During the Atlanta Braves' free fall over the last week and a half, it has become very clear that filling shortstop with a competent hitter would help this roster a lot. Not only would it allow the Braves to put Mauricio Dubon in left field, but it would mean that guys like Ha-Seong Kim are not getting regular at-bats and doing nothing with them. While the better shortstops are hot commodities at the trade deadline in the rare event that they are available at all, the Braves might have an opportunity to strike thanks to the Astros' incredibly disappointing start to the season.
At the start of 2026, it looked like Houston was approaching the end of their competitive window, but it at least looked like they were still in it. Unfortunately for them, they have looked like anything but competitive for most of the season as they are currently six games below .500 and near the cellar of the AL West.
Given where the Astros are and the Braves' obvious and urgent need, perhaps these two squads could get together on a trade for Jeremy Peña, as ESPN insider Jeff Passan suggests could happen.
If the Braves want to be bold at the deadline, they should push for a trade for Jeremy Peña...but only to a point
There is a lot that suggests that trading for Peña has some real merit. He is one of the better shortstops in baseball, is under team control through 2027, and the Astros are almost certainly not going to be able to keep him from testing free agency with Peña being as in-demand as he is likely to be. It can't hurt that the Braves and Astros recently made a trade of note for Dubon last offseason, and that Astros GM Dana Brown and Alex Anthopoulos worked together for years with the Braves.
That said, there are some problems with this plan. The first, and perhaps most important, obstacle is going to be price. Assuming that Houston is willing to move Peña at all, a year and a half of team control is going to be expensive and perhaps beyond the Braves' comfortable zone. Complicating matters, Peña's agent is Scott Boras, who is both an agent that Atlanta obviously prefers not to deal with as well as an agent that not going to be amenable to talks on a reasonable extension.
In that world, seeing the Braves' front office getting in a bidding war over Peña is hard to bet on. However, Anthopoulos also has to know that chances to compete are anything but inevitable, and the Braves have a real shot this year. For once, it feels possible that Atlanta could be bidding at the top of the trade market could be in the cards. If that happens, don't be surprised if Peña's name pops up.
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