Key Braves Free Agent Gets Surprisingly Small Contract Prediction

As the Winter Meetings approach, one of the key free agents on the market received a surprising contract prediction. Despite the thin shortstop market, Atlanta Braves free agent shortstop Ha-Seong Kim was tabbed to receive a one-year $16 million contract from ESPN’s Kiley McDaniel. 

If that’s what Kim ends up with, he’d be in the same position as the one he’d be in if he had just taken the player option. In McDaniel’s eyes, the pitch is that Kim could get back to how he looked before this season. The upcoming season would be when he has to sign a prove-it deal for future seasons. 

When you look at the overall numbers, it’s easy to take a quick look and assume it was just a rough year from start to finish. It is also easy to make this assumption when the outlook of the shortstop market is overlooked. 

Once Kim got healthy and had a chance to play healthy, he had the bat we’re used to seeing. In 24 games in a Braves uniform, he batted .253 with a .684 OPS. That’s relatively close to what we saw during his 2024 season. 

Before a hitless final series of the season, he was batting .289 with a .770 OPS through 21 games. He was genuinely seeing the ball well once he got to Atlanta. It was enough to encourage him to decline his option and test the open market. When there aren’t that many shortstops to choose from, there is a good chance someone rolls the dice. 

If we’re being fair, landing a deal that pays him about $16 million per season is a reasonable prediction. It’s the fact that it’s only one year that isn’t meshing. A two- or three-year deal, perhaps one or two years with some options attached, makes more sense. 

It’s also hard to see him taking a one-year deal unless he had no other choice because of the uncertainty the next offseason brings. The collective bargaining agreement is ending. There is a chance that there is another lockout. Being secure through at least next winter would provide some security. He’s not subject to anything new until the dust settles. 

Agreeing to the same deal as his play option would require him to wait around a while this offseason, with nothing materializing. Maybe the Braves would be ok with that. After all, they were banking on him agreeing to stick around for one extra year. However, they are likely open to coming to terms with a deal for more than one year to land a shortstop. 

There is reported mutual interest between both parties. That could make finding a nice middle ground on a deal possible.

A couple of years of Kim would give their options in the system some more time to develop. After that, if he walks, they set up the next generation. 

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