3 Atlanta Braves who won't be back in 2025 if Ronald Acuña signs an extension
If there's a front office that teams should be striving to emulate, it's that of the Atlanta Braves. GM Alex Anthopoulos has done an unbelievable job at not only finding talent, but keeping that talent with the Braves on extremely favorable teams for a long time.
Virtually the entire Braves core is locked into team-friendly extensions for the long haul, with reigning NL MVP Ronald Acuña Jr. leading the way. Acuña signed an eight-year extension worth $100 million guaranteed back in 2019. While that deal guaranteed that Acuña would be set for life, he passed on a whole lot of money by inking his extension.
Despite the fact that he is under team control through the 2028 season at $17 million per, he wants another extension. He wants this extension to make him an Atlanta Brave for life. While hearing that is music to Braves fans' ears, an Acuña extension could mean that key players on the 2024 Braves won't be able to be extended for the long haul. It's a trade-off worth making, but important to keep in mind.
With that in mind, here are three Braves players who might not stick around if Acuña inks his massive extension.
3) A Ronald Acuña Jr. extension would eliminate any chance the Braves had at re-signing Max Fried
Whether Acuña signs an extension or not, Max Fried might be a goner. The Braves star pitcher is the lone member of Atlanta's star-studded core to not sign one of Anthopoulos' patented extensions, and is now in his final year of team control.
Fried has quietly established himself as one of the best pitchers in the National League, posting a sparkling 2.66 ERA in his last four seasons and finishing as the NL Cy Young runner-up back in 2022. He's the perfect 1B to Spencer Strider, but again, it's pretty hard to envision him remaining in Atlanta past the 2024 season.
When players don't ink team-friendly extensions, the Braves have been more than fine letting them walk once they hit free agency. We've seen that happen twice in recent years with franchise icons Freddie Freeman and Dansby Swanson. The Braves have shied away from overpaying in free agency during Anthopoulos' tenure, and that's part of what has made them so great.
If Fried hits free agency, and all signs suggest that he's going to, he's going to get an extremely large contract, and deservingly so. Will the Braves outbid other desperate teams to keep Fried around? It's more likely Anthopoulos will find a starting pitcher to acquire in a trade and then sign him to an extension. That's what happened with Matt Olson after it became apparent Freddie Freeman was leaving.
If Acuna does not sign a long-term extension, maybe the Braves will make an exception for Fried. If Acuna signs long-term, it's just so hard seeing the Braves going all out to keep Fried around.