The Atlanta Braves were blindsided by the news that Ha-Seong Kim had surgery on his finger after an offseason fall and will now be out until at least May if not longer. For a team that had an urgent need at shortstop before they brought Kim back, losing him before he takes a single plate appearance in 2026 is not ideal. Thankfully, it looks like Atlanta is being proactive about building up their infield depth to help cover for the loss.
Most agreed in the immediately aftermath that the recently acquired Mauricio Dubon will slide in at shortstop and get the bulk of the playing time there while Kim is out. There are no more marquee shortstops left on the market, so the Braves are going to have to make do with what they have internally and possibly add a depth piece in case of emergency.
From the looks of things, that depth piece was added on Monday as the Braves signed Jorge Mateo to a one-year major league deal.
The Braves have responded to Kim’s injury https://t.co/V5bTB4Mtvu
— Mark Bowman (@mlbbowman) January 19, 2026
Braves sign Jorge Mateo to one-year deal as Atlanta deals with Ha-Seong Kim injury fallout
If you were hoping Atlanta was going to swing a surprise trade for a stalwart everyday shortstop before the start of the season, brace yourself for disappointment. Atlanta is paying Kim a rather healthy salary and after committing payroll throughout their roster this offseason already, striking a deal for another lineup regular was never going to happen.
However, Mateo is a pretty underwhelming player even in a bench role. While he is pretty versatile on defense, Mateo hasn't been particularly good defensively in recent years and he has never been a good hitter with a career .629 OPS. After hitting .177 last season with the Orioles, Braves fans just have to hope that Dubon holds up long enough for Kim to get healthy, because any scenario where Mateo is in the lineup frequently is going to be pretty ugly.
Is there a chance the Braves continue their shortstop search even with Dubon in the fold and now signing Mateo? Perhaps, but the more likely option is that the Braves call shortstop "good enough for now" and turn their attention to spring training as well as potentially adding another starter before the season gets going.