MLB’s Winter Meetings are less than a week away, and Atlanta Braves fans across the nation are all wondering when GM Alex Anthopoulos will get the ball rolling this offseason.
After a disappointing 2025 season in which the Braves missed the playoffs, their highest-ranking executive, Alex Anthopoulos, assured that the team will be active this offseason, as they have more payroll and more luxury in the trade market. That’s led to a few small moves, like trading for utilityman Mauricio Dubon, and re-signing Raisel Iglesias to a one-year, $16 million deal.
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Should the Braves Trade Ozzie Albies this Offseason?
The Braves picked up second baseman Ozzie Albies’ 2026 option on his contract, but that doesn’t exactly mean he’s a lock to remain as one of Atlanta’s primary middle-infielders.
Albies has been a staple in the Braves’ lineup throughout his career, but would trading him be the right move for the Braves?
Braves writer Eric Cole believes that if the Braves traded away Ozzie Albies during MLB’s Winter Meetings, it would be the most “painful trade” the team could make:
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“However, Albies still has value right now and there are offseason plans that would be best served by trading Albies and shuffling the infield around. It would certainly suck to see Albies go and it might be the last straw for a lot of Braves fans, but that doesn’t mean that it won’t happen anyways,” wrote Cole.
Over nine seasons with the Braves, Albies has had a very polished career. He has been named to the All-Star three times, won two Silver Sluggers, and was a part of the Braves’ 2021 World Series team. However, he has struggled over the last two seasons, and really ever since 2022.
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Ozzie Albies Has Struggled Since 2022
Aside from his All-Star campaign in 2023, where he hit 33 home runs and drove in 109 runs, he just hasn’t looked the same.
The switch-hitter was limited to just 64 games in 2022 due to injury, but hit just .247 that season.
In 2024, Albies posted a career-low 10 home runs and was also sidelined for 60+ games due to injury. 2025 was more normal for Albies in the sense that he played every day, but he posted an OPS+ of 89 and hit 16 home runs in 157 games.
If Albies isn’t traded and struggles again in 2026, there’s a small percentage chance that the Braves will extend him a contract offer during his free agency. However, the Braves could capitalize on what value he has now and swing him for a prospect or two that could help the Braves rebuild their farm system.
It will be interesting to see what the Braves do, or at least what the reports are that the Braves MIGHT do as the Winter Meetings progress into this weekend.
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