Everyone knows that the Atlanta Braves have a problem at shortstop at the moment. After having to suffer through Nick Allen playing the position for most of the season, the Braves did finally end up claiming Ha-Seong Kim off of waivers who actually played very well. In fact, he played so well that there are a lot of Braves fans hoping Atlanta can keep Kim, but one reason why that may not happen is that Bo Bichette is really the only other free agent shortstop worth having other than Kim.

Given his position, Bichette has been floated often as an option for the Braves this offseason, although it is far from a perfect fit. Bichette’s bat rebounded for the Blue Jays in 2025 with an .840 OPS, but his defense was pretty abysmal and he is widely expected to be rather expensive, hence why it might be appealing to Kim to join the market as a Bichette alternative with a much better glove.

More recently, the picture has gotten a lot cloudier. Bichette has been dealing a knee sprain for several weeks now and apparently the issue is bad enough that Toronto left him off their ALCS roster. While that may not seem related to the Braves’ interests, Bichette’s injury could actually cool down the shortstop market to Atlanta’s benefit.

Bo Bichette being left of Blue Jays’ ALCS roster gives hope shortstop market won’t go too crazy…but there is a catch

If Bichette was a shortstop without any other warts, a knee sprain at this stage of the season wouldn’t impact the market much. However, because Bichette was already facing some questions about his defense hurting the value proposition he would bring, concerns about his health are only going to hurt his free agency case.

This potentially helps the Braves in a couple ways. Bichette, as the top shortstop available, being less appealing/less expensive could convince Kim that the bidding war he is hoping for won’t happen and could make him more amenable to re-signing with the Braves. Failing that, Bichette’s price tag simply must be going down (if only a bit at first) which could make a pursuit by the Braves more feasible if Kim does leave.

There is one pretty significant problem, though. If Bichette’s injury truly does spook potential bidders, it is possible that Kim’s own health questions become less troublesome to other shortstop-needy teams. Atlanta is going to be highly motivated to keep Kim around, but the last thing they want is for Kim to be the most attractive shortstop on the market with Scott Boras as his agent.

Given all of the moving parts in the shortstop market at the moment, it is a really good idea for the Braves to have plans involving multiple potential signings or even trades. Banking on Bichette or Kim feels like a really bad idea at the moment, so expect Anthopoulos to be turning over every rock and making a lot of phone calls before charting the organization’s path forward.