Atlanta Braves hypothetical trade for Jeremy Peña

The Braves have had a couple of glaring holes in the lineup for around a half-decade, none more damaging than shortstop.

Mauricio Dubon was serviceable at the position in 2025, but he’s a free agent and is undoubtedly better served as a super-utility piece than a full-time starter at shortstop. The Braves should be looking to upgrade. The problem is that the free agent market at the position is essentially non-existent. The trade market, however, features some really intriguing names that could fix shortstop in Atlanta for the foreseeable future.

This begins a series where I focus on some of those marquee names, beginning with a former All-Star and 2022 World Series MVP, Jeremy Peña.

Braves hypothetical trade for Jeremy Peña

Braves receive: Jeremy Peña
Astros receive: AJ Smith-Shawver, John Gil, and JR Ritchie

Peña feels like the Braves’ most likely trade target for a few reasons. There’s a connection between him and Dana Brown. Brown was recently relieved of his duties as Astros GM and is now back with the Braves. If he pounds the table for Peña, Alex Anthopoulos will listen.

Peña is also the perfect fit for what the Braves need. They would much rather have a right-handed bat than a left-handed one, given their struggles against southpaws this past season. Peña has crushed lefties over his career, to the tune of a near .300 batting average and .800 OPS.

And while he does offer plenty of pop for the position, he’s also a table-setter who isn’t going to strike out a bunch and can get on base. In 2025, Peña hit north of .300 and only struck out 93 times over 125 games — the type of bat this Braves lineup has been missing for a while.

The return is also much more manageable than what the Braves would have to send away for some other targets, because Peña is a free agent after the 2027 season. A.J. Smith-Shawver and JR Ritchie are both former top-100 prospects who haven’t quite figured it out at the major-league level but could help Houston as early as next year.

The Astros also get John Gil in this hypothetical trade. When I was putting it together, it just felt like Smith-Shawver and JR Ritchie weren’t enough on their own. The Braves would probably have to include at least one top prospect in the 6-10 range.

I highly doubt Atlanta would have interest in trading the likes of Tate Southisene, Cam Caminiti, or Eric Hartman for a one-year rental. But if the Braves felt Peña was a player they’d want to extend, they’d probably be much more aggressive in getting a trade done.