Trading Acuna Would Be Intriguing Idea for Braves

Published 3:35 pm Thursday, July 10, 2025

The Atlanta Braves are in need of a reset. 

They are a team that was expected to contend for a championship this year with a squad loaded with proven young players. But an 0-7 start to the year wasn’t foreseen. Neither was a 40-51 mark and be 13 games out of first place heading into the weekend before the All-Star game.

The Braves need to make a mid-season move or two because the team is flawed. There are gaps at shortstop and left field. The starting pitching has been decimated by injuries. What starters we do have in place are failing. There is no leadership.

One of the more intriguing ideas that has been floated around social media is the potential trade of Ronald Acuna Jr. While the thought of trading away the team’s best player during a team-friendly contract two years removed from an MVP season seems preposterous, if you give it second thought, it might not seem so insane on the surface.

Acuna is injury prone so availability will always be a question mark. While he may be the most gifted position player to come through the Atlanta Braves farm system, that includes the great Hall of Famer Chipper Jones, a trade would help the Braves retool and reload a depleted farm system.

The Braves have long needed a long-term answer in left field, shortstop and another pitcher or two following the injuries sustained to Chris Sale and Spencer Schwellenbach. Trading Acuna would net an impressive haul for an organization that needs to find its footing under different leadership.

Acuna’s departure would certainly not go over well with Braves fans. There’s an argument that can be made that, when healthy, Acuna is one of the top five position players in baseball. It would likely affect attendance and turn some fans away, but at the same time would send a message to the rest of the team that changes can and will be made.

Do I expect it to happen? No. I can only imagine that general manager Alex Anthopoulos does not want to be the GM to trade away a prized possession like Acuna, especially when he’s under a team-friendly contract for the next four years. 

But should it happen? Maybe. The Braves are headed nowhere this year. They have quit on themselves and their fans. The team is in need of a season-altering move, and this might be it. The only question is do the Braves have what it takes to make the move? Probably not, but that does not mean it should not happen.