The Braves have already locked in Ronald Acuña Jr. and Ozzie Albies for the 2027 season, but that hasn’t stopped the conversation around Acuña from getting louder.
Atlanta announced Friday that it exercised options on both players. “The Braves today exercised options for OF Ronald Acuña Jr. and INF Ozzie Albies for the 2027 season,” the team posted.
Even with that move, Acuña’s name is still being floated in trade chatter. His production since winning MVP has fallen short of expectations, and that has opened the door to speculation about whether Atlanta could actually deal him.
Bleacher Report’s Zachary D. Rymer pushed the idea into blockbuster territory, suggesting the Braves could swap Acuña for Phillies star Bryce Harper in a deal that would shake up the NL East.
“Anyway, the rationale starts here: Bryce Harper should probably move on from Philadelphia, and Ronald Acuña Jr. should probably do the same from Atlanta. Things for both players in both places have gotten…weird.
So, why not swap the two players? The obvious answer is "Because they're NL East rivals, you fool," and that is fair.
Even so, the shoe fits on both ends. The Phillies need youth and a right-handed bat, and the Braves need more present upside than Acuña has shown over the last two years,” Rymer wrote.
Harper, who has won two MVP awards, is still chasing a World Series title in Philadelphia and recently acknowledged the roster could change soon.
“I'd imagine this team is going to look a lot different next year," Harper said.
A trade like this would be the kind of move that barely sounds real until it happens. Division rivals almost never swap players of this caliber, but the fit, at least on paper, is what makes the idea linger.
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