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.
2) Ronald Acuña’s contract is too good for the Braves to trade
The Braves and Ronald Acuña Jr. agreed to an eight-year $100 million extension in 2019. This deal keeps Acuña in Atlanta through the 2026 season at least, as there are club options for 2027 and 2028 in the contract as well. $100 million is a lot of money for sure, but this is one of the more team-friendly deals in all of baseball.
The Braves excel at signing their players early on deals that end up aging incredibly well for the franchise and this is no exception. Acuña Jr. is making $17 million dollars annually each season from 2023-2026 and the club options are for $17 million as well. He’s just 25 right now, so he’d be in Atlanta through his prime.
We just saw someone like Brandon Nimmo get an eight-year $162 million dollar deal from the Mets. Nimmo is a great player but is obviously nowhere near Acuña Jr.
The annual value and length of Acuña’s deal makes it almost impossible to trade. It’s too team friendly and too valuable for the Braves to just walk away from. Teams would have to offer an unheard-of amount to ever even come close to prying him away from the Braves.
3. Ronald Acuña Jr. is a superstar
The Atlanta Braves are trying to win now. They won 101 games last season despite Acuña being a shell of himself. Imagine how good they’ll be if and when he’s back to playing at the elite level we all expect.
If the Braves do trade Acuña, it’d be impossible for them to be better than they were with him, at least right away. They’d get a haul for sure, but it’d likely be prospect-centered. The Braves, a team trying to win now, would be worse.
Acuña is simply too good of a player to trade. Forget the value, just focus on how good he is.
He’s hit .293 before. He’s hit as many as 41 home runs. He’s driven in as many as 101 runs (as a leadoff hitter!) He’s stolen as many as 37 bases. He’s an athletic freak who can run anything down in right field while also possessing an incredibly strong throwing arm. He’s a five-tool player.
When healthy, I can only think of a small number of players who are better than Acuña. Shohei Ohtani, Mike Trout, Aaron Judge, Jose Ramirez, and who else? Players like Juan Soto and Bryce Harper feel very debatable to me.
There are too many reasons the Braves would never trade Acuña. The fact that he might be a top-five player in the sport when healthy is the cherry on top.