{"id":130415,"date":"2025-12-14T13:41:16","date_gmt":"2025-12-14T13:41:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=130415"},"modified":"2025-12-14T13:41:16","modified_gmt":"2025-12-14T13:41:16","slug":"a-potential-braves-free-agent-target-is-officially-off-the-board-and-it-was-the-mets-who-made-the-move-the-signing-narrows-atlantas-options-and-adds-another-twist-to-an-already-compe","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=130415","title":{"rendered":"A potential Braves free agent target is officially off the board\u2014and it was the Mets who made the move. The signing narrows Atlanta\u2019s options and adds another twist to an already competitive offseason. Did the Braves miss their window, or were they never truly in?"},"content":{"rendered":"<h3 class=\"my-2.5 text-black font-group-gigantic !leading-[30px] md:!leading-[44px]\">Potential Braves free agent target just got taken off the market by the hapless Mets<\/h3>\n<div class=\"article-intro mb-4 text-darkGrey font-group-large md:font-group-normal lg:font-group-large !mb-2.5 md:mb-5\">\n<div class=\"mb-0 md:mb-9 relative md:mx-10 md:mb-9\">\n<figure>\n<div class=\"overflow-hidden bg-lightGrey\"><picture><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"undefined w-full\" title=\"Championship Series - Seattle Mariners v Toronto Blue Jays - Game 7\" src=\"https:\/\/images2.minutemediacdn.com\/image\/upload\/c_crop,x_514,y_0,w_2433,h_1368\/c_fill,w_720,ar_16:9,f_auto,q_auto,g_auto\/images\/GettyImages\/mmsport\/17\/01kcc81extzwb311cyrm.jpg\" alt=\"Championship Series - Seattle Mariners v Toronto Blue Jays - Game 7\" width=\"2433\" height=\"1368\" data-uw-rm-alt-original=\"Championship Series - Seattle Mariners v Toronto Blue Jays - Game 7\" data-uw-rm-alt=\"ALT\" \/><\/picture><\/div>\n<div class=\"flex items-center gap-4 ml-1 pb-2 mt-4 md:m-3 text-darkGrey font-group-tiny\">\n<div class=\"flex items-center gap-4 ml-1 pb-2 mt-4 md:m-3 text-darkGrey font-group-tiny\"><\/div>\n<\/div><figcaption>Championship Series &#8211; Seattle Mariners v Toronto Blue Jays &#8211; Game 7 | Michael Chisholm\/GettyImages<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"article-body\" class=\"flex flex-wrap justify-center lg:justify-normal\">\n<div class=\"flex lg:mr-4 lg:w-[calc(70%-3em)] max-w-full\"><main class=\"min-w-0 flex-1 odesa-article-main\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"viewablity-block\">\n<figure class=\"player-wrapper relative aspect-video mb-[18px] bg-grey rounded-md hidden player-wrapper-lg md:block\"><\/figure>\n<div class=\"article-content [&amp;_p]:leading-[30px] [&amp;_p]:md:leading-[28px] [&amp;_li]:leading-[30px] [&amp;_li]:md:leading-[28px]\">\n<p id=\"inline-text-0\" class=\"mt-[18px] md:mt-0 mb-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-secondary my-f-1\">At this point of the offseason, it feels like the Atlanta Braves can do one of two things.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mt-[18px] md:mt-0 mb-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-secondary my-f-1\">They can either accept that Mauricio Dubon is going to be their shortstop and then use their resources on the rotation\u00a0<strong>OR<\/strong>\u00a0they can try to make a deal in a terrible shortstop market that would be for an imperfect player and one Atlanta would probably have to overpay for.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mt-[18px] md:mt-0 mb-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-secondary my-f-1\">Of the options available on the free agent, one of the better ones is now unavailable and could force the Braves into action.<\/p>\n<p>While\u00a0Jorge Polanco was anything but ideal\u00a0for the Braves, he at least had loads of experience playing in the infield and just posted an .821 OPS for the Mariners in 2025.<\/p>\n<p>It would have been a defensive challenge to balance, but Polanco&#8217;s bat may have been worth the squeeze.<\/p>\n<p>Unfortunately, Polanco is no longer on the table. On Saturday, it was widely reported that, of all teams, the\u00a0Mets were signing Polanco\u00a0to a two-year deal.<\/p>\n<p>Jorge Polanco and the New York Mets are in agreement on a deal, league sources tell The Athletic.<\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Will Sammon (@WillSammon) December 13, 2025<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"inline-text-4\" class=\"scroll-mt-24 my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-secondary my-f-1\">Braves lose potential shortstop target in Jorge Polanco, but dodged a brutal price tag<\/h2>\n<p id=\"inline-text-5\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-secondary my-f-1\">So, the half-empty perspective on this is that Atlanta now has one less decent free agent target available to them the rest of the offseason.<\/p>\n<p class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-secondary my-f-1\">To make matters worse, Polanco is heading to a rival team in the Mets who were heading in the wrong direction this offseason. However, a closer look here suggests that Polanco only made sense for the Braves if they could get a decent deal on him and he signed for&#8230;.considerably more than that.<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-6\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-secondary my-f-1\">Polanco is definitely a useful player, but he is also 32 years old, has a spotty track record the last four years or so, and he isn&#8217;t a defensive asset.<\/p>\n<p class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-secondary my-f-1\">That New York gave him $20 million a year is wild, although completely understandable that Polanco would happily take that at this point of his career.<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-7\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-secondary my-f-1\">With Polanco off the market, attention once again turns to Ha-Seong Kim and whether or not Atlanta can lure him back to the Braves.<\/p>\n<p class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-secondary my-f-1\">So far, there has been very little chatter around Kim which could be a good sign. After all, if any team can operate in silence, it is Alex Anthopoulos and the Braves.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><\/main><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Potential Braves free agent target just got taken off the market by the hapless Mets Championship Series &#8211; Seattle Mariners v Toronto Blue Jays &#8211; Game 7&#8230; <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":130416,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-130415","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>A potential Braves free agent target is officially off the board\u2014and it was the Mets who made the move. 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