Braves Make Obvious Stance on Acuña's Future Even Clearer

As if it couldn’t get any clearer, the Atlanta Braves aren’t trading Ronald Acuña Jr. No insider thinks that’s the case. General manager and president of baseball operations Alex Anthopoulos said it himself.

"We are not trading Ronald Acuña Jr. Put it in bold," he said on Tuesday during the General Managers Meetings in Las Vegas.

There has been no action to even explore the idea. It’s not happening.

To take it a step further, Anthopoulos added the following.

"We need him. We need to add to him."

Whether or not the Braves ultimately add to Acuña, as he said, will be a wait-and-see. The important takeaway now is that any speculation around a trade can be put to bed for now.

If it required a national insider to tell you, or even the general manager of the team to spell it out, frankly, I’m not sure what to tell you.

This is a team that has little incentive to trade away its star player. Any discourse until proven otherwise is a waste of energy.

From a cost perspective, he’s one of the best deals in the sport. He was picked up on a club option worth $17 million. The same can be done for next season.

No outfielder anywhere close to his caliber will be available anywhere close to that cost. Some players who aren’t close to his caliber may even cost more.

Moving off of Acuña comes with a higher price tag, and it’s clear that anything that they get in return wouldn’t be able to make up for not having him anymore.

So, for those looking to see Acuña get moved, consider those hopes crushed. If anything, the Braves need to explore a payday for him in the form of an extension. It's a no-brainer for them to want to get him on the cheap again in 2028. But during that time, they have to get ready to assemble that next contract.

How healthy he's able to remain during that time will play a major role in determining the value of the next contract, but even in his current form, he'd be due a nice pay bump.

Spotrac indicates that his current value per season is $36.3 million. That would make him the highest-paid player by nearly $10 million. Chris Sale will be the highest-paid player on the Braves in 2027, with a $27 million price tag. In 2028, if his club option is picked up, that pay increases to $30 million. Even after Sale gets a potential salary increase in 2028, Acuña is considered 20% more valuable.

Compared that to some other recent notable paydays, such as Bo Bichette, $42 million per season, or Kyle Tucker, $60 million on average per season, and suddenly having to pay Acuña doesn't seem so bad. After all, he had a better year than either of them.

Fun fact: Acuña played in 107 games compared to 154 for Tucker and 160 for Bichette, and his 20 home runs were more than Tucker's 17 and Bichette's 18. Acuña's 1.9 bWAR was more than combined bWAR of those two (1.4).

Not bad for someone who dealt with a two hamstring injuries in one season.

While the argument of salary was enough to justify keeping Acuña, if you factor in his performance compared to other major recent free-agent splashes, then it really puts into perspective how ahead they are in this case.

The Braves have virtually every reason to keep Acuña. He's the best player on the team at an unreal discount. You may not see the value, but when you dig a little deeper, it becomes clear.

Sign up for our free Atlanta Braves on SI newsletter for the latest news

Add us as a preferred source on Google