Ronald Acuña Jr. is just about the only reason to tune into an Atlanta Braves game right now.
The Braves are one of the most disappointing teams in the league this season, if not the single most disappointing. But Acuña has been fantastic since returning from his torn ACL in May. He's got a 1.076 OPS in only 35 games, and on Wednesday, he was named a starting outfielder for the National League All-Star team.
Acuña is still only 27, and the Braves have him under contract through 2028 (including two club options). To many, he seems like the most obvious piece to keep around long-term, regardless of whether or not Atlanta can rebound and make the playoffs this season.
Insider Joel Sherman of the New York Post has a different take.
During an appearance on MLB Now, Sherman argued that the Braves should trade Acuña to jump-start their rebuild, though he wasn't suggesting that they were actively thinking about doing so.
“Can you see a championship in the next few years? I don’t, because (Ozzie) Albies has gone the wrong way, (Michael) Harris (II) has gone the wrong way, (Chris) Sale will be 37 next year, you don’t have depth in your farm system,” Sherman said.
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“This has been a great period for the Braves. Seven straight years in the playoffs, six division titles, one championship. By the way, we won that championship without Acuna. He got hurt. We played the last four months of last season without Acuna and made the playoffs again.”
Sherman pointed to the haul the Washington Nationals got when they traded Juan Soto to the San Diego Padres in 2022 as an example for how the Braves should look to capitalize on Acuña's value.
“Do we want to try to take another seven-year run? I would say let’s have a serious meeting about whether it’s time to do that,” Sherman said. “Acuna, in this marketplace without offensive players of this stature, you could make the Juan Soto trade. Who can I make the Juan Soto trade with?”
It's a thought exercise more than anything. It would be stunning to see Acuña get traded, and the logic behind it isn't unimpeachable. But it's a marker of how bad the Braves' season has gotten that this is even a talking point.
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