{"id":119512,"date":"2025-11-11T09:38:32","date_gmt":"2025-11-11T09:38:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=119512"},"modified":"2025-11-11T09:38:32","modified_gmt":"2025-11-11T09:38:32","slug":"%f0%9f%93%a2-under-the-radar-braves-shortstop-search-may-hinge-on-a-surprising-factor-fans-are-buzzing-about-how-it-could-impact-the-teams-next-move","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=119512","title":{"rendered":"\ud83d\udce2 UNDER THE RADAR: Braves\u2019 shortstop search may hinge on a surprising factor\u2014fans are buzzing about how it could impact the team\u2019s next move."},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<figure><\/figure>\n<div>\n<p id=\"inline-text-0\">Now that the Atlanta Braves have a manager and the coaching staff is filling out nicely, the front office led by Alex Anthopoulos can turn their attention to upgrading the roster.<\/p>\n<p>After a handful of particularly surprising decisions when it came to team options, the Braves&#8217; bullpen is going to need some love.<\/p>\n<p>Adding some rotation help would be nice, but no search looms larger at the moment than at starting shortstop.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/images2.minutemediacdn.com\/image\/upload\/c_crop,x_322,y_0,w_4113,h_2313\/c_fill,w_720,ar_16:9,f_auto,q_auto,g_auto\/images\/GettyImages\/mmsport\/17\/01k9fmkmbypxd1nc3vwq.jpg\" alt=\"UC Irvine v UCLA\" \/><\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-1\">No one wants to see 162 games of Nick Allen and less options at short for Atlanta, but finding a fit for the Braves&#8217; needs is not going to be easy.<\/p>\n<p>The free agent market now has both Ha-Seong Kim and Bo Bichette, but neither player is a perfect fit especially beyond certain price points. If Atlanta gets creative, they could find some options with real upside on the trade market even though closing a deal may be expensive and difficult.<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-2\">However, one other factor in the Braves&#8217; search that isn&#8217;t being discussed much is that the upcoming 2026 MLB Draft could change Atlanta&#8217;s long-term shortstop plans radically.<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"inline-text-3\">The strength of the shortstop draft class in 2026 could be an important consideration for the Braves this offseason<\/h2>\n<p id=\"inline-text-4\">Look, the Braves are not going to run Allen out there (probably) at short for the entire season next year again just because of a draft pick. That would be colossally stupid and needlessly risky with a team that could contend for a playoff spot next year. It would be a major upset if Anthopoulos exited this offseason without adding another shortstop.<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-5\">However, what <strong>could<\/strong> change is the length of any contract for a shortstop the Braves would be willing to hand out this offseason.<\/p>\n<p>If you look at MLB Pipeline&#8217;s way-too-early mock draft for 2026, the top 4 picks are all shortstops including college shortstops Roch Cholowsky and Justin Lebron.<\/p>\n<p>Atlanta&#8217;s exact draft position has yet to be determined and won&#8217;t be until the MLB Draft Lottery takes place, but the Braves will be picking high and the odds that a high quality shortstop prospect will be available when they pick is very high.<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-6\">Given there draft status and the strengths of the class, how much sense does it actually make for Atlanta to hand out a six plus year deal to a shortstop this offseason when they could end up picking someone that is likely (though not certain) to be ready well before that.<\/p>\n<p>That doesn&#8217;t disqualify a deal with Kim or perhaps an under-the-radar option like Jorge Polanco, but it might make the already unlikely pursuit of Bichette even less likely and a trade for a young shortstop like Jordan Lawlar less feasible especially with the attached price tag.<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-7\">How exactly will the Braves navigate all of the decisions in front of them? That is really hard to say. Hell, we don&#8217;t even know if they will pick a shortstop with their top pick as a lot can change between now and the draft and we know how much they like to take arms.<\/p>\n<p>That said, it is clear that the Braves&#8217; choices are anything but simple.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>While the Atlanta Braves definitely need a shortstop for 2026, how much the Braves commit to that goal this offseason could be influenced by the 2026 MLB Draft.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":119517,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-119512","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-mlb"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>\ud83d\udce2 UNDER THE RADAR: Braves\u2019 shortstop search may hinge on a surprising factor\u2014fans are buzzing about how it could impact the team\u2019s next move. - NEWS USA<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=119512\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"\ud83d\udce2 UNDER THE RADAR: Braves\u2019 shortstop search may hinge on a surprising factor\u2014fans are buzzing about how it could impact the team\u2019s next move. - NEWS USA\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"While the Atlanta Braves definitely need a shortstop for 2026, how much the Braves commit to that goal this offseason could be influenced by the 2026 MLB Draft.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=119512\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"NEWS USA\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-11-11T09:38:32+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/2-51.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1080\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1080\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"MsThao\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"MsThao\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=119512\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=119512\",\"name\":\"\ud83d\udce2 UNDER THE RADAR: Braves\u2019 shortstop search may hinge on a surprising factor\u2014fans are buzzing about how it could impact the team\u2019s next move. - 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