Braves already got the ball rolling on high-profile Ronald Acuña Jr. replacement

After a week of suggesting the Braves most plausible replacement for Ronald Acuña Jr. would come from someone in-house, Atlanta general manager Alex Anthopoulos finally tipped his hand.

Anthopoulos and the Braves often prefer to keep matters in-house. Heck, they're offended when a reporter breaks news for them, rather than it being reported in a press release. That's why Anthopoulos went to great lengths to ensure he didn't give away any information about the supposed high-profile player he called about last week.

Thus far, Atlanta has played an outfield of Adam Duvall, Michael Harris II and Jarred Kelenic, with right fielder Marcell Ozuna at the DH spot. It's not a bad mix of players, but the Braves could certainly upgrade the depth in right field, at the very least.

Who could Braves acquire to replace Ronald Acuña Jr.?

There are only a few teams out of contention as of this writing which Anthopoulos could be talking to. One might be the Chicago White Sox, which may be willing to trade Tommy Pham, Eloy Jimenez or Luis Robert Jr. for the right price. But, again, these are just suggestions. Per Bob Nightengale of USA Today, Pham has not been part of those discussions just yet.

As FanSided MLB insider Robert Murray wrote last week, he would not be surprised if the Braves made a move in the months to come:

"If there is good news for the Braves, it’s that general manager Alex Anthopoulos has two months to evaluate his options before the trade deadline. It would not be a surprise if baseball’s most aggressive (and secretive) executives attempted to execute a trade if the current trio of outfielders struggles and then one day a press release is dropped to announce “Braves acquire ___.”

The last time Acuña was forced to miss a significant period of time, the Braves traded for four outfielders leading up to the trade deadline and made a World Series run as a result. This is far from the same team, so there's no guarantee Anthopoulos will have the same approach in 2024.