The Atlanta Braves have been the most disappointing team in Major League Baseball by a wide margin, something the organization certainly didn’t expect entering the year.

On paper, the Braves were expected to be one of the better teams in the league, but with multiple injuries and guys simply not playing at the level they were expected to, there are many questions about what Atlanta might do in the future.

That includes second baseman Ozzie Albies, who, a few years ago, looked to be a lock to be on this roster for a very long time.

Not only was Albies incredible for the Braves when it mattered most throughout much of his young career in Atlanta, but he was also on arguably the best contract in baseball, outside of his teammate, Ronald Acuña Jr.

But with mounting questions about what the Braves might do, considering he has a team option at the end of the season, Alex Anthopoulos recently spoke about it with The Athletic’s David O’Brien, stating that it’s something the organization has to figure out.

“With all these options (on players), we always make the decision at the end of the year — you have five days after the World Series, and that’s when you make the decision. It’s just, things can happen, things change. You always wait.

“He had a very rough first half. Him and (Michael Harris II) were top 10 in worst OPS (in the majors at the break). That’s just stating the facts. Harris was worst, I think Ozzie was 10th. You look at the track record of both players, they’ve been much better than that. Harris was arguably our best hitter the last two months of ’24 into the postseason,” he wrote.

Could Ozzie Albies Leave the Braves?

It doesn’t sound promising that the Atlanta Braves GM didn’t give a full commitment to Albies moving forward.

The question now becomes if Atlanta decides to move on from him, how could they replace him, and how much money might he get on the open market?

Regarding free agency, if he goes that route, Spotrac thinks that he’ll still get paid handsomely, predicting him to get a five-year, $116 million deal.

Will Ozzie Albies Stay in Atlanta Past This Offseason?

If there was one promising thing that the Atlanta Braves general manager said with The Athletic, it was that Albies has had some decent moments.

To say that he’s figuring things out is premature because of how bad he’s been over the past year and a half or so, but this is still Albies.

If he turns things around, it wouldn’t be too surprising.

He’s also played in 144 games, showing that he can finally stay healthy.

“Ozzie Albies has been streaky at times, but his floor has still been pretty good. His ceilings have been All-Star, but his floors have still been an OPS that starts with a 7.

“And it was surprising (how he struggled in the first half). At the end of the day, their numbers are starting to come around (late this season), I think in total, they’re not going to be where they’ve been in the past, but they’ve bounced back to who they’ve been, more so than not,” he said.

Despite that, it’s tough to ignore Albies’ 91 OPS+ when he was a consistent 100-plus OPS+ hitter prior.