Shortstop has become an obvious bugaboo for the Atlanta Braves.
The Braves do have a 2023 All-Star at the position, but he’s not even the starter anymore. Orlando Arcia has given way to Nick Allen, a former Athletics utility player with a .613 OPS thus far, at the shortstop spot.
Though Allen and Arcia can both play excellent defense, the Braves’ lineup needs some sort of support at the position.
That’s why one former Major League Baseball general manager believes they should make a surprise deadline trade for one of the best offensive shortstops of the last half-decade right before he hits free agency.
On Thursday, MLB Network analyst and former Colorado Rockies GM Dan O’Dowd named a list of blockbuster trades he’d like to see happen, including the Braves acquiring Toronto Blue Jays two-time All-Star Bo Bichette.
“I’ve got the Blue Jays trading Bo to the Atlanta Braves,” O’Dowd said. “I think the Braves need a bat, but I think they need that kind of bat. High contact, low strikeouts, use the entire field. They’re getting very little offensive production at shortstop now for a number of years.
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“It’s a deal that the Braves, for me, really need to plug that position in their lineup with an offensive shortstop.”
Bichette, 27, has a .794 career OPS and 119 OPS+, numbers he’s nearly matched in 2025 (.752, 113). That’s despite a massive slump while missing half the team’s games in 2024 and going without a home run for the first month of the new season.
It looks as though Bichette is hitting his stride, and the real question is whether or not he’ll be available. The Blue Jays might be too proud to sell, so they’d have to be buried in the standings for Atlanta to have this opportunity.
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