It’s nearly impossible to think about the modern iteration of the Braves without thinking about Ozzie Albies. While he doesn’t have the star power of Ronald Acuña Jr. or the electric fastball of Spender Strider, he’s in his ninth year with the Braves and has been with the team through all the ups and downs that have come during that time period.
But this year has arguably been the worst year of his career, as he entered play on Tuesday with a .235 batting average (the worst of his career) to go along with six home runs and 22 RBI. His OPS+ sits at 83, meaning he’s been 17% worse than league average.
Those rough stats have led to some Braves fans wanting to pull the plug on Albies.
It would be the worst thing the team could do.
Why Braves trading Ozzie Albies would be a losing game
While this idea made a little more sense earlier in the season when the Braves seemingly couldn’t do anything right, they just finished off a 13-14 May and entered play on Tuesday with a 27-31 record. Not great by any means, but still within striking distance of the division crown (10 games) and a wild card spot (5 1/2 games back). This is the time when they should be adding impact players to their roster, not getting rid of them.
And yes, there’s an argument to be made that Albies isn’t the same kind of impact player that he once was. But it’s time to trust his track record. He entered the year as a career .270 hitter, and is a three-time All-Star with two Silver Slugger wins on his ledger.
Ozzie Albies' #OpeningDay homer puts the @Braves ahead 😤 pic.twitter.com/STvkJsbbK6
— MLB (@MLB) March 27, 2025
He’s not hitting the ball hard (86.7 mph average exit velocity), but he’s never hit the ball hard. His game has always been based around his strong eye and aggressive penchant for making contact. And he’s still doing that (83rd percentile in whiff rate).
The other part of this is his contract. This is the last guaranteed year of the seven-year, $35 million contract he signed in 2019, though he has two team options worth $7 million for 2026 and ‘27. Albies’ contract has been one of the best in baseball (and least from the team perspective), and adds to his value.
It’s not like he’s on Trevor Story’s contract. His contract next year will pay him the same amount the Braves gave Kyle Wright for his signing bonus.
It hasn’t been easy for Braves fans to see Albies struggle like this, but trading him would be a zero sum game. It’s not like he’s the only Brave struggling (anyone look at Michael Harris’ stats lately) and they’ve spent most of the year rolling out a lineup that consists of Eli White and Nick Allen.
The Braves are seemingly doing everything they can to make things work this season, but getting rid of Albies should be one of them.