Spring Training is here. All Braves' pitchers and catchers have officially reported to North Port, and a lot of position players too. This is an all-or-nothing year for the Braves, and the players know it. One person that knows how important it is for the Braves to finish this season in the World Series is Ronald Acuña Jr.
Most of us are fully aware of Acuña's record 2023, where we saw him break the 40/70 plateau with 41 home runs and 73 stolen bases. Acuña is arguably one of the best five players, but when it comes to his $17 million salary this season, he's only the fourth highest paid player on his own team.
When Acuña was given his 10-year, $100-million contract he had not even played 100 games in the league, and it was a great contract for him... at the time. Now he's an MVP, and probably deserving of a raise. Where this gets complicated, is that he is only five years in to the 10-year contract.
As we roll in to Spring Training, Acuña was asked about this, and said that he wants to play for the Braves for a long time, and hopes that they can make something happen soon. There are many ways to read this.
The Braves could be doing the right thing by Acuña and be actively working on a new contract, he does deserve it after all. But what if they are not? Would we be looking at the very rare situation of an MLB holdout?
I personally don't think that will happen, but I was wrong once. Andy Bunker and Randy McMichael discuss Acuña's contract, and how much he means to this team's championship aspirations.
