After the Atlanta Braves re-signed Ha-Seong Kim, it finally felt like shortstop was handled. Between having Kim installed as the everyday shortstop and now having Mauricio Dubon around to back him up, Atlanta seems in good shape there even if the upside leaves a bit to be desired. However, a closer look at the next couple years makes one realize that the Braves are probably going to have to do all of this again soon.
Kim decided to bet on himself and agreed to a one-year deal with the Braves which makes sense and Dubon is in his last year of arbitration. Normally this wouldn't be a huge deal because while extensions for either player could be difficult to pull off, Atlanta could simply pivot to the free agent market or to internal options for a longer lasting solution.
There is big issue with this shortstop plan. A quick look at next year's free agent class of shortstops shows that the class of shortstops is actually worse than this year's brutal market and the Braves would probably have to wait until after the 2027 season to find a quality shortstop.
Braves' shortstop situation looks very dicey in the long-term when you look at their future options
Importantly, we are not looking at internal options from the Braves' farm system that might emerge. It is possible that they pick a college shortstop in the 2026 MLB Draft that could move up quickly or one of Jose Perdomo, Tate Southisene, Alex Lodise, or John Gil among others could emerge and become viable options for the Braves in the next year or two.
However, when looking at the obvious external options, the options are grim after the 2026 season. Obviously Kim will be on the market given that he signed a one-year deal for a reason, but the other shortstop option is...JP Crawford who is getting older and was one of the worst qualified defenders in baseball in 2025. If you squint your eyes, you could see Nico Hoerner as a potential shortstop option, but a reunion with the Cubs feels more like.
After the 2027 season, you get a fun option in the Astros' Jeremy Peña, although he is going to be pricey given that he hired Scott Boras to be his agent relatively recently. It is also more likely that an internal option will be ready or close to it by that time. Trades could be in play for pending free agents like Gunnar Henderson, Anthony Volpe, or CJ Abrams. That doesn't help the Braves in 2027 basically at all, but it does at least give them a path forward out of what could end up being quite the mess.