![\"Ronald](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/GettyImages-2238342713-e1771002762193.jpg\")
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\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tGetty\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
The Braves have signed one of Ronald Acuna Jr.’s cousins, Carlos Blanco, to a $1.5 million contract<\/p>\n
The Atlanta Braves<\/a> have high hopes for their 2026 campaign. After missing the playoffs entirely in 2025, the Braves have been busy this offseason<\/a> when it comes to improving their roster, in the hopes of being able to compete against the likes of the Philadelphia Phillies<\/a> and New York Mets<\/a> in the loaded National League East division.<\/p>\n While Atlanta is focused on the upcoming season, you always have to have your eye on the future in MLB<\/a>. Case in point, the Braves have been hard at work scouting talent in the international pool, in hopes of identifying some star prospects. And it looks like they may have found one in Carlos Blanco, who just so happens to be the younger cousin of superstar outfielder Ronald Acuna Jr.<\/a><\/p>\n Braves Sign Carlos Blanco to $1.5 Million Contract<\/p>\n BREAKING: Carlos Blanco has reached a pre-agreement with the Atlanta Braves for a $1.5 million signing bonus \ud83d\udcb0<\/p>\n Blanco is considered the best defensive shortstop in the 2030 international class, featuring a strong arm, soft hands, and advanced feel for the game. Evaluators <\/p>\n Acuna has been one of the great success stories of the Braves\u2019 farm system. After finding his way to the majors at 20 years old, Acuna immediately proved himself to be a five-tool outfielder, capable of doing a little bit of everything for Atlanta. While he\u2019s had his fair share of injury struggles, when he\u2019s on the field, Acuna is one of the best players the league has to offer.<\/p>\n In 2018, Acuna immediately won the National League Rookie of the Year Award, before ripping off five All-Star seasons in the next seven years. Easily the best season of Acuna\u2019s career came in 2023, when he won the National League MVP Award after hitting .337 with 41 home runs, 106 RBIs, and 73 stolen bases.<\/p>\n If a prospect ever gets mentioned in the same breath as Acuna, that\u2019s typically a good sign. That stands true for Blanco, even though he\u2019s simply related to Atlanta\u2019s superstar outfielder. A talented young shortstop who is part of the international class of 2030, Blanco is a budding star, and reports indicate he has reached a pre-agreement with the Braves that will see him land a $1.5 million signing bonus<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cBREAKING: Carlos Blanco has reached a pre-agreement with the Atlanta Braves for a $1.5 million signing bonus,\u201d Wilber Sanchez shared in a post on X. \u201cBlanco is considered the best defensive shortstop in the 2030 international class, featuring a strong arm, soft hands, and advanced feel for the game. Evaluators believe he has all the tools to remain at shortstop long term. Blanco is also a cousin of Ronald Acu\u00f1a Jr.\u201d<\/p>\n Braves Hoping to Return to Playoffs in 2026 GettyRonald Acu\u00f1a Jr., Atlanta Braves outfielder.<\/p>\n Blanco is years away from even coming near the majors, but the fact that the Braves have already gone out of their way to agree to a deal with him is telling. His relationship to Acuna likely doesn\u2019t hurt, but this is a big win for Atlanta, even if the payoff may not come for another decade as Blanco continues to develop his skills.<\/p>\n In the present, the Braves\u2019 immediate focus is on finding their way back to the postseason. Simply put, any team with the amount of talent that Atlanta has should not be missing the playoffs, even if they play in a competitive division like the NL East. After receiving a relatively quiet year from Acuna in 2025, he seems poised for a bounce-back campaign, which would be a welcome sight for the Braves and their fans.<\/p>\n \n\t\t\tOwen Crisafulli<\/a> Owen Crisafulli is a Breaking News Writer at Heavy. In addition to writing for Heavy, Owen works as a Content Producer for More Views Media. His work has also appeared on ClutchPoints, The Sporting News, Athlon Sports, Basketball Network, and FanSided, where he shared his insights on a variety of sports topics primarily surrounding the NFL, NBA, and MLB. More about Owen Crisafulli<\/a>\t\t<\/p>\n \n\t\t\tMore Heavy on Braves\n\t\t<\/p>\n \n\t\t\t\tLoading more stories\n\t\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Getty The Braves have signed one of Ronald Acuna Jr.’s cousins, Carlos Blanco, to a $1.5 million contract…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":570811,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2394],"tags":[191,46,4166,5,192,4],"class_list":{"0":"post-570810","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-atlanta-braves","8":"tag-atlanta","9":"tag-atlanta-braves","10":"tag-atlantabraves","11":"tag-baseball","12":"tag-braves","13":"tag-mlb"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@mlb\/116065108141321181","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/570810","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=570810"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/570810\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/570811"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=570810"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=570810"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=570810"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"Ronald](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/1771012886_972_GettyImages-2238342600-e1770612174529.jpg\")
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