Braves go into 2027 season without clear-cut choice at shortstop

The Braves never had the good fortune of a full-time shortstop during the 2026 season. Who plays that position on the regular in 2027 is one of the club’s biggest questions going into the offseason.

Four players logged at least 38 games at shortstop for the Braves in 2026. It’s possible only one of those four players is even in the organization in 2027.

Since Dansby Swanson left the Braves for the Cubs after the 2022 campaign, at least a dozen different players have lined up at shortstop for the Braves. Orlando Arcia was an All-Star there in 2023, but his offensive production fell off dramatically in 2024 and he was released in 2025.

Nick Allen? Vaughn Grissom? Luke Williams? None have performed well enough to keep hold of the job.

This past year the Braves turned to Mauricio Dubón while Ha-Seong Kim was out with an injury (both Dubón and Kim are now free agents). Jorge Mateo (now with the Rays) and Jim Jarvis also got a shot.

Here’s a closer look at who the Braves could turn to in 2027:

Mauricio Dubón

In November, the Braves traded Allen to the Astros for Dubón. There was a clear winner in that deal.

Dubón hit .276 and finished with career highs in homers (12) and RBIs (73). He also led the team in RBIs (33) with two outs and runners in scoring position. But Dubón’s biggest value was in his ability to move anywhere on the diamond — he played left field, center field, third base and second base along with shortstop.

Having made $6.1 million in 2026, it’s expected Dubón will command a much higher price tag for the 2027 season. The Braves will have exclusive negotiating rights with Dubón, who said during the season he wished to remain in Atlanta, before other clubs are permitted to reach out.

“He had a great year. That goes without saying,” Braves president of baseball operations Alex Anthopoulos said Sunday. “Offensively, really toward the end, too, stepped up the last month. But he was good all year. I would only imagine as a manager knowing you could plug him anywhere you want — how many times in the middle of a game did (manager) Walt (Weiss) shift him from outfield to infield, infield to outfield? We haven’t had that here in a long time.

“He had a really good year for us. Great teammate. I can’t say enough good things about him.”

Ha-Seong Kim

Kim’s tenure in Atlanta, if it has indeed ended, was rather terrible, to put it bluntly.

After playing in 24 games for the Braves at the end of 2025, Anthopoulos & Co. signed the 30-year-old for one year for a whopping $20 million. About a month after the ink dried on that contract, Kim, who had slipped on ice and fallen while in his native Korea, had surgery to repair a tendon on his right middle finger.

What a fully healthy season for Kim would have looked like will never be known. Instead, he debuted on May 12 and was abysmal at the plate, going 5-for-73 (.068) in his first 27 games of the season.

Kim went back on the injured list at the end of June and missed all of July. In his final 24 regular-season games he hit .179. In his final 40 plate appearances, including the postseason, he recorded a single hit.

In 365 innings at shortstop Kim had a fielding percentage of .981. He had a career worst -3 run value, according to Baseball Savant.

Jim Jarvis and the prospects

Jarvis was not particularly on any prospect radars coming into 2026. But the 25-year-old, after a brief call-up in May, showed flashes of brilliance at the plate and on the field during his 38 games with the Braves before being sent back to Triple-A for the remainder of the season.

The one called “Jimmy Baseball” was hitting .274 on Aug. 1 before slumping toward the end of his run. He also made seven errors in 148 chances.