of 85 this year, and is only slugging .346. While his 13 extra-base hits on the season are nearly double the amount that Allen’s hit (seven), no one is going to mistake him for prime Dansby Swanson in the batter’s box.
Kiner-Falefa also stands out as the only utility option; Ryan McMahon, Eugenio Suarez and Nolan Arenado stand out as the top third base options available, but none of them are going to shift over to shortstop or at least they really, really shouldn't.
The roots of this problem can be traced back to Swanson's departure, as the Braves have thought of shortstop as an afterthought in the years since he left. Orlando Arcia held the position down in 2023 and ‘24, but it was clear at the time that he wasn’t the long-term answer and he cratered in a hurry after a promising start.
Although prospect Nacho Alvarez has seen some time at shortstop in the minors, his future is likely as a third or second baseman. So if the Braves want to get better at baseball’s most important position, they’ll need to look outside the organization, and likely get creative.
The Guardians have a glut of middle infielders, but it would be surprising to see Atlanta buy low on a former top prospect like Brayan Rocchio or overpay for a utility infielder like Gabriel Arias. The Marlins also have a significant amount of middle infielders, but the Braves would likely need to overpay since it would be an inter-division trade.
Bo Bichette is the pie in the sky-type player, but it’s hard to believe the Blue Jays would trade him after a strong start to the season.
Even though there’s no easy path, it’s clear the Braves need to do something different at shortstop if they want to turn their season around. If that is going to happen, Alex Anthopoulos is going to have to get creative.