Following a redemptive month of September where Ha-Seong Kim joined the Atlanta Braves, there was always a very strong possibility of Kim opting out of his deal in order to test the free agency market.
It made sense for him and all the elements were there: He had a lovely September, he didn’t exactly seem super-committal to staying in recent interviews and he’s also a Scott Boras client. Combine that with an absolutely dire shortstop free agency market and it seemed very likely that Kim would opt out to see what he could get on the open market.
“Very likely” has turned into “confirmed,” as Jon Heyman of the New York Post is reporting that Ha-Seong Kim will be opting out of his deal with the Braves.
So that’s the bad news! The good news is that the Braves have publicly indicated that they’re going to actually make a legit run at retaining Kim’s services for 2026 and possibly beyond as well. Again, it’ll probably take a pretty penny since Kim is now officially the crown jewel of this season’s shortstop free agency class. With that being said, when you consider that this is a pretty sore spot of need for the Braves and also that they did have the inside track for that month of September, they’ll have as good of a chance as anybody when it comes to having Kim as their starting shortstop once Opening Day 2026 rolls around.
I’d go so far to say that this should be a priority for the Braves this offseason. Retaining Kim’s services would make navigating the rest of the offseason a lot more comfortable, as opposed to having to scramble for another replacement at shortstop while also focusing on improving their pitching as well. Either way, this is a smart move on Ha-Seong Kim’s part and now the Braves will simply have to do their best to make sure that he returns on an improved deal for next season. We’ll see what happens.
