Earlier today, Mark Feinsand of MLB.com released an article discussing 25 players across Major League Baseball who currently have some big decisions ahead of them — whether it’s a player option or a club option, these are usually some major decisions that need to be made during the offseason.
The Atlanta Braves had one of those players and I’m pretty sure it’s someone you’re all very aware of. Ozzie Albies has a club option for next year and as Feinsand mentioned in this article, there doesn’t appear
to be much of a decision here. It’s more than likely that the Braves will exercise the option and bring him back for next season.
[H]is contract is quite team-friendly, with $7 million options for both 2026 and 2027, each of which includes a $4 million buyout. The $3 million difference between the buyout and the contract make it very likely that the Braves bring him back next season as he looks to bounce back another year removed from wrist surgery.
That’s pretty much the ballgame on this issue, folks. Ozzie Albies signed arguably the most team-friendly contract extension in baseball (and maybe in all of North American sports) when he agreed to a seven-year, $35 milllion deal starting in 2019. Ever since then, he’s had three great seasons (4.2 fWAR in 2019, 3.7 fWAR in 2021, 4.1 fWAR in 2023), that weird 2020 COVID-affected season and three middling-to-bad seasons. Ozzie produced 0.7 fWAR in just 29 games during that strange 2020 season and as of right now, he’s trailing that season by 0.3 fWAR, as he’s produced a middling 0.4 fWAR through 131 games here in 2025.
The only reasons why the Braves aren’t going to cut bait is because, again, the money just makes sense and there’s still hope that he can turn it around at some point in the future. That’s basically the end of the story, here: Unless something incredibly weird happens between now and Opening Day 2026, Ozzie Albies will be the starting second baseman for the Braves next season.
But what if they decided, “Hey, instead of (allegedly) spending our money on real estate, let’s put it into the baseball personnel,” and decided to go shopping for a second baseman this offseason? Well, the aisle is looking pretty bare in that regard. The second baseman free agent market next season doesn’t exactly look super appealing.
Gleyber Torres has been doing pretty well with the Tigers this season and it sure seems like he’s going to command a pretty penny during next season as he will be the top free agent on the second base market if the Tigers don’t lock him down between now and the end of the season. Brandon Lowe has a solid track record at the plate but his defense certainly leaves something to be desired, which isn’t exactly what you want at a position like second base (plus he has a club option as well, so there’s no guarantee that he’ll be available). Luis Arraez has apparently lost his BABIP wizardry powers as he’s been having a down season at the plate and as someone whose calling card in this present day in age is their batting average, that’s not great. Thiaro Estrada appears to have peaked a few years ago, Adam Frazier certainly peaked a few years ago, and the trio of Brendan Rodgers, Isiah Kiner-Falefa and Donovan Solano would’t exactly inspire confidence no matter which one of them got signed.
With that position having such a weak market, I’d imagine that teams who have even somewhat productive second basemen will be keen to hold on to them. In this case, that would include the Braves. Yeah, Ozzie Albies may or may not be cooked but as it stands right now, he still looks like the best option for the Braves when it comes to their potential choices at second base. All we can hope for is that he’ll bounce back and have a high-quality season like he’s had in the past. He’s certainly capable of it so we’ll just have to see if he can actually make it happen since that currently appears to be the best-case scenario for both Ozzie and the Braves at this particular moment in time.
