Mauricio

Dubon

Mark Bowman of MLB.com adds that Kim suffered the injury when he fell on ice while in Korea. He underwent surgery in Atlanta on Sunday to repair the injury. That means the slick-fielding 30-year-old won’t be available to help out the Braves until the end of May at the earliest estimate. In the meantime, the Braves are likely to slot in Mauricio Dubón as their starting shortstop.

The deal is official. ESPN’s Jeff Passan reports that Kim turned down multi-year offers elsewhere to return to Atlanta, where he’ll serve as the club’s starting shortstop — pushing versatile Mauricio Dubón to a utility role — before re-entering free agency next winter in pursuit of a larger payday. The 30-year-old middle infielder, who turned down a $16 million player option last month to hit the open market, posted an underwhelming .234/.304/.345 slash line with five homers and six steals across 191 plate appearances split between the Rays and Braves this past season after working his way back from offseason shoulder surgery. From a career-arc standpoint, Atlanta represents about as clean a runway as Kim could ask for to rebuild long-term value, offering everyday reps on a competitive roster without the immediate pressure of a long-term commitment. From a fantasy perspective, though, the bar at shortstop remains high enough that he profiles as more of a deeper mixed-league option with power/speed combo ceiling upside heading into next spring.

Financial terms of the accord have yet to be reported. It’s the final season of arbitration-eligibility for the versatile 31-year-old who earned $5 million in his final season with the Astros in 2025. Dubón has an opportunity to serve as the Braves’ starting shortstop to open the 2026 campaign, provided the Braves don’t bring in another option this winter to challenge him.

The versatile 31-year-old was plucked from the Astros on Wednesday in a swap for Nick Allen. While the team would be thrilled with his defense at the position, Dubón posted a troublesome .644 OPS in 398 plate appearances with the Astros during the 2025 season. It sounded like nothing more than posturing, saying that the team was comfortable with Dubón there if they’re somehow unable to upgrade the position over the remainder of the offseason. One alternative could be reuniting with Ha-Seong Kim who declined his $16 million player option at the end of the season and hit the open market.

Dubón was the utility Gold Glove winner for his work in 2025, and he’s capable of playing a multitude of positions. The 31-year-old has not been an effective offensive player for the past couple of seasons, however, and registered just a .644 OPS in 398 plate appearances with Houston last year. He’ll likely see playing time up the middle and in the outfield for Atlanta in 2026.

Those two are joined by Steven Kwan in the outfield. Other AL winners include pitcher Max Fried, catcher Dillon Dingler, first baseman Ty France, second baseman Marcus Semien, third baseman Maikel Garcia, shortstop Bobby Witt Jr. and utilityman Mauricio Dubón. Semien getting the nod over Andrés Giménez seems like the biggest upset, though Giménez, who won the previous three years, did miss a bunch of time. Dingler over Alejandro Kirk also rates as a modest surprise.

Dubón drew a one-out walk off of J.T. Ginn in the second inning and scored on an RBI single off the bat of Isaac Paredes. He then smacked an RBI double in the fifth inning that extended the Astros’ lead to 8-0 and scored on an RBI knock by Jose Altuve. The versatile 31-year-old also walked and scored on a ground-rule double by Carlos Correa. On the season, he’s now slashing .246/.295/.364 with seven homers, 33 RBI and three swipes in 386 plate appearances.

Peña’s ongoing absence due to left oblique soreness complicates Houston’s path to the postseason as they battle with Boston and Cleveland for one of the final two AL Wild Card playoff berths. The 28-year-old shortstop has been one of the hottest hitters in baseball recently, batting .329 (11-for-29) with two homers and eight RBI over his last seven games. It’ll be Mauricio Dubón filling in at shortstop with Jose Altuve moving up to the leadoff spot in his absence.

Altuve gets a breather following an early exit from Saturday’s contest with right foot discomfort. The 35-year-old veteran figures to undergo some additional evaluation and possibly imaging this weekend to determine the severity of the issue. It doesn’t sound overly serious for now, though the Astros haven’t offered much clarity. It’ll be Mauricio Dubón handling second base in his absence.

It doesn’t sound like there’s anything wrong physically with the dynamic 27-year-old shortstop, he’s just getting a breather. Mauricio Dubon will start in his place at shortstop and will bat ninth for the Astros against Braves’ right-hander Hurston Waldrep.