The Braves’ postseason ended with the same problem that has shadowed too many of their recent October nights: the bats never quite matched the moment, and Ronald Acuña Jr. was part of that struggle.
Against the Dodgers, Atlanta had a decent run before running into a team that’s been a wall for plenty of clubs over the past couple of seasons. But the gap between the Braves and Los Angeles showed up in the performances of some of Atlanta’s biggest names, Acuña included. He finished the four-game series with just two hits and no extra-base hits, which stands out even more for a player who usually flashes his star power when it matters most.
That wasn’t an isolated dip, either. Acuña also had a rough Wild Card round against the Phillies, managing just one hit in that three-game set.
So it’s easy to see why the idea of Atlanta moving on from him feels strange. He means too much to the organization for that to look like a straightforward basketball-style reset, but Bleacher Report still listed him as a trade candidate this offseason.
“A chorus of boos rained down on Ronald Acuña Jr. as he grounded out to end the seventh inning in Game 4 of the NLDS, stranding a runner on second base and bringing his playoff line to 3-for-24 with zero RBI.
“Will that be his final at-bat in a Braves uniform? The 2023 NL MVP and face of the franchise had a good-not-great 2026 season, and a quick move to scrub the Braves from his Instagram account immediately after they were eliminated from the playoffs fueled speculation a split might be on the horizon this winter,” Bleacher Report wrote.
There’s at least some long-term flexibility built into the situation. Acuña could reach free agency after the 2027 season, and the Braves hold team options for 2027 and 2028.
That gives Atlanta a path to move on eventually, but doing it without a return would be hard to justify. Even now, the idea of actually breaking ties with him still doesn’t make much sense.
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