A Braves-Red Sox trade Atlanta should avoid for obvious reasons

The Atlanta Braves lineup is a problem, and not in a good way. The Braves set all kinds of MLB records last season as a group of nine, but unfortunately have come crashing back down to earth. Everything that can go wrong, has in 2024. That includes an injury to their best player and 2023 NL MVP Ronald Acuña Jr.

Acuña Jr. is out for the season with a knee injury. In his place, the Braves have gone with the outfield trio of Adam Duvall, Michael Harris II and Jarred Kelenic. Duvall has struggled to hit the ground running, while Kelenic and Harris are both streaky at best. Adding another starting-level corner outfielder would go a long way, and Alex Anthopoulos will man the phones from now until late July, as he typically does this time of year.

One player Anthopoulos should stay away from is Boston Red Sox outfielder Tyler O'Neill, and the reason is obvious.

Braves should avoid Red Sox outfielder Tyler O'Neill for obvious reasons

Atlanta's outfield was one injury away from falling apart before Acuña Jr. went down. Now, they're held together with duct tape. Adding a strong plate presence like O'Neill sounds good on paper. The two-time gold glove winner is slashing .250/.354/.500 on the season with an .854 OPS. If Boston is out of the AL Wild Card race by the deadline, O'Neill is a good bet to be moved.

Nonetheless, this is a player who has appeared in over 100 games just once in his career. Let me list some numbers for you: 72, 96, 60 and 61. Those are the number of games played by O'Neill, COVID-19 year excluded.

When healthy O'Neill is a tremendous defensive asset who has improved immensely at the plate in Boston. Unfortunately, the Braves can't afford to part ways with top prospect capital for a player they cannot count on to play over 100 games. Here's what a trade might look like.

Atlanta would trade away two top-20 pitching prospects for O'Neill, who is a rental. It may sound like a lot, but O'Neill is one of the best outfielders on the market right now. He just cannot be trusted.

Heck, O'Neill left a game just a few days ago with knee discomfort.

“I made a cut out there (in the outfield),” O’Neill explained. “… And it just tweaked on me. Just really frustrating with how I was feeling. I was feeling really good earlier in the day...Really frustrating for me. … Just trying to keep my spirits up. It really sucks. We’re going to find a solution though. I’m confident in that.”

I appreciate O'Neill's optimism, but any unbiased baseball fans can't have much confidence in his durability moving forward. Anthopoulos can -- and should -- do better.