(Lindsay Crosby/Braves Today) Everyone Wants the Braves to Extend Ronald Acuña Jr. That Doesn’t Make It Easy.

19 comments

  1. Being honest, I felt a lot better about the possibility of this working out before the Tucker and Bichette deals. Would love to know your thoughts.

  2. I don’t think the Braves will be able to afford him after this offseason. I know both sides took a risk but he’s probably feeling a bit ripped off and underpaid now. The Braves can’t offer him 60+ aav. Unless he just really likes the area he’s gone in my opinion hopefully I’m wrong but if I have the choice between 30 and 60+ I’m doubling my
    Salary

  4. We are paying Acuna 17 million this season and next season. I get he is a question mark after his second acl tear but this team isn’t the same without him. Yeah we won the World Series without him being apart of the 40 man and being on the sideline but his vibes were acquired through Joc Pederson in 2021.

    If the guardians are willing to extend and pay out Rameriz then we need to do the same to Acuna. If he remains heathy he will be in the hall of fame.

    He also is great at recruiting Caribbean and South America talent. He opens up that market for us and he is a huge name in those communities.

  5. Sadly I think he’ll end up like Freddie did. Gone to a team like that. Don’t want to see him go though.

  7. This may be an unpopular opinion, but until he can prove that he can stay healthy, I’m okay with seeing him go, especially if he’s going to be asking for like 60+ million in AAV.

  8. I said two or three years ago to extend him before the price got outrageous, and I got shouted down. 🤷‍♂️

  9. The entire point of extending him early is the Braves get great value and Acuna gets injury protection. He’s now been paid well during two injured seasons, the Braves have gotten one great MVP season during what would have been an arbitration year and would have paid him about $17m anyways. So in this, the Braves haven’t really benefited while he has. If he wants to get big paid after this contract is over fine, but why would the Braves rip up a mutually beneficial contract to then overpay a guy off to knee injuries.

    If Acuna were to force things, that could get real NFL WR Diva type ugly. If anyone is owed a pay bump it’s Ozzie

  10. 1. The “Atlanta max” of 22 million was established years ago and is out of date if this team wants to win. Even just adjusting for inflation would put it substantially higher. If AA is sticking to that then he’s not a serious person (I don’t think he is, so we should stop talking about the Atlanta max)

    2. This is all moot at this point because there’s going to be a lockout that has the chance to significantly alter team finances. I’d be pretty surprised if they extend him before all that plays out

  11. This is garbage. We have no idea what the new CBA is going to look like. There’s no point in speculating until the owners & players make a new deal.

    Also, this idea that the braves don’t spend is outdated & idiotic. They’re a top 5 payroll in baseball. In addition, their ability to spend is directly tied to fan attendance, both at the Ballpark and the surrounding Battery. It’s much easier for the Braves to draw fans with Acuña than without him. I think ownership understands that. Extending Acuña wouldn’t just be the right baseball decision, it’s the right business decision.

    It’s far, far too early for Braves fans to get worked up over salary structure when we have no idea what “top dollar” will even be in two years. Having said that, when a player is as important to a teams bottom line as Acuña is, there is no number too high. You move heaven & earth to keep Acuña here. Plain and simple.

  12. It’s simply going to take a combination of the Braves getting creative with the check book and Acuna willing to take a discount to stay “home.” The JRam deal doesn’t happen for Cleveland if he didn’t make it clear he wanted to stay in Cleveland for good.

  13. I’m embarrassed to say I don’t know the answer to this, so perhaps someone here could enlighten me.

    If there is a lockout on December 1, 2026 that eliminated the entire 2027 season, does that count as a “contract year” for purposes of players contracts?

    For example, if Player X’s contract is $YMM for 2027 and $ZMM for 2028, but there is no 2027, does the contract pick back up in 2028 at $YMM or does it pick back up in 2028 at $ZMM? And does the player get anything in 2029 absent an extension? Or does something else happen? Or does it all depend on the new CBA?

  14. There’s no way they don’t make back whatever they spend on him and some. He is the face of the team for good reason. He is worth it.

  16. No. Everyone does not.

    Edit/addition: downvote me all you want, but it’s a simple and factual statement. Not EVERYONE wants him to extend. The dude is not even thirty and his legs are betraying him. Y’all think that’s going to improve into his thirties?!

  19. First….thank you Lindsay for the write up and discussion. I love all your work for our team

    After the inevitable lockout next year we will have a better sense of everything. I was also shocked by the Tucker numbers but I don’t think that will sustain. Something is gonna change relative to ceiling/floor. It has to for the competitive health of the sport

    For Ronnie…I just feel like if we can accept declining production at the tail end, we should extend him and accept he won’t be worth the money. But as others have stated, he brings a lot of intangible value. He’s kinda like our Caribbean Shohei in what he means to players that want to come here because of him. Add that with raw numbers like jersey sales , etc etc I think it would be sound financially to give him that deal

    And then…just emotionally…I want him to wear one jersey. And one jersey only. If that means we kinda suck at the end because if his payroll obligations.. I’m ok with that. I just want a guy who says he wants to be here, to be here. He deserves the statue and the love that chipper gets and I frankly will lose so much respect for the organization if they cannot make THIS ONE happen

Leave a Reply