The idea of Ronald Acuña Jr. landing in the Bronx is the kind of dream that gets Yankees fans moving fast. If New York somehow pulled it off, jerseys would be flying online in minutes. But while Acuña would fit just about anywhere, the path to actually getting him looks awfully thin.
Atlanta moving on from Acuña still feels like a long shot, and if it ever happened, it would come with a huge price tag. He may not command the same return he would have a couple of years ago because of injuries and other factors, but he’s still one of the best players in Major League Baseball and the sort of star who fills seats.
The Yankees do have prospects they could deal, but there’s no clear sense of how far Brian Cashman and the front office would be willing to go over the next couple of months. That uncertainty leaves the Acuña idea in the realm of wishful thinking more than actual trade planning.
One name that has surfaced in the conversation is Giancarlo Stanton, though the fit is hard to buy if the framework is Stanton for Acuña. The Yankees could potentially move Stanton, but the notion of him ending up in Atlanta for a player of Acuña’s level seems far-fetched.
Still, one writer floated the possibility of Stanton fitting into a Braves offseason puzzle. Jake Elman wrote, “Speculation is already mounting regarding Ronald Acuña Jr.’s future, and the Braves could realistically make Drake Baldwin the full-time starting catcher again. What that’d mean for Acuña’s spot in right field is another conversation entirely, but the Baldwin move would open the DH slot for Stanton.
“Stanton knows the Braves well from his Marlins days, and his 25 homers off Atlanta pitching are his fourth-most against any team. Now sounds like a perfect time for an NL East reunion, and even more so if the Phillies and Mets make significant roster changes this winter,” Jake Elman wrote.
A Stanton-to-Atlanta move is at least imaginable because the Braves will be looking for ways to upgrade this offseason. But that’s where the conversation should probably stop. He is not the kind of return Atlanta would take for Acuña at this stage, and if New York tried to build a package around Stanton and still keep it close to even, the Braves would be expected to shut it down quickly.
In Other News...
Ronald Acuna Jr. Is Suddenly At Center Of A Braves Debate
Ronald Acua Jr.s recent postseason was a frustrating one, with his offense falling quiet in both the NLDS and the Wild Card rounds. For a player who has long sat at the center of Atlantas identity, that kind of October stretch naturally gets magnified, especially when the Braves are already navigating the kind of winter questions that come with another early exit.
Even so, any discussion around Acua is bigger than one rough postseason, because his contract situation gives Atlanta a layer of control that teams rarely enjoy with a star of his caliber. The debate now is less about what he has meant to the Braves than what his long-term place should look like as the organization weighs its options heading into the offseason. [Read more 🡒]
Braves Offseason Reality Just Got Tougher For Alex Anthopoulos
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Alex Anthopoulos is still staring at a tricky balancing act, especially with money tied up in uncomfortable places. Jurickson Profar is due $15 million despite his suspension, and Spencer Striders $22 million salary remains on the books while he is injured, all of which adds to the pressure as the front office tries to plan for a market that may or may not be changing under a potential MLB salary cap. [Read more 🡒]
Braves Prospects Got A Brief AFL Chance To Show Something Monday
Only one of the three scheduled Arizona Fall League games got on the field Monday, and even that one was trimmed to seven innings, but it still gave a couple of Braves prospects a quick stage in a 6-2 Scottsdale Scorpions win over the Glendale Desert Dogs. For Atlanta, any Fall League action matters, especially when so much of the schedule can get squeezed by weather or other delays, because those extra innings and extra at-bats are part of why these assignments exist in the first place.
Isaiah Drake got the start in left field for Glendale before being pinch-hit for in the sixth inning, and Owen Carey took over in left to finish the game. In a day with limited chances around the league, both got a brief look in the outfield, the kind of small but useful exposure the Braves can still track as the Fall League moves along. [Read more 🡒]