Ha-Seong Kim is with the Atlanta Braves for at least the 2026 season and hoo boy, this is a signing that they really needed. While Braves President/GM Alex Anthopoulos publicly stated that their primary
focus was pitching (and while they haven’t picked up a starter yet, they have improved their bullpen with the addition of Robert Suarez and have also shored up their depth in a major way with the additions of Mauricio Dubón and Mike Yazstrzemski), they did also mention that shortstop was in their plans as well.
It’s been clear from the moment that they claimed Kim off waivers to start this past September that the Braves had an eye on keeping him past the one month ‘trial’ period. In a press conference on Monday night, Anthopoulos used the word “comfort” to describe how he felt when it came to pursuing Kim in free agency and apparently it was enough of a factor to convince Kim that it was worth staying in Atlanta — well, that and an extra $4 million always helps matters.
That extra $4 million might be a point of consternation for some fans and observers. I was checking out an article on Kim over at FanGraphs and they pointed out something that I kind of glossed over when it came to the excitement of the signing: Kim’s $20 million salary for 2026 will be exactly $10 million higher than the Braves have ever paid a shortstop for a single season of work. Remember, Dansby Swanson made $10 million in his final season with Atlanta and that was the previous high mark for this ball club at that particular position. They are betting a pretty penny that Kim will be the player he was for most of his time in San Diego with the Padres instead of what he was for the vast majority of the 2025 season.
For starters, it ain’t your money or my money so it’s not that big of a deal to begin with. That might sound flippant but at the same time, we did hear from Braves brass that they wanted payroll to go up — to the point where Braves chairman Terry McGuirk straight-up said that the Braves were “capable” of having a Top 5 payroll. Thanks to the organization’s actions as a real estate company (which is a hilarious thing to type out here on a baseball blog), this is a team that can shop in any aisle that they desire. Now granted, they’re not like the Dodgers to where they can simply just point at any player and say “That one” and end up seeing the guy wearing their uniform soon after pointing them out but this is a franchise that doesn’t have a mandate from up top to be thrifty. This club can spend money and $20 million for a premium position could end up being money well spent — especially on a one-year deal, no less.
Speaking of that premium position, it was also clear that the Braves were not going to get away with being thrifty at that position. They were very fortunate to get the production that they got from Orlando Arcia while he was here but there was a reason why the Braves were able to get him on a multi-year deal for just under $8 million. There was always a chance that Orlando’s magic pumpkin ride would revert back to its normal state and once it did happen, Atlanta was in a position where they had to rely on Nick Allen for production.
While Nick Allen is a fantastic defender, he is what he is at the plate and with all the respect in the world for Allen as a big leaguer, that type of hitting at the plate just won’t cut it for an everyday player. While Kim’s not going to defend at the same level, he’s certainly going to out-hit Nick Allen. In today’s baseball world, you got to be able to hit in that position and if you can field the position even at a decent level, you’re going to get more run than a guy who can field the position smooth like butter but can’t hit much. That’s the situation we have here with Kim serving as an upgrade over Allen (and Arcia as well).
If the Braves were going to fill the glaring hole in their infield at arguably the most important spot in the infield, they were either going to have to swing a big trade or spend money. With the farm system in its current state, that meant that the latter option was the only real option and so the Braves did what they had to do and paid what they had to pay in order to bring Ha-Seong Kim back. It’s $20 million that I’d imagine this ball club would happily pay if Kim can even return to being the “3-4 WAR player” that Alex Anthopoulos stated that he hoped Kim could be — just like he was in San Diego.
So while this is a lot of money for a one-year deal, it’s also just a one-year deal and one that the Braves could very well turn into multiple years if they play their cards right. They did it with Josh Donaldson a few years ago and that’s not a comparison that I’m making — that’s what AA said in Monday night’s presser as well. While Donaldson did end up signing a multi-year deal outside of Atlanta, the Braves are surely hoping that things go well enough to where they could be the ones who benefit from a prove-it deal instead of another team elsewhere. Again, this is now a team that can shop in any aisle they want and if they decide that it’s worth it to lay out the money to keep Kim for two-to-three more years after 2026 then they have the financial capability to do it.
Keeping Kim around past 2026 would certainly answer a big long-term question for the Braves going forward and could also potentially be a bridge to the future if 2025 first-round draft pick Tate Southisene ends up being the actual shortstop of the future for this franchise. He’s had a solid start to life as a pro ballplayer so far and if he sticks at shortstop (which seems like Atlanta’s intentions since they gave him the keys to shortstop with the August GreenJackets right away) then it is quite easy to envision Southisene manning the shortstop position in the future and slotting into that role once Kim’s time here is said and done. That’s a scenario that’s down the road as far as the future is concerned but it’s at least a feasible one now that Kim is in Atlanta’s fold for 2026.
As far as the short-term goes, this is a perfect move for the Braves in my opinion and it’s not just because of what Kim brings to the team. As good of a defender as Mauricio Dubón is, having him as the everyday shortstop would’ve likely ended up with the Braves having the same problem they had in 2025 at that position and it also would’ve been a waste of Dubón’s versatility as a utility man option. Now, this move gives new manager Walt Weiss the keys to unlock that versatility while also having a reliable option at that ever-so-important position in the middle of the infield. Signing Ha-Seong Kim makes Mauricio Dubón a better option, it gives Walt Weiss more options and weapons and it makes the Braves a better team. It’s pretty simple math, y’all.
To sum it all up, I’m very excited to see how this works out for the Braves going forward. Sure, there’s an injury risk here since Kim had a very rough 2025 and he’s also crossing the Age-30 threshold for the 2026 season. While some may balk at the cost of signing Kim, it doesn’t cost you anything to be optimistic about this working out for Atlanta and this is a move that could certainly pay off handsomely for the Braves if it helps them return to the Postseason and hopefully deep into October as well. Between this acquisition and the other moves that the Braves have made during the offseason, it’s clear that this is a club that has determined that sitting out the offseason was not an option. They had to improve and it sure seems like they’ve been laser-focused on the positions of need.
There’s still more for the Braves to hopefully do (I think we’re all looking for some more pitching — even though the Braves have plenty of starting pitching depth, you can never have enough quality) but at this point, I think the front office has certainly earned the benefit of the doubt and the belief that they can go out and swing another deal in order to make that happen. This should be a better ball club in 2026 — one that hopefully lives up to the lofty expectations that this franchise has had for nearly a decade now. The Braves needed to get Ha-Seong Kim and now’s their chance to hopefully keep him around for even longer than 2026.
