A Braves-Rays trade for an almost-unfair Ronald Acuña Jr. replacement

The Atlanta Braves are nine games over .500, yet they find themselves 8.5 games back in the NL East as of this writing because of the incredible start that the Phillies have gotten off to. They still hold a firm grip on the top Wild Card spot in the National League, but Atlanta doesn't care to make the Wild Card. They're the type of franchise that chases a division title, a pennant and a World Series Championship.

So they need to make some upgrades, notably in the outfield to fill the hole of their injured superstar, Ronald Acuña Jr. Acuña tore his ACL, requiring season-ending surgery, and has since left Atlanta with a huge void in their outfield.

The Braves need to get creative and begin taking some chances to recreate some of Acuña's production. There may not be a better "buy low" option on the market than the Rays Randy Arozarena.

A Braves-Rays trade to replace Ronald Acuña Jr. with Randy Arozarena

To put it lightly, Randy Arozarena has been bad this year. He's slashing .175/.289/.327, good for the worst statistical year in each of those three categories. But, he's having a bad season, he's not a bad player. The likelihood that he forgot how to hit over the offseason is slim to none. The more likely answer is that Arozarena needs a fresh restart, maybe in a new city, in a lineup that protects his bat.

Atlanta would be the perfect fit and he would have the opportunity to potentially platoon this season in Atlanta. Historically, Arozarena smashes left-handed pitching and Atlanta could use him mainly against lefties in order to get him back on track. This wouldn't be a full-time thing, but just until he's able to find his swing and his approach again.

Now, let's look into what Atlanta would have to trade to acquire him.

For the Rays, they would be moving this struggling former All-Star to acquire two prospects that can help at the MLB level in the next 365 days. Tampa Bay isn't really in the position to completely blow their roster up, more so enter a bit of a reloading phase before attempting to compete again.

McCabe, 24, is a switch hitter with an advanced approach and a ton of pop. He'll need to continue to prove that his bat-to-ball skills can translate as he climbs up the minors, as he's a liability on the base paths.

Vines is in a tough situation in Atlanta, making him one of the more expendable prospects in the Braves system. Vines won't receive a major league nod over Atlanta's top prospects, but he could receive that nod for a new team. He's 26 and likely feels he deserves another shot in the bigs.

For the Braves, they could part ways with these two prospects to acquire Arozarena. He has 2.5 more years of team control, giving the Braves a ton of time to figure out how to fix his struggles at the plate.