Great break-down of a dilemma more complicated than I had realized. In spite of my efforts to move on, I can't help but ruminating on the Freeman debacle - he was in his prime, wanted badly to stay in Atlanta, and was a consummate player and leader that was turned away over an ego driven decision which I don't think this mid-level franchise will recover from this decade. And, as great as Acuna is, I'm not sure extending him would have the same value that extending Freeman would have. Among AA's many "accomplishments" is the deterioration of the Braves' minor league system. Depending on how the '26 season goes, maybe the best long term plan is to move on from Acuna and retool with young talent.
I wrote the "what would it look like for the Braves to trade Acuña" article last year and it was *not* well received on social media (which is not real life). They could legitimately get a haul for him, but I don't think they'll ever get to that point
I think the real question with Ronald Acuña Jr. is talent—because he has more raw talent than any Braves player I’ve ever seen. But eventually, the elasticity of youth fades. At some point, Acuña will have to rely less on pure athletic dominance and more on playing smarter baseball.
The encouraging thing is: we’ve already seen flashes of that baseball intelligence. One of the best examples is when he cut his strikeout rate by roughly a third in a single offseason. That doesn’t happen by accident. That’s awareness, adjustment, and discipline.
Acuña can do anything he wants on a baseball field—at the plate or in the field. The question is whether he continues to evolve as the physical tools inevitably decline. I’m curious what Alex Anthopoulos really thinks about Acuña’s ability to age intelligently and maximize his game over the long haul.
Which brings up another question: is Ozzie Albies’ recent decline a potential warning sign? They’re both smaller players who relied heavily on athleticism early. That said, history also shows that smaller, skilled players—guys like Mookie Betts—often age better than the Judge-type physical giants. It’s not one-size-fits-all.
And zooming out, this is where I think the Braves philosophy needs to be questioned. At some point, you extend the Hall of Fame player—period. Instead of letting a sure-fire Hall of Famer like Freddie Freeman walk, or potentially losing players with real Hall-of-Fame trajectories like Max Fried, Dansby Swanson, or even someone like Kelenic if he fully clicks (LOL).
At some point, you don’t just build contenders—you lock in legacy.
Well, the obvious solution if you can't extend Acuna is to shop him around. Atlanta is only the 11th largest Market And we're not owned by Mark Walter or Steve Cohen
I have to admit MLB's losing fan interest. I only get interestef when the Minors begin play or the rule 4 draft and January 15 comes around
And i don't have a solution. I've thought about going to 7 inning games.
I spend much more time thinking about the NBA (lakers) and NFL (mostly Chiefs).
Cowboys are beyond hope till Jones dies.
I think my problem is i grew up watching 20 MLB teams and no free agency. I'm 73.
Great break-down of a dilemma more complicated than I had realized. In spite of my efforts to move on, I can't help but ruminating on the Freeman debacle - he was in his prime, wanted badly to stay in Atlanta, and was a consummate player and leader that was turned away over an ego driven decision which I don't think this mid-level franchise will recover from this decade. And, as great as Acuna is, I'm not sure extending him would have the same value that extending Freeman would have. Among AA's many "accomplishments" is the deterioration of the Braves' minor league system. Depending on how the '26 season goes, maybe the best long term plan is to move on from Acuna and retool with young talent.
I wrote the "what would it look like for the Braves to trade Acuña" article last year and it was *not* well received on social media (which is not real life). They could legitimately get a haul for him, but I don't think they'll ever get to that point
https://open.substack.com/pub/bravestoday/p/theres-absolutely-a-scenario-where-ronald-acuna-gets-traded?utm_campaign=post-expanded-share&utm_medium=web
I think the real question with Ronald Acuña Jr. is talent—because he has more raw talent than any Braves player I’ve ever seen. But eventually, the elasticity of youth fades. At some point, Acuña will have to rely less on pure athletic dominance and more on playing smarter baseball.
The encouraging thing is: we’ve already seen flashes of that baseball intelligence. One of the best examples is when he cut his strikeout rate by roughly a third in a single offseason. That doesn’t happen by accident. That’s awareness, adjustment, and discipline.
Acuña can do anything he wants on a baseball field—at the plate or in the field. The question is whether he continues to evolve as the physical tools inevitably decline. I’m curious what Alex Anthopoulos really thinks about Acuña’s ability to age intelligently and maximize his game over the long haul.
Which brings up another question: is Ozzie Albies’ recent decline a potential warning sign? They’re both smaller players who relied heavily on athleticism early. That said, history also shows that smaller, skilled players—guys like Mookie Betts—often age better than the Judge-type physical giants. It’s not one-size-fits-all.
And zooming out, this is where I think the Braves philosophy needs to be questioned. At some point, you extend the Hall of Fame player—period. Instead of letting a sure-fire Hall of Famer like Freddie Freeman walk, or potentially losing players with real Hall-of-Fame trajectories like Max Fried, Dansby Swanson, or even someone like Kelenic if he fully clicks (LOL).
At some point, you don’t just build contenders—you lock in legacy.
Well, the obvious solution if you can't extend Acuna is to shop him around. Atlanta is only the 11th largest Market And we're not owned by Mark Walter or Steve Cohen
I have to admit MLB's losing fan interest. I only get interestef when the Minors begin play or the rule 4 draft and January 15 comes around
And i don't have a solution. I've thought about going to 7 inning games.
I spend much more time thinking about the NBA (lakers) and NFL (mostly Chiefs).
Cowboys are beyond hope till Jones dies.
I think my problem is i grew up watching 20 MLB teams and no free agency. I'm 73.
I knew just about everybody on all 20 teams.