There has been a lot more, talking about how the Atlanta Braves for next season deal with Shortstop. Nick Allen had an elite glove and led the competition in many different defensive statistics during the season. His bat, however, was so bad, it did not justify him in the daily line -up.
Ha-Song Kim Came in and immediately made a difference. His bat was in no way elite, but his oblique line of .253/.316/.368 was much better than Allen’s .221/.284/.251. Kim is also not slow with his glove. He is never arranged worse than the top 19.0 percent in outs above average in his career.
Kim has a player option for next season for $ 16 mm. Based on his history and how he performed, it can be assumed that many fans would like to see him again. He also just came from a major operation that historically damages the market value of a player. Given all these different variables, there is no guarantee that Kim will exercise his option.
A factor that can play a major role if Kim exercises his player option is that we come to a very weak short -stop -free agent market. A weak market could encourage him to test the market because it will probably be a top -wit. This is also a reason why the Braves may want to make him an offer early, instead of waiting to see what will happen.
In recent years we have been blessed as fans to see some big names on the SS market. That is not the case this season.
Unless Trevor Story Ops from his two years and $ 55 mm, Bo Bichette is really the only name that protrudes then Kim (if he does not exercise his option). Story had a decent season this year with a 3.0 fwar and a WRC+ of 101, but he missed most of his previous two seasons. Chances are he will take the $ 55 mm.
Let’s, outside the story and Kim, view the other names according to MLB trade rumors Played with their fwar from last year and games in brackets:
-Timeons Andreson (0.1, 32 games)
-Ar. Arcia (-0.6 fwar, 76 games)
The Castro Wills (0.5 Steam, 120 Games)
-Risiah Kinner-Falla (0.7 fill, 138 games)
-Dylan Moore (-0.1 fwar, 106 mice)
-Girsty News (0.7.7 Leath, 57 games)
-Miguel Rojas (1.7 fwar, 114 games)
-Bo bichette (3.8 fwar, 139 games).
Note that Arcia and Newman have both cheap club options, but it is not as if they will be very sought after.
As we can see, this is not exactly an SS Free Agent class that teams drool about. Many of these players played for several teams last season because they were released from their previous team. Miguel Rojas had a decent season compared to the other players on the list, but he will be thirty -seven. Age is not historically good for the ShortStop position.
Bichette had a very good bat with a 134 WRC+ last season and has a career 122, but his defense has taken a huge dip. His drs (a comparison of other shortstops) was -12, one of the worst in MLB. He has a career -19 drs. He also has a career -negative ultimate zone rating (UZR). StatCast shows that it has a bottom 1.0 outs above average (oaa) with a -13.
The point to say all this is that there is a legitimate chance that Bichette can be moved to another position if another team signs him.
If the story opts for his contract and Bichette is asked by interested teams to go to a different position, the free agent market outside Kim does not see the route. It is perhaps the weakest it has been in several years. The trade market is always worth kicking the tires, but the reality is that selling teams also knows that the free agent market is weak, and a good GM will use that.
When the Braves picked up Kim, they already knew they probably didn’t make the late season, so it seems clear that they tried him out for next season. He seems to have passed the test.
The best options of the Braves seem to be quite clear. Trade for a starting SS, or offer Kim a deal as soon as they can instead of hoping to exercise his option. Kim has a good thing to test the market, because he will probably be the best free agent SS based on our previous logic.
#weak #market #matters #Braves