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Braves rumors: 3 reasons Alex Anthopoulos would never trade Ronald Acuña Jr.

By Zachary Rotman

Oct 12, 2022; Atlanta, Georgia, USA; Atlanta Braves right fielder Ronald Acuna Jr. (13) hits a single against the Philadelphia Phillies in the fourth inning during game two of the NLDS for the 2022 MLB Playoffs at Truist Park. Mandatory Credit: Brett Davis-USA TODAY Sports
Oct 12, 2022; Atlanta, Georgia, USA; Atlanta Braves right fielder Ronald Acuna Jr. (13) hits a single against the Philadelphia Phillies in the fourth inning during game two of the NLDS for the 2022 MLB Playoffs at Truist Park. Mandatory Credit: Brett Davis-USA TODAY Sports /
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Ronald Acuna Jr., Atlanta Braves
Ronald Acuna Jr., Atlanta Braves. (Photo by Adam Hagy/Getty Images) /

The Atlanta Braves aren’t trading superstar Ronald Acuña Jr., despite some vague hearsay to the contrary.

Over the last week or so, there have been some trade rumors involving Atlanta Braves superstar Ronald Acuña Jr. A Twitter account claiming to be an insider said that Acuna demanded a trade from Atlanta, and sent the baseball world into a (brief) frenzy.

Dave O’Brien of The Athletic shot down the rumors by simply stating “this isn’t the NBA”. Braves fans should relax. Alex Anthopoulos is not trading Ronald Acuña Jr., and even if Acuña did request a trade, he’d have very little incentive to oblige.

Here are three reasons why the Atlanta Braves would never even consider trading away Ronald Acuña Jr.

1) Braves won’t trade Ronald Acuña while his value is low

When healthy, we all know how good Ronald Acuña Jr. is. He burst onto the scene in 2018 and won the NL Rookie of the Year award after posting a .917 OPS and a 143 OPS+. He was a star from the moment he stepped foot into the batter’s box.

Acuña followed that season up with a 41 home run, 101 RBI, and 37 stolen base campaign. He was an All-Star, won a Silver Slugger, and finished in the top five in the MVP balloting.

Acuña was an all-star again in 2021 before tearing his ACL attempting to make a leaping catch in Miami. Acuña would miss the Braves’ run to a World Series title but was set to return in 2022 without missing too much time.

Acuña would return in late April but never quite looked like the player he once was. It’s clear his knee was bothering him, as he likely returned too quickly. He proceeded to have his worst season by far.

Acuña slashed .266/.351/.413 with 15 home runs and 50 RBI in 119 games. He did steal 29 bases but was caught a league-leading 11 times and clearly lost some of his power.

I and just about everyone who watches baseball expect Acuña to bounce back in a big way in 2023 after a full offseason to recover and focus on that knee. Because of this, trading him coming off of this bad of a season would make absolutely no sense.

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