Like many other Atlanta Braves players, shortstop Orlando Arcia had a career season in 2023. He made his first All-Star Game appearance, posting a .264 batting average to go along with his 17 home runs and 65 RBI. Arcia did a fantastic job setting the table for the top of the order all season. This left Atlanta optimistic about his future.
Unfortunately, 2024 turned out to be a different story for the Braves as a whole. Many fans will point to injuries as the primary cause of the team's underperformance this past season. However, some players, including Arcia, did not reach expectations.
Braves 2024 season grade and review: Orlando Arcia's underperformance may have doomed him
In 157 games in 2024, Arcia hit .218 with 17 home runs and 46 RBI. While his power numbers remained steady, Arcia’s batting average dropped drastically along with his on-base percentage (.321 to .271). Arcia activists argued that his defense was valuable enough to keep him on the field, and any offense the Braves received out of him was simply a bonus. However, a newer, valuable metric used in baseball tells a different story.
WAR (Wins Above Replacement) is a newer metric to determine how many more wins a player is worth than replacement players at their position. It is calculated based on a player’s body of work, including batting, fielding, baserunning, and pitching. The league average per season for WAR is usually around 2. While Arica exceeded that with a WAR of 2.4 in 2023, his WAR this past season fell to 0.8 (14th-lowest in MLB).
Not only was his WAR terrible but Arcia also was the second-worst hitter in the wRC+ category as his sat a 76 for the season. This was just above Royals infielder Maikel Garcia who ended 2024 with a 69 wRC+.
There’s just no way anyone in the Braves FO can look at Orlando Arcia’s at-bats and think, “we shouldn’t look to upgrade shortstop”
— Leslie Mines (@LeslieMinesIII) October 3, 2024
With the time now or never for the Atlanta Braves, there is a likelihood that from his drop in overall performance, Orlando Arcia could have just played his way out of his future with the Braves organization. The only good news for Arcia is that Atlanta’s options may be limited, and he provides reliable defense (4 OAA in 2024).
We briefly looked at 21-year-old Nacho Alvarez Jr. in the big leagues in 2023, who doesn’t appear ready for the next level. Arica is signed with the Braves through the 2025 season with a club option in 2026. He is set to make $2 million for both of those seasons.
At this pace, it seems unlikely the Braves will exercise that option, making Arica a prime trade candidate by the deadline or even in the upcoming Winter Meetings if Alex Anthopoulos finds an intriguing opportunity. If the Braves decide to move on from Arcia, Willy Adames and Ha-Seong Kim are names to watch closely this offseason.
Adames is coming off of a 30+ homer and 100+ RBI season in 161 games with serviceable defense. The Brewers shortstop has been linked to Atlanta since 2023 so it is a possibility. Kim is a pure contact hitter and gets on base a good bit (58 walks to 77 strikeouts in 2024), which is something the Braves desperately need. However, he is a client of the Boras Corporation employee, which always complicates things.
While this may cost Atlanta a pretty penny, AA could be tired of seeing a team loaded with superstars fail to get past the first round of the playoffs and view this as an opportunity to get over that hump.