Over the last year or so, Atlanta Braves second baseman Ozzie Albies has seen his stock drop significantly in the eyes of fans and experts alike. Some of that has been the national media continually disrespecting Albies going back years, but a bigger part of that has been because he hasn’t been able to stay healthy and his production has dropped off a lot.
After putting together arguably the best season of his career in 2023 where he put up 5.0 rWAR thanks to a .280/.336/.513 line with 33 homers, 2024 was a tough year for him. In addition to having two extended trips on the IL thanks to a fractured toe on a HBP followed by a broken wrist, Albies was also pretty ordinary when he did play as he only managed a .251/.303/.404 line with 10 homers in 99 games to go along with declining defensive metrics.
Given that the Braves have to decide whether or not to exercise his club option after this season, you would normally think that this would be a bigger storyline in 2025. However, this is a reminder that the exact terms of Albies’ deal with the Braves makes this no choice at all.
Ozzie Albies’ club option is still a no-brainer for the Braves to pick up after the season
The fears that Albies may never be the player he once was are honestly completely fair. He has dealt with a lot of injuries in his career and when you see a guy with declining arm strength, bottom of the scale bat speed, limited ability to hit the ball hard consistently, and a complete unwillingness to draw walks, that becomes quite the tight rope to walk to remain a productive major league player.
However, Albies’ club option for 2026 is just $7 million and the same is true for his 2027 option. That is good for just a tied for 12th in all of baseball among dedicated second basemen and definitely way below market for a guy that has made three All-Star teams.
There is a real chance that we are witnessing Albies’ decline right now. The start of this season has not been pretty and the power Albies’ has shown previously and that has buoyed his value in the past is showing up less and less frequently. His current .545 OPS isn’t going to stay THAT low, but he may just not be an All-Star anymore.
However, that doesn’t make exercising his club option after the season not worth it. In fact, it is still probably a steal given the state of the free agent market right now.
